Firdaus Aziz is a Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation at the Faculty of Law, Universiti Malaya. His work centres on medical law, biosafety law, and the legal–ethical dimensions of emerging technologies, including stem cell science, biobanking, gene editing, and precision medicine. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Universiti Malaya and received the National Science Fellowship to pursue an MA in Biotechnological Law and Ethics at the University of Sheffield. He later completed a DPhil in Public Health at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, specialising in stem cell law and ethics at the Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies (HeLEX). Since 2016, he has contributed to strengthening bioethics capacity in Southeast Asia. As a UNESCO Bioethics Trainer, he has delivered training to academicians teaching bioethics in universities across Indonesia, the Philippines, Fiji, and other parts of the region. He is also a co-investigator for the Wellcome Trust–funded Southeast Asian Bioethics Network and for the NIH Fogarty programme developing Malaysia’s Master’s in Health Research Ethics. Firdaus plays an active role in national and regional governance, serving on Malaysia’s Technical Advisory Committee on Dual-Use Research, the National Sub-Committee for Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity, and the National Committee on Ethics of Cell Research and Therapy. He provides expert input to government agencies, including the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, contributing to national policy development such as the Guidelines on Stem Cell and Cell-based Research and Therapy (2024) and Malaysia’s first national biotechnology ethics guidelines (2025). He is also involved in national efforts to reform the criminal justice system, with research and supervisory work that engages issues at the intersection of law, public health, and justice sector governance.

Dr. Norfaezah Md Khalid is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, University Malaya, and is also a Registered Counsellor with the Malaysian Board of Counsellors. She earned a Bachelor of Counselling with distinction (2009). She was awarded the University of Malaya Book Prize, followed by a fast-track PhD in Counselling (2016) under the Skim Latihan Akademik IPTA (Ministry of Higher Education). She teaches counselling and basic psychology courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She specializes in counselling, marriage and family therapy, and family functioning. Her research centers on family functioning, caregiving experiences, social vulnerability, mental health, and psychological instrument development. With interests spanning family caregiving and intervention, family and counselling assessment, counselling, and mental health, she applies her expertise through leading research grants, publishing in WOS and Scopus, authoring books and chapters, contributing to media and scholarly outputs, conducting evaluation work within and beyond the university, and supervising PhD and master's students. Beyond research, Dr. Norfaezah is deeply engaged in academic leadership and community service. She is actively involved in community-based mental-health initiatives, youth-empowerment programs, and professional training for practitioners such as the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (LPKKN, LKM), and serves as a volunteer counsellor for the Pertubuhan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (PERKIM). Her work reflects a strong commitment to translating research into practice, building resilience among families and vulnerable communities, and promoting holistic psychological well-being. Having previously served as the Programme Coordinator for the Master of Professional Counselling program, she leveraged the experience gained to take on broader academic and leadership responsibilities, including contributing to university-level curriculum reviews, preparing core academic documents, and serving as an academic program assessor for institutions such as UTM. She also prepared key documents for the Diploma Executive Counselling under the UMCCED and delivered workshops for academic staff, including at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Recently, she was appointed as the Programme Advisor for the Diploma in Counselling at Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.