Prof. Dr. Chan Kok Gan is a distinguished microbiologist and interdisciplinary scholar whose work bridges molecular biology, genomics, microbial communication, and biosafety law. He is currently a Professor at University of Malaya, where he leads research in microbial genomics, quorum sensing, quorum quenching, genome biology, next-generation sequencing, biosafety laws and intellectual property law in biotechnology. His contributions span genomics, microbial communication, and conceptual innovation rather than single isolated discoveries.  Prof. Chan holds double Bachelor and Master degrees in Microbiology and laws, and PhD in Molecular Microbiology, with a rare combination of science and law. Prof. Chan is prolific researcher,  with >485 WoS WoS publications in high-impact journals including Nature, Nature Communications. His work has garnered tens of thousands of citations (e.g., his Google Scholar profile shows >27,200 citations, h index 83). He received fundings gloablly, eg. Malaysia Toray Science Foundation research grant, >15 French Fellowships, Hubert Curien Partnership-Hibiscus, SEAOHUN Award, UK Prime Minister’s Initiative II grant, 3 China Governments grants, JSPS Award and many Malaysia fundings.  Prof. Chan has received numerous research awards and recognitions, including a consistent ranking in Research.com’s listings of Top Microbiologist and and Leader in Biology/biochemistry in Malaysia; Malaysia Toray Science Foundation (MTSF) Science and Technology Award, JSPS Award. He was listed as the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University/Scopus in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 in both categories of “Current Year” and “Career”. He is even listed as World’s Top 0.1% Scientist by ScholarGPS.com, and ranked First in the categories of “quorum quenching”, “genomes” , “multidrug resistant pathogens” by Google Scholar. Prof. Chan made several first discoveries in Malaysia and globally, including (i) introducing the concept of, and coining, bacterial “signalling confusion”; (ii) coexistence of quorum sensing and quorum quenching in some bacteria, and (iii) quorum quenching molecules from Malay, Chinese and Indian medicinal herbs and secured several patents,  (iv) characterising novel quorum sensing and quenching genes, (v) novel bacterial genus and species, (vi) he published Malaysia’s first complete bacterial genome 13 years ago when next-generation sequencing was still globally scarce. Prof. Chan is elected Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (FASc) in 2017, and fellowships in other international learned academies. A novel bacterial species of a novel genus was named in honoured of Prof Chan’s contribution in microbiology:  Chania multitudinisentens gen. nov., sp. nov. Prof. Chan is world’s leading expert in bacterial quorum sensing, quorum quenching, genome biology, biosafety laws and whole genome sequencing. After publishing the first bacterial complete genome in 2013, Prof Chan then pioneered into multi-OMICs technology, providing a new dimension of research in microbiology and genome biology. To date, Prof. Chan is the leading expert in NGS, multi-OMICs (genome, plasmidome, resistome, virome, oncogenome, transcriptome, methylome, microbiome, metagenome, lipidome, metabolome).

Muhammad Hatta Roselee joined the Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, the University of Malaya as Senior Lecturer in November 2020. His research focuses on the petrology, geochemistry and tectonic setting of the Sibumasu and Indochina terrane, particularly within the Southeast Asia geology. In the teaching area, he is mainly focused on teaching the 1st year and 2nd year students where he is responsible for developing fundamental geology knowledge and skills towards them. He is currently lead the research collaboration between the infamous Institute of Geological Sciences (one of the branches of the Chinese Academy of Geological Science) where the main focus is to study the geological relationship of the tin ore formation and the host rock granitic rock. The duration of the research collaboration is officially 5 years starting last from last April 2021. Prior to joining the University of Malaya, Hatta worked as a research assistant and teaching tutor in both University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.

Ir Dr Nur Azah Hamzaid is a Professional Engineer (BEM) and Chartered Engineer (IMechE, UK). She is Associate Professor at Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya. She obtained her bachelor in Mechatronics Engineering (1st class Hons) in 2005 and pursued her PhD at the University of Sydney, Australia in the same year. Since 2010, she has been pioneering the Biomechatronics, Neuroprosthetics and Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) research group in Malaysia. She is  a Biomedical Engineering Consultant at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), seeing patients of complex rehabilitation cases at the Rehabilitation Robotics Clinic (CREATE). Dr Azah holds a Masters Certificate in Leadership by the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development, Malaysia. Her passion in teaching and learning led her to leadership roles in Academic Development and Enhancement Centre (ADEC) for 8 years under the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) office, and was the Director until early 2024. She is also a Certified Trainer under HRDCorp. Dr Azah develops the Biomechatronics and Prosthetics & Orthotics courses which include FES in Rehabilitation Robotics. In her second year of service in UM, in 2011, she was appointed as the Program Coordinator of Bachelor in Biomedical Engineering (Prosthetics & Orthotics), the first degree program aiming to produce Prosthetics & Orthotics Engineers in Malaysia. Dr Azah is the Founding President and currently Vice President of International FES Society (IFESS) Malaysia Chapter and Executive Board Member of IFESS International for the 3rd term. She was Board Member of International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics Malaysia. She is also the co-founder of the engineering outreach program  "Let's Go To Mummie's Lab", which focuses on young children's education through STEM and play. She has published at least 90 ISI-listed scientific publications, over 50 conference papers, a number of books and book chapters. Dr Azah has a few patents and trademarks, granted and filed. Her FES expertise has also brought her to the 2016 FES-Cycling Cybathlon championship, a world event for technology-assisted race for people with disabilities, in which their team placed 7th in the world. Dr Azah has so far graduated and are supervising several PhD and MEngSc students. She has also won Innovation Awards from ITEX, PECIPTA, Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE), BioMalaysia, i-ENVEX, KNovasi, and her work has been featured in national mass media including BFM radio, Nona TV3, Selamat Pagi Malaysia RTM, Mingguan Wanita, and other local newspapers, apart from UM Award for PhD completion in less than 3 years. She was also nominated for the UNESCO Award for the Popularization of Science in 2019. Her aim is to improve the Rehabilitation Engineering field in Malaysia by uplifting the knowledge and application through quality teaching and curriculum enhancement via industrial involvement, better student experience and participation in and out of class and in research. She strives to bridge the gap between actual society and patient's need and technology provision through sustainable means.https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4277-2813