Lead UM Neuroscience Research Group (NeuroRG), a group of multi-disciplinary based researchers focusing on the Nervous System. The focus of each research with its approach specifically suited to its nature: a) laboratory based researches; eg, comparative neurobiology of non-mammalian vertebrates nervous system; animal behavioral model for memory; neurohistological characterization  b) non-laboratory based researches; eg, comparison of issues from Islamic and Neuroscience established perspectives on learning and related factors like sleep for normal and autistic children; coping strategies of Muslim parents with autistic children One of the works being conducted by NeuroRG team is on substances/food that are encouraged by Islam; eg, Prophetic substances -- food like Habbatus Sauda (Nigella sativa) and honey.  Specifically, studies are on the effects of consumption on spatial and/or non spatial memory, neurohistology of specific brain structures and neurocytology of the neurons, and their neuroprotective effects.  Also have collaborated researches on the effects of these substances on other physiological systems, e.g. reproductive physiology, wound healing to skin.  Have received grants from government bodies and the University of Malaya for related researches.  Outputs of grants include publications in journals and books, and presentations at local and international scientific meetings.  In addition, have successfully supervised students at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels (MSc, MPhil, MBiotech, PhD). Teaching include subjects/modules such as Neurobiology, Diseases of the Central Nervous System, Histology, and Animal Use and Care Bioethics.

Wenn-Chyau Lee received his BSc (Hons) degree in Biomedical Sciences from Universiti Malaya, Malaysia in 2011, and graduated with his PhD in Medical Sciences from Universiti Malaya in 2014. Subsequently, he joined Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN, A*STAR) as a research fellow. He was appointed as SIgN fellow (young investigator) in 2018. He joined A*STAR ID Labs as an investigator in 2021. Subsequently, he joined the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya as a senior lecturer. Currently, he is also an adjunct investigator of A*STAR ID Labs, Singapore. As a parasitologist, he has involved in studies encompassing several medically important parasites. His main research interest revolves around the immuno-pathobiology of malaria. He has been investigating and deciphering the roles of rosetting (a phenomenon where a Plasmodium-infected red blood cell is stably adhered to uninfected red blood cells, forming a flower-like structure called ‘rosette’) in the pathogenesis of malaria. Besides, he is exploring the potential of applying different biocontrol strategies to eliminate vector-borne diseases. He has worked as a research fieldworker in different places including the Thai-Burmese Border, China, peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. As different laboratory settings are equipped differently, he enjoys adapting and improvising facilities available in the field sites to conduct experiments, as well as coordinating the insectarium and Arthropod Containment Level 2(ACL2) facility in the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. To date, he has published (as first/ corresponding author) in reputable journals such as Blood, Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, eLife, EBioMedicine, Entomologia Generalis, and Trends in Parasitology. Apart from reviewing manuscripts for various journals, as well as evaluating grant proposals for local and overseas funders, he is also an associate editor of Frontiers in Microbiology and one of the editorial board members for the journal Decoding Infection and Transmission.  He has involved in various teaching activities for students from different programs in Universiti Malaya, such as the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Master of Pathology (MPATH), and Master of Medical Parasitology and Entomology, as well as the students from overseas institutes, such as the Master of Science Program in Public Health, Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Thailand. Besides participating as the coordinator for courses and several projects in the department, he is also the instructor of the microscopy training for the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) co-organized by the University of Glasgow and Universiti Malaya. He served as a moderator in "Implementation Research (WPR-facilitated)", a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) by RTC-TDR-WHO in 2025. He has been a member of the Research Management Unit (RMU), Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya since 2022. He is also a member of the A*STAR Global Network (A*GN), Singapore, the Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (MSBMB), and the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (MSPTM).

Started his research career in the think tank sector, Dr. Lee Chee Leong (Karl) is attracted to the rise of non-traditional diplomacy in the international order today. Such appeal has taken Dr. Lee into new research horizons that started with his Monash University's doctoral research on the Chinese sub-state diplomacy in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. With constructive supervision by Professor Helen Nesadurai and Associate Professor Kuik Cheng Chwee, Dr. Lee completed his doctoral thesis that unravels how a faraway and least developed sub-state of Guangxi managed to overcome its own hurdles, navigate the complexities within the Chinese state and become the frontline actor in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. Following his doctoral completion, Dr. Lee's research on non-traditional diplomacy has expanded into Taiwan’s quasi-state diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Such quest has led him spending at great length in comprehending the concept of soft power, a concept that finds its relevance to Taiwan, which has no official diplomatic with Southeast Asia but is heavily connected to the region and has to rely on soft power in its engagements with these Southeast Asian nations. Taking Malaysia as the first case study of Taiwan's soft power in the region, Dr. Lee is developing the third intervening variable correlating both Taiwanese soft power resources and outcomes, in his course of providing a dynamical explanation for such phenomenon. For the coming years, his research focus and publications will be on the different areas featuring Taiwan-Malaysia and Taiwan-Southeast Asia cooperation such as digital social innovation (DSI) for climate change, industry-based education/training programmes, smart cities, tourism, digital democracy, agriculture, public health and medicine, ornamental aquaculture and aquascape. To date, Dr. Lee was the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships in Malaysia and overseas: University of Malaya’s Graduate Fellowship (2010-2011); Monash University’s Merit Scholarship (2016-2019); Chinese Government Scholarship (2018-2019); and Taiwan Fellowship (2020). Prior to his appointment as Senior Lecturer at the Institute of China Studies (ICS), he was the Visiting Scholar at Guangxi University for Nationalities (GXUN) (2018-10992019), Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University (NCCU) (2020) and Associate Fellow at ICS UM (2016-2019).He welcomes any potential PhD candidate who would like to work on Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations, Taiwan's soft power in Southeast Asia and Taiwan-Malaysia DSI cooperation for climate change. He is also willing to discuss with potential doctoral candidates on proposals related to the Chinese sub-state (provincial) diplomacy toward ASEAN, China's soft power in ASEAN, Southeast Asian sub-state diplomacy, comparative cases of sub-state diplomacy around the world and conceptual innovation of sub-state diplomacy as well as soft power.