Dr. Vilashini Somiah is a feminist anthropologist from Sabah, Malaysia, and Senior Lecturer at the Gender Studies Programme at Universiti Malaya. She earned her Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore, an MA from Ohio University, an MRes from Universiti Malaya, and a BA from Universiti Malaya. Her research focuses on underrepresented narratives of women, migrants, and Borneans living in the interiors. She co-edited Revisiting Covid-19 in Malaysia: Plight and Perseverance (UM Press, 2023) and Sabah from the Ground: The 2020 Elections and the Politics of Survival (SIRD/ISEAS, 2021). Her first single-authored book, Irregular Migrants and the Sea at the Borders of Sabah, Malaysia: Pelagic Alliance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), won the Universiti Malaya Award for Outstanding Achievement (ACUM) for Best Social Science Book of 2022 and has received international acclaim and reviews. Dr Somiah is currently working on her fourth book which explores the lives and resilience of Bornean women.  In 2024, Dr. Somiah was a Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and SEANNET. In 2025, she was appointed a Harvard Asia Centre Associate (2025-2026) https://asiacenter.harvard.edu/vilashini-somiah . That same year, she was elected to the Southeast Asia Council at the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in the United States, a position she will hold until 2028  https://www.asianstudies.org/about/governance/councils/southeast-asia-council-seac/.  Beyond academia, she writes ethnographic articles on Malaysia’s socio-political landscape. To learn more about her work, visit www.vilashinisomiah.com.   Dr. Somiah is NO LONGER accepting PhD students. Please however consider contacting other members of the Gender Studies Programme for potential supervision.     

Claire currently teaches epidemiology, research methodology and biostatistics to both undergraduates and postgraduate students at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. Claire has focused considerable energy on violence, older persons' health, adolescent health, and reproductive and sexual health research. Her research interests include the international public health burden of violence especially on older people, women and children; investigating the linkages between violence and mental health; the development and evaluation of interventions to address violence; research on victimization via ICT and exposure to social media such as cyberbullying, sexual and physical victimization; and the application of mixed methodology in public health research.  She is part of the University of Malaya Grand Challenge Programme; Preventing Elder Abuse and Neglect Initiative (PEACE). Her projects include determining the magnitude and social determinants of elder abuse (EAN) among community and institutionalized older adults; examine effects of educational intervention on management of EAN among healthcare providers; review effectiveness of interventions on EAN; the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on health and well-being of older persons, and examine the effectiveness of social isolation and loneliness interventions on health outcomes.  Since 2021, Claire is a core team member of the WHO Abuse of Older People Intervention Accelerator Initiative, an international research-practice network that aims to speed up development and evaluation of effective interventions. Claire was previously appointed as a consultant and researcher by the National Population and Family Development Board, World Health Organization and UNICEF. She is also a member for the International Network for the Prevention for Elder abuse and International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Claire assessed grants for the UK National Institute for Health Research Global Health Programme, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme and the Postgraduate Research Fund. Claire is an associate editor for Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health. She has published over a hundred ISI papers including in Nature Aging, Campbell Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, Journal of Adolescent Health, Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Abuse Review, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Trauma, Abuse and Violence Journal, Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect among others. She also co-authoured several books and book chapters including Statistical Analysis Using SPSS 3rd Edition, Age-ing Peacefully and Guide for Caring of Older Adults. Claire has also previously an invited speaker and conducted several workshops/courses such as Research Methodology, Data analysis using SPSS, Train the trainers for CE-EBM, and Evidence Based Medicine. 

Prof. Ir. Dr. Ang Bee Chin is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya. She obtained her Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from Universiti Malaya in 2011, supported by a scholarship. She is a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng, UK) and a Professional Engineer (Ir., Malaysia), with research interests in nanoparticles, polymer-based nanocomposites, nanotechnology, electrospinning, materials characterization, and failure analysis. To date, she has published over 100 papers, with an H-index of 33. Dr. Ang is also active in professional bodies and academic leadership. She serves as a Senate member at Universiti Malaya, an Exco member of the Materials Technical Division (IEM), and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Malaysia. Her contributions extend to organizing conferences, mentoring, and serving as a coach or judge in national and international events. She is recognized as a certified Materials Failure Investigator (MFIP-Level 3) and has received awards at international and national exhibitions, reflecting the impact of her research and professional service.