Yasmin completed her BSc at University of Surrey and MSc at University of Malaya then received a Chevening scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in Plant Virology at the John Innes Institute U.K. She joined UM as a lecturer in the Department of Genetics and Cellular Biology and was appointed a full Professor in 2005, an elected member of UM senate since 2017 and the senate representative to the board of UM from 2019 to 2021. She retired offcially from UM in May 2021 and currently continues to serve UM as an honarary Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies UM. She is also an adjunct professor at IUMW and an honarary fellow of the Tun Ghazali Shafie Institue for Strategic leadership at UCYP. She is  fellow and currently on the council of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia She contiinues to be part of  a dynamic research group and still publishes actively, focusing on utilising modern biotechnology strategies to tackle fundamental problems in agriculture as well on issues related to BioPolicies, Bioethics and Biosafety. Recently  she was involved in ASMs Science Outlook 2020 review and the National Biotechnology Policy II. She has filed more than 10 patents and graduated more than 20 PhD and 25 MSc students. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia and listed as in the Top Research Scientist Malaysia database. She was a founding trustee of the National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia, a founding member of the Asian Network for Biosafety Education and was a two term expert member on the National Biosafety Board. Yasmin was the first head of the Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture and chair of the University’s Biotechnology and Bioproduct Cluster (UMBIO). She was also chief editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. in 2009 she left UM for a 3 year secondment to the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation Malaysia as Undersecretary of the National Biotechnology Division . During her tenure Malaysia launched the Bioeconomy Initiative Malaysia designed to spur growth of the biotechnology industry. Whilst there, she spearheaded the committee which led to the formation of the National Bioethics Council. She has sat on the Board of Directors of MARDI, the Board of Governors of ICGEB, Trieste and was the National Point of Contact (NPC) for UNESCO’s Microbial Biotechnology Network and SEA-EU-NET (Biotech). Prior to retirement she was  Associate vice chancellor (Industry & Community) & prior to this the  Director of the University of Malaya Centre for Innovation & Commercilisation. In these roles she focused on building the university's entreprenureal ecosystem andd fostering engagement and collaboration with industry and the community.  She is also founding  vice president of the Innovation and Technology Managers Association Malaysia. She has sat on the Board of MaGIC (mymagic.my) and more recently on the boards of UMInnovations SB, UMPlantations SB & UMCapital Berhad. She is now chair of the Boards of Mranti corporation and Xeraya Capital. She is also a fellow of ICDM and a registered technology transfer professional (RTTP).    see also her archival profile in Scientific American World Vision: http://www.saworldview.com/wv/profiles/yasmin-othman/

Dr. Mumtaz Aini Alivi is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Media and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya. She earned her Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) with a double major in (i) Language and Malay Linguistics and (ii) Journalism from Universiti Putra Malaysia. She later obtained her Master of Corporate Communication and Doctor of Philosophy (Mass Communication) from the same university. Her research interests primarily focus on Journalism, Broadcasting, News, Online Media, Political Communication, and Mass Communication. Apart from her academic qualifications, Dr. Mumtaz has extensive experience in journalism, news broadcasting, and media industry management. She was a media practitioner for twenty-two years at Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), a government television station. For almost twenty years, she was attached to the News and Current Affairs Department, where she held multiple roles, including Broadcast Journalist, Newscaster, News Editor, and News Producer. Throughout her career, she was involved in various high-profile assignments, including accompanying the Prime Minister and other national leaders for international news coverage, conducting live news broadcasts from Parliament, and reporting on other significant national events, in addition to daily news coverage. After completing her PhD, Dr. Mumtaz transitioned to a different role at RTM, serving as Assistant Director in the Policy and Research Section. She later assumed the same role in the Strategic Planning Section before being transferred to the Quality Control for Creative Content Unit as an Evaluation Officer. These three divisions operate under the Strategic Development Department, where she contributed for an additional two years before leaving RTM. With over two decades of experience in the media industry—particularly in television news, along with some experience in radio and media management—Dr. Mumtaz has made significant contributions to the field. Her dedication and passion for journalism were recognized when she won the Best Broadcast Journalist Award at the national level in 2001. In addition to her industry experience, Dr. Mumtaz has been appointed by several organizations for various consultancy and evaluation roles. She has served as a panel judge for the prestigious Malaysian Journalism Award, organized by the Malaysia Press Institute (MPI). She was also a panel member for Pitching Evaluation (Private) and a panel member for Screening (Syndicated) for RTM programs. In 2021, Dr. Mumtaz transitioned from media practice to academia, joining the University of Malaya as a Senior Lecturer. She embraced this new career path with a bigger mission—to contribute to nation-building by sharing her knowledge and experience to shape future leaders in journalism and media.

Dr Azlida obtained her Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Malaya (UM) in 2008. After working with the Ministry of Health for over two years, she became a trainee lecturer at the University of Malaya (UM) in 2010. She then earned a Master's in Dental Public Health (DPH) from Queen Mary, University of London, along with a Diploma in Dental Public Health from the Royal College of Surgeons (England) in 2011. She enrolled for a PhD programme at Cardiff University in 2014 and completed it in 2017. Her PhD project won the prestigious Roger Anderson Prize from The British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry. Dr Azlida is currently an Associate Professor and a registered dental public health specialist in Malaysia. She teaches and supervises students in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In the early years of her academic career, she held the position of undergraduate coordinator. From 2020 onward, she assumed the role of Postgraduate Coordinator (Master of Community Oral Health) and is currently spearheading the Doctor of Dental Public Health (DrDPH) programme at the Faculty of Dentistry, UM. Continuing to enhance her credentials, she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education (with distinction) from the University of South Wales, UK, and was awarded a Fellowship in Dental Education from the Faculty of Dental Trainers, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2023. She possesses a commendable record of publications in ISI/Scopus-indexed journals and has actively participated as a reviewer for numerous publications. Her accomplishments include receiving awards for research, education, and innovation on both national and international platforms. Her research pursuits range from preventive dentistry and oral epidemiology to dental education. In recent years, she has taken a proactive approach by publishing in mass media to share insights about dentistry and promote oral disease prevention with the general public. She is also actively engaged with the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) and has assumed roles as a committee member for the National Oral Health Plan (2021-2030), an expert involved in reviewing the National Fluoride Guideline, and a consultant assessing oral health promotion activities. Additionally, she served as a council member for the Malaysian Association of Dental Public Health Specialists (MADPHS) for the 2022-2024 term.