Dr Sanjay Rampal was appointed Executive Director of the Department of Research Development under the Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Universiti Malaya in March 2025. He is a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and a Public Health Physician at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.   Dr Rampal was medically trained in India and served in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia from 1998 to 2005. The clinical experiences from his early medical career helped him realize that treating one patient at a time was insufficient and that more could be done by intervening at a population level. He improved his basic epidemiology and biostatistics knowledge by completing an MPH degree in 2004 from Harvard University.   He joined Universiti Malaya in 2005, intending to strengthen the research skills of the Malaysian medical and public health community. He completed his PhD in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in 2014. He was Certified in Public Health (CPH) by the US National Board of Public Health Examiners in 2013.   Dr Rampal’s research has focused primarily on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease. He has investigated the etiological and prognostic roles of various factors with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These factors include gender, ethnicity, nutrition, obesity, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, and other structural determinants of health. He has further investigated the role of these traditional cardiovascular risk factors in cancer development. He hopes to leverage this information further to design and implement better prevention programs that reduce the number of new patients our healthcare system sees. In recent years, he has applied his epidemiological expertise to communicable diseases. He investigated the roles of Obesity and Diabetes on the prognosis of Dengue Severity. His methodological interests include improving research methodology, biostatistics, epidemiological designs, regression models, causal inference, multiple imputations, measurement error, and propensity scoring.   Dr Rampal lectures in epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methods at Universiti Malaya. He has supervised 21 Doctoral, 10 4-year Master of Public Health, and 35 Master’s candidates to completion. He actively supervises 10+ postgraduate students. Since 2005, he has provided many methodological and biostatistical consultations to graduate students and clinical researchers. Dr. Rampal has published 89 WOS and 94 SCOPUS papers (h-index: 32 WOS, 39 SCOPUS; WOS Citations without Self-citations: 17,330) and supervised over 65 postgraduate students.   Dr Rampal is a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia and was the past honorary secretary for the College of Public Health Medicine from 2006-2009 and an executive member from 2016 to 2024. He has chaired the Public Health Medicine Specialty Education Subcommittee at the Malaysian Medical Council since 2020. He was also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for Health Technologies Economic Evaluation, Ministry of Health Malaysia, from 2017 to 2024. He had previously chaired the Malaysian National Conjoint Committee for Public Health Postgraduate Medical Program and the Public Health Society of the Malaysian Medical Association.   Dr Rampal heads the Western Pacific Regional Training Centre of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases(TDR). He is also an advisory member of the Global Health Program of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and an international advisory committee member of the ASEAN University Network Health Promotion Network. He is also a member of the International Epidemiology Association and a past member of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the Society for Epidemiologic Research.   During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Rampal improved the prevention and control of COVID-19 through active research and translation. He had actively communicated with the public through the media on COVID-19 issues. He was a member of the following committees: 1) Science and Technology Expert Panel for Disaster Risk Reduction under the Health and Emerging Threat Cluster of the Malaysia Disaster Management Agency; 2) National COVID-19 Epidemiological Analysis Task Force under the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation; 3) AFC Covid-19 Advisory Expert Group; 4) UMMC COVID-19 Task Force; and 5) the Journal of Global Health Science Commission on COVID-19 Response.

Dr. Mohamed Nashrudin bin Naharudin is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Sports Science (Exercise Physiology) and a Master of Philosophy (Exercise Physiology) from the University of Malaya, as well as a PhD from Loughborough University. Notably, his doctoral thesis investigated the effects of pre-exercise carbohydrate intake on appetite regulation and subsequent resistance exercise performance. Dr. Naharudin's research interests focus on exercise physiology, sports nutrition, and exercise performance. His work has been cited over 200 times, reflecting his contributions to these fields. In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Naharudin actively engages in public speaking and leadership roles. He recently delivered a lecture on "Exercise and Dietary Recommendations for Diabetics" at the Sport and Exercise Research Center of Universitas Negeri Surabaya and deliver many  other lectures in Indonesian Universities. Dr. Mohamed Nashrudin bin Naharudin has actively participated in various media engagements, sharing his expertise on sports science and health-related topics. Among many others, some of notable appearances include: Harian Metro: Panelist for "Hari Malaysia 2024, Bersatu Menghadapi Cabaran" Selamat Pagi Malaysia: Discussed "Perkembangan Terkini Sukan Paralimpik Paris" Astro Awani: Featured in "Awani Pagi: Post Mortem Olimpik Paris, Maju Atau Mundur?" Utusan Malaysia: Interviewed on "Manfaatkan Bulan Puasa Untuk Kesihatan Salur Darah, Jantung" International Engagements: Provided recommendations on exercise for diabetics These appearances highlight Dr. Naharudin's commitment to disseminating knowledge on sports performance, health, and nutrition to a broad audience. In year 2023, Dr Nash has been appointed by YB Hannah Yeoh, Minister of Youth and Sport Malaysia, as one of the board member for National Sport Institute. A year later, 2024, The institute has appointed Dr Nash as expert matter consultant in the area of Sports and Exercise Physiology in ensuring an effective impact in both research and application towards high performance athletes. He also has chaired many meetings (task force and quotation technical committee) in ISN and UM As a former national rower, he has been chosen by Malaysia Rowing Association to be trained in South Korea as Malaysian Paralympic Rowing qualifier. 

Dr. Noorhayati Idros holds a Bachelor’s degree (Hons.) in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia, and an M.Sc. in Nanoelectronics from The University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Her M.Sc. research at Manchester focused on the fabrication of polymer-based thin-film transistors (OTFTs), examining the effects of elevated temperatures on OTFT performance and the active layer's morphology. Following her M.Sc., Dr. Idros joined the Centre for Photonic Devices and Sensors Group at Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering as a Ph.D. candidate. Her doctoral research centered on developing biochemical sensors to detect water contaminants, specifically targeting explosives like 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and heavy metals. This interdisciplinary work utilized aptamer/DNA and chemically functionalized nanophotonic crystal surfaces, integrating microfluidics paper-based devices, sensitive optical detection, and systematic colorimetric analysis in RGB-space via digital imaging and color calibration. Her sensors were designed for low-cost, portable applications. Dr. Idros is an alumnus of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge (UCAM), and was active in university sports, serving as netball team captain for the Cambridge University Malaysia Society and as a netball player for the Malaysian Students' Society of Manchester. Upon completing her Ph.D., Dr. Idros continued as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, where she developed fluorescence-based biochemical sensors for detecting heavy metals in water for Peruvian environmental projects. She also conducted environmental quality assessments in the Rio Cañete drainage basin, using Andean River Shrimp as a bioindicator species. This work involved DNA barcoding for species identification and dietary analysis of the shrimp. Dr. Idros also trained university staff and students in laboratory and field methods, presented her findings, and contributed to the PERU-UCAM staff and student exchange program. In addition to her academic accomplishments, Dr. Idros brings significant industry experience from her time as an engineer at Intel Microelectronics Sdn. Bhd., where she supported System Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) testing for Vista and XP PV milestones, executed CPU and platform test plans, and led Vista Debug installations for CPU Product Release Qualification (PRQ). She also contributed to the Mobile Internet Device (MID) project and gained expertise in Linux-based application porting, as well as electrical and electronics debugging. Currently, Dr. Idros is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Universiti Malaya and a Core Member of the Centre of Printable Electronics, specializing in the development of nanotechnology-based sensors for water quality and environmental monitoring.