Dr. Jamilah Syafawati Yaacob completed her B.Sc (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology & Biotechnology) from University of Melbourne, Australia in 2007, and her M.Sc (Crop Biotechnology) from University of Nottingham (Malaysia campus) in 2009. She received her PhD in Biotechnology from University of Malaya in 2013 and was one of the recipients of the University of Malaya Excellence Awards in 2014 for completing her PhD in less than 4 years. In 2010, during her PhD candidature, she had also won a Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Biosciences & Biotechnology during University of Malaya Innovation and Creativity Expo. After successfully completing her PhD, she then joined the Institute of Biological Sciences at the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya as a Senior Lecturer. Since then, she has taught and coordinated various undergraduate courses such as Biology of Organisms, Genetic Engineering in Animals and Plants, Cell and Tissue Culture and Higher Plant Physiology. At the postgraduate level, she has also helped in teaching Research Methodology, a compulsory course upon entry into postgraduate studies at the department. Since her employment as an Academic, she has served the department and University in various administrative duties, such as the programme coordinator for Bachelor of Science with Education (ISB), BSc in Biotechnology, academic advisor, final year project coordinator and many more. Her current research interest is on manipulation of plant tissue culture system for biotechnological applications, with special emphasis on stress-induced plant secondary metabolites and proteins for medicinal applications and sustainable production of functional food colorants. Her present research works include projects on understanding and manipulating plant’s response towards abiotic stress for over-expression of valuable bioactive compounds, such as in Azadirachta indica (neem). The regulation of proteins involved in the biosynthesis of these bioactive compounds or secondary metabolites are analyzed through proteomics-based approach, to allow for a better understanding of the biosynthesis pathways that has been affected. In addition to that, she is also working on the epigenetics aspect of plant phenotypic plasticity, to understand the epigenetic regulation (with focus on histone modification) in DNA repair and somaclonal variation. In recognition of her work and scientific achievements, she has won several awards such as a Gold Medal at International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX) in 2013 and a Bronze Medal at Bioinnovation Awards/BioMalaysia & Bioeconomy Asia Pacific 2013. Other than that, she is also actively participating in the scientific community and the public by taking on various roles as a judge or jury in scientific competitions and innovation programs at national and secondary school levels. These include her role as a judge for Malaysian Agricultural Invention Show (MAgIS) competition organized by Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in 2016, and judge for science videos and scientific poem recitation competitions organized by Ministry of Education in 2017-2018, among others. Professionally, she was also one of the representatives in the working group for pineapple planting material for preparation of Malaysian Standard (organized by SIRIM Malaysia) in 2018. Outside of work and research, she also loves to join various events that promote sustainability and green environment.

Dr Nishakanthi Gopalan is a Senior Lecturer at the Medical Humanities and Ethics Unit (MedHEU), a newly established unit within the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (UM). She is a biotechnologist by training with a PhD in research ethics and policy implication particularly looking at stem cell technology. During this time, she published her key findings in several reputable high-impact bioethics journals. Dr Nisha is the former programme coordinator of the Master of Health Research Ethics (MOHRE), a programme developed in collaboration with the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Besides teaching in MOHRE, she also provides ethics lectures in other programmes in the faculty. Dr Nisha also contributes as an external member of the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) Medical Research Ethics Committee. She is one of the instructors for the Introduction to Health Research Ethics, an online course in FutureLearn. She also facilitates the APRU Health Research Ethics course. Dr Nisha’s research interest includes different aspects of ethics such as bioethics, research and clinical ethics on diverse topics ranging from emerging technologies (such as regenerative medicine, stem cells, and genetic testing), health research, and aesthetic medicine. She is an expert in qualitative research methods such as in depth interviews, focus group discussion (FGD), inductive and deductive analysis, thematic analysis, grounded theory, as well as narrative and scoping reviews. Currently, she is working on the Fogarty International Centre (FIC), NIH bioethics training grant with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) as well as on the ethics of genetic testing among Parkinson’s patients (USMC Care Fund). She is constantly on the look out for collaboration on local /regional / international projects on the various topics involving ethics. 

Dr Rohaida Mohd. Saat is an honorary professor at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. She was the former dean at the faculty and before that, she was the Head of Quality Assurance and Accreditation Unit, Quality Management Enhancement Centre (QMEC), University of Malaya.  She received her Bachelor Degree and Master’s degree from Indiana University, USA and PhD degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia. She also holds a certificate in Qualitative Research Methods from The University of Georgia, USA. Her area of specialization and research is in science education, teacher education and qualitative research methodology. She headed several research projects in the area of science education, funded by various agencies. She has authored and co-authored several books, articles and research reports in the area of science education and education in general.  She has also served as Editorial Boards of Eurasia Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, European Journal of STEM Education and Journal of Science and Mathematics in Southeast Asia. She has served the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) as a MyRA Auditor and on the panel of evaluators for MOHE research grants. She is a trained ISO auditor and the ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUNQA) lead academic programme assessor.