ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. WONG KAH HUI

Dr Wong Kah Hui is an Associate Professor at the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology (Honours with Distinction) in 2003, Master of Science (with distinction) in 2007 and Doctor of Philosophy in Human and Animal Physiology in 2011 from Universiti Malaya. She is currently the Academic Editor of PLOS ONE, Review Editor of Frontiers in Pharmacology (former Guest Associate Editor of Frontiers in Pharmacology), Editorial Board Member of BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, Guest Editor of Cells, Subeditor of Journal of Health and Translational Medicine (JUMMEC, Malaysia), Coordinator of Postgraduate Research Programme (Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya) and the life member of Malaysian Anatomical Association (MAA) (former treasurer of MAA, 2015-2021). She was honoured as Outstanding Anatomist (Research)–Established Career Category by MAA on 30 Aug 2023 for her remarkable contributions to anatomical sciences research. She has published 64 articles in Web of Science (WOS)-indexed journals with an H-index of 22 and total citations of 1368; and five book chapters. Her research focuses on using alternative medicines, in particular the culinary and medicinal mushrooms cultivated in Malaysia for neuroprotection and neuroregeneration in cellular and animal models. She is also engaged with Ganofarm R&D Sdn Bhd through the collaborative planning on Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Agreement; Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine University of Hong Kong as a Visiting Research Fellow; and Corielle Institute for Medical Research, New Jersey, USA to pursuit scientific research leading to treatments for hereditary ataxia, on Material Transfer Agreement. Alternative medicines have the advantages of non-invasive, cost-effective and no adverse reactions for patients which could eventually be a breakthrough in the treatment for hereditary ataxia. She aims to integrate Hericium erinaceus mushroom dietary supplement as a novel treatment strategy in clinical practice at the Traditional and Complementary Medicine units of Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals and its future application in degenerative cerebellar ataxia and movement disorders. The above-mentioned areas are conducted by 7 PhD (4 former and 3 active) candidates who have always been enthusiastic about neuroscience research. A PhD thesis titled Protective Mechanisms of Hericium erinaceus (NevGro®) against Oxidative Stress in in vitro models of Friedreich’s ataxia and Depression was awarded Distinction for Thesis by the University on 27 September 2022.  As a team leader, her research group was granted with 12 awards (2 special awards, 7 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze) at various international invention and innovation exhibitions with NevGro® and its functional metabolites for spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 being the latest innovation that received a bronze medal at the recently held 24th Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) 2025 – International Innovation Awards on 20-22 February 2025. She won gold awards at the International Invention, Innovation, Technology Competition & Exhibition (ITEX) 2023 and 2024, Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) 2020 and 2022, Creation and Innovation, Technology & Research Exposition (CITREX) 2021, Penang International Invention, Innovation and Design (PIID) 2019; Melaka International Intellectual Exposition (MIIEx) 2019, two silver awards at the Special Edition 2022-The Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days-Virtual Event and ITEX 2024. She also received Platinum and Most Outstanding Academician awards at the PIID 2019. The achievements were featured on UM Research Bulletin (2019 and 2024) Rubrica News Bulletin (2022), The University of Hong Kong Media-Press Releases (2022), pulse@UM (2020-2022), Milestone@UM Newsletter (2019 and 2020) and The Petri Dish (2018). Apart from research, dispensing high-quality teaching and professional education is the primary goal of any university. She teaches human anatomy to the MBBS, BDS, BBiomedSc and Postgraduate Basic/Clinical Teaching Programme students. Her teaching philosophy is to be passionate, enthusiastic and engaging. She was awarded the Best Preclinical Lecturer for MBBS-UMMP Programme of Universiti Malaya in 2017 and 2019. As for the medical education research, her team comprising of fellow colleagues of Department of Anatomy, and Medical Education Research and Development Unit (MERDU) of the Faculty of Medicine won a silver award for a project titled “Bridging The Gap in The Knowledge of Anatomy as a Doctor Journeys Through The Postgraduate Medical Training” at the Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement Research Conference 2017 (UM-LiTeR 2017) and a bronze award for a project titled “Practical Guide to Facilitate Problem-Based Learning Among Novice Medical Students: Eight Top Tips” at the kNOVASI 2020 Teaching and Learning Congress and Innovation Competition. She represented Universiti Malaya to present a status report of Anatomy Resource Centre (ARC) of Faculty of Medicine at the Committee of Museums and Galleries for Malaysian Public Universities (MyMUSE) Conference and Exhibition in 2019 showcasing the anatomical specimens, its primary function in medical education and future development. She was appointed as the Advisor and one of the trainers by the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Society (MEDSOC) of Universiti Malaya to facilitate the selected Stage 1&2 MBBS students in the preparation for various national competitions including the Intervarsity Medical Quiz Challenge (IMQC) and Intervarsity Medical Olympiad (IVMO). In the 10th edition of IMVO held in 2021, the students secured first and second positions in the individual and group categories, defeating 16 public and private universities in Malaysia.

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PROF. SR DR. HAFEZ BIN SALLEH

Professor Sr Dr. Hafez Salleh , a former Deputy Dean (Undergraduate) and former Head at Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has an educational background in quantity surveying and IT in construction. Currently, he is Head of Centre for Building, Construction & Tropical Architecture (BuCTA) Research. He has a BSc, MSc and PhD Degree from School of the Built Environment and top rated, 6* Research Institute for the Built and Human Environment, University of Salford, United Kingdom. He has 30 years’ experience in both academia and industry practice and has been an active researcher and research supervisor. He is the recipient of Excellence Service Award by University of Malaya in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2022 and recipient of Loyal Service Award 20 Years in 2017. He has supervised a wide range of undergraduate and post graduate research students in various research themes. His main research interest is IT/IS strategic management in construction and sustainable design. His previous research was the development of IT/IS Readiness Model that focuses on evaluation of organizational readiness prior IT/IS investment. He is currently working on the theme of IT/IS evaluation in construction with interest in the links between ‘hard’ & human issues and BIM Implementation in construction industry. He is a Registered Consultant Quantity Surveyor (CQS) with Board of Quantity Surveyor Malaysia (BQSM), Fellow of Royal Institute of Surveyor Malaysia (FRISM), the technical committee member of Malaysian Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP) 2005-2015, Strategic Thrust 6: Leveraging Information Technology, Editorial Board Members, Journal of Surveying, Construction & Property, Associate Editor for Journal of Design and Built Environment (JDBE) and Lead Auditor for QMS ISO 9001:2008, University of Malaya. He was a Member of Quantity Surveying Accreditation Council (QSAC), BQSM, for Session 2019-2021, Auditor for QMS ISO 9001:2015 (BQSM) 2021,2022, 2023 and he is also a regular Assessor Panel of Accreditation for Quantity Surveying Programme for both RISM and BQSM and has been appointed as an External Examiner for more than 28 thesis of Master and PhD examinations.  

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DR. CHUA KAH OOI

Dr. Chua Kah Ooi is now a lecturer in the Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR), Universiti Malaya. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from the same university. He was awarded the MyBRAIN15 (MyPhD) Scholarship Award from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in 2016 for his Ph.D. study. In year 2021, he was appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow in CEBAR. His research interest focuses on bacterial genomics and microbiome study on a variety of biological and environmental samples. He has experience in taxonomic characterization of novel bacterial species including symbionts of insects and environmental bacteria. Currently, he is committed to research on bioinformatics analysis of plant and animal organelle genomes, plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal interaction and halotolerant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria from Malaysian mangroves.

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