Associate Professor Dr Rafidah Aga Mohd Jaladin (BSc. (Hons) Psych (UWA, Perth), M.Couns (Hons) (Malaya), PhD (Monash, Australia)) is a counselling psychologist at the Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. She was a recipient of Excellent Service Award (2018) and Excellent Service Certificate thrice (i.e., 2005, 2013, and 2015) during her service at the university. She has been executive member of the International Counselling Association of Malaysia (PERKAMA International) since 2015 and a mentor for University of Malaya Counselling Association (PERKUM) since 2013. She was a program coordinator for Bachelor of Counselling programme from 2012 to 2014. She was appointed Head of Department from 2014-2015, dealing with staff, students, human resource, curriculum and more. She was also appointed as a Director of UM Family Research and Development Centre in July 2020 to 30 June 2022. She is involved in curriculum review exercises, national and international networking, as well as community works. She was also a resident fellow at both private and public universities in Malaysia for a total of six years (1999 - 2005), thus has had hands-on residential experience on student affairs. Rafidah has more than 20 years of experience as a professional practitioner-cum-educator in psychology and counselling at various work settings. She has educated and trained diverse client populations including, school and college students, corporate staff, and local communities. Her publications comprise counselling and psychology books, book chapters, learning modules, journal articles, and magazine entries. Some of her published works are Professional Issues and Ethics in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2013, 2017), Introduction to Crisis Counselling (2016), Multicultural Counselling (2015), Group Dynamics (2016), Intervensi Krisis dalam Hubungan Menolong (2020, awarded as 50 Best Malaysian Titles), and Teori Kaunseling: Panduan Pemilihan dan Pembentukan Orientasi Teoritikal Kaunselor (2022). Her research areas include multicultural counselling, counsellor education, supervision and training; and mental health literacy and counselling. Rafidah has been involved in about 30 research projects. Her current projects are funded by the Ministry of Higher Education: Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) -  Development of Continuous Professional Development Training Module based on Multicultural Counselling Competencies for Professional Counsellors in Malaysia and Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP) – Empowering Disabled Youths’ Psychological Wellbeing for Career Development (DiY-PsychKit).  Rafidah’s contribution to society involves giving numerous motivational and mental health awareness talks, conducting short courses, sharing psychology-related topics in media, and offering counselling and consultancy services for diverse populations in Malaysia. Her love for communities has resulted in her engagement with cultural minority groups such as at-risk teenagers (RU04I-2016), urban poor children (RU013-2017N), single mothers (RU013-2017H) and disabled youths (MRUN2019-1D). Fit as a fiddle, Rafidah is also active in sports and recreation activities. She has been representing Faculty of Education and University of Malaya in Inter- and Intra-Varsity Sports Carnivals since 2002, especially in Volleyball, Netball, Badminton, and Table Tennis. She was recipient of Highest Achievement in Sports Award by the Vice Chancellor in 2004. As a certified HRDF trainer (No. 5469), Rafidah is currently looking into exploring academia-corporate training and consultation through HRDF community network.

Professor Dr. Raja Jasmin is a consultant rheumatologist and the Head of Rheumatology at Universiti Malaya and University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Her areas of expertise include scleroderma, lupus, connective tissue diseases and autoimmune related arthritis. She obtained her advanced subspecialty training in Rheumatology at the Royal Free Hospital, University College of London (UCL), focusing on scleroderma. Her research work in various field of rheumatology was presented in international conferences and published in ISI-indexed peer reviewed journals. Dr Raja Jasmin is also actively involved as principal investigator in rheumatology clinical trials. She is a committee member of Malaysian Society of Rheumatology (MSR) and she has various appointed positions in the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) including scientific committee member, co-convenor and steering committee of scleroderma special interest group. She is the founder of Arthritis PPUM Care Fund in UMMC. She is also actively involved as a coordinator of University Malaya Medical Programme (UMMP) curriculum at University Malaya

Dr. Cindy Teh Shuan Ju is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and a leading researcher in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Dr. Teh has secured substantial research funding of more than RM10 million and has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications. She has received research grants awarded by Malaysian Government and International agencies as well as Industry partners. Dr. Cindy Teh adopts a multipronged approach in addressing the challenge of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Her research integrates molecular microbiology to uncover the mechanisms underlying resistance, virulence, and transmission dynamics of hospital-acquired pathogens. In addition to investigating the pathogens themselves, she also examines the impact of antibiotics on patients’ microbiomes and studies the carriage of multidrug-resistant organisms among hospitalized patients. Recognising the importance of behavioural factors, Dr. Teh explores the psychosocial aspects influencing healthcare workers’ compliance with hand hygiene practices. Beyond the laboratory and clinical settings, Dr. Teh is also deeply committed to community outreach. She actively engages with schoolchildren through educational initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of AMR. These programmes are designed to empower the younger generation with knowledge, encouraging them to play a proactive role in combating AMR from an early age. Dedicated to bridging science and society, she authored “AMR Diary” to raise public awareness in 2023. Beyond her research contributions, Dr. Teh has been playing several key leadership roles. As Chairperson of the Institutional Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee (IBBC), she has significantly strengthened biosafety governance and oversees all university activities involving infectious agents and toxins. She was appointed as the Quality Manager of the Faculty of Medicine from 2018 to 2022, where she played a pivotal role in enhancing academic quality and institutional standards. She has also been actively involved as the panel assessor for the accreditation of programs in the University since 2022. Dr. Teh also serves as the Coordinator of the Infra Microbiology Unit, where she leads a dedicated team actively engaged by government agencies and industry partners. Under her leadership, the unit conducts microbiological studies and delivers customised training programmes aimed at capacity building and strengthening technical competencies across sectors. Professionally, Dr. Teh serves as an Academic Editor for PeerJ. She provides expert consultation to national agencies and industry on ISO 17025 compliance and biosafety systems. She has also contributed as one of the module writers for the national biosafety training programme under the Malaysia One Health University Network (MyOHUN), helping to strengthen the country’s biosafety training framework. Additionally, she plays an active role in national policy development as a member of the National Committee for the Implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), supporting efforts to enhance biosafety and biosecurity governance at the national level. Dr. Teh’s contributions have been nationally and internationally recognised. She is a member of Young Scientists Network-academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM) since 2018. She also received the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship in 2021 and the MSIDC-Institut Mérieux Young Researcher Award in 2018. In addition, her innovative work has earned multiple medals at both national and international innovation exhibitions. To date, Dr. Teh has successfully supervised and graduated 8 PhD and 16 Master’s students, reflecting her strong commitment to postgraduate training and research mentorship.