Dr Benedict Francis is an associate professor and consultant psychiatrist at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya and was selected for the Brightsparks scholarship to pursue his Masters in Psychological Medicine at his alma mater, the University of Malaya. Subsequently, he completed a fellowship program in Aged Healthcare Services at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, in 2019. Dr Benedict is one of the research leads at the Psychological Medicine Research Unit and has been involved as principal investigator and sub-investigator for several international, multi-centre clinical trials including the ESCAPE-TRD, REMISSIO, ASPIRE, SUSTAIN-3, ROUTE 6, and CONNEX-2 trials. He has also published in several international and regional peer-reviewed journals and presented in international congresses. Dr Benedict has and continues to exhibit stellar leadership in his field. He was part of the Ministry of Health’s  National Advisory Board committee that drafted the guidelines for prescribing and dispensing Esketamine, a novel adjunct antidepressant treatment. In addition, he has been part of several steering commitees that paved new directions in mental health. For example, he was appointed to be part of the Southeast Asian steering committee to develop a patient decision aid for people living with schizophrenia. He is also part of the regional Asia Pacific steering commitee to develop a module for cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). In 2023, he received the Excellent Service Award from the University of Malaya in recognition of his contributions. Dr Benedict is regarded as a Key Opinion Leader in the field of treatment resistant depression and schizophrenia and is a regular invited speaker at both local and regional events. He is actively involved in several associations at various levels. He is a life member of the Malaysian Psychiatric Association and a corresponding member of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He is also a member of the Asian College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He was inducted as Fellow of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists.  Besides clinical medicine, Dr Benedict is keenly interested in the various facets of research ethics, particularly in the subfield of Neuroethics. He was recently awarded a scholarship under the auspices of the Fogarty International Centre of the United States National Institute of Health in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, to pursue his Master's in Health Research and Ethics at the University of Malaya.

Afiq received his First-Class Honors Degree in Biotechnology from the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST) in 2013. He received the MUST President's Award for academic excellence and being the most accomplished student in his class. In 2014, he decided to follow his passion for research and enrolled in an MSc program in Genetic Manipulation and Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Sussex, UK. After completing his MSc program, Afiq gained valuable research experience by working as a research assistant at the Cancer Research Center (CaRC), Institute for Medical Research (IMR) in Kuala Lumpur. In 2015, he was awarded an Academic Training Fellowship (SLAB/SLAI) by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to pursue his PhD at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. His doctoral research focuses on the discovery of new antiviral HIV-1 and VSV restriction factors. His findings have been published in reputable scientific journals and have gained the interest of the global scientific community. After completing his PhD in 2019, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the MRC-Centre for Virus Research (CVR) at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. In 2020, he returned to Malaysia to work as a senior lecturer in the microbiology program at the Institute of Biological Sciences, Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur. He currently teaches public health microbiology, diagnostic microbiology, microbial pathogenesis, and virology to undergraduate students. In addition to teaching, he also conducts research on various aspects of microbiology, with a particular focus on viral diseases. His research aims to understand the mechanisms of viral replication and pathogenesis as well as develop novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of viral infections. He actively collaborates with other researchers, both locally and internationally, to contribute to the global understanding of infectious diseases. In 2023, he was awarded a prestigious ASEAN-India Research & Training (A-IRTF) Fellowship from the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India for 3-month research attachment at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi).

Associate Professor Dr. Yong Adilah Binti Shamsul Harumain is an academic leader in transportation planning and a leading researcher on women’s mobility in Southeast Asia at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya. Her expertise stems from extensive research, policy engagement, and long-standing international collaborations with partners in Japan, Indonesia, Korea, the United Kingdom, and South Asia. She is currently the Coordinator of the Dual PhD Programme, having previously served as Coordinator for the Master by Research Programme (2022). At Universiti Malaya, she plays a significant leadership role as Deputy Head of the Centre of Sustainable Planning and Real Estate (Research Centre) and Deputy Head (Pro-tem) of the Smart Mobility Centre of Excellence, while also contributing as a member of the JK Penasihat MRT Universiti Malaya and the Faculty QS World University Rankings Task Force. Her academic supervision spans ten PhD candidates, with research themes including transportation planning, women’s mobility, safe city initiatives, urban design, and inclusive urban planning. Beyond the university, Associate Professor Dr. Adilah was appointed as a Public Hearing Committee Member for the Kuala Lumpur Draft Local Plan (PTKL 2040) under the Ministry of Federal Territories and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), reflecting her trusted role in national-level planning deliberations and policy review. She is a mentee of the Asia-Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) Program under the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), engaging in regional leadership development and mentoring women in academia. She is also a mentee of the Women Leadership Foundation Programme and recently involved with AKEPT (Higher Education Leadership Academy), contributing to leadership development, governance discourse, and capacity-building initiatives aligned with strengthening academic leadership and institutional excellence in Malaysia’s higher education sector. Dr. Adilah is recognised for her pioneering and community-centred research. She led the first Malaysian exploration of the Machinoeki (Hentian Komuniti) concept in Taiping, inspired by Japanese community infrastructure traditions. This work earned her the Sumitomo Foundation Research Grant twice (2016; 2021), including support for her flagship Safe City for Children initiative. Her international research leadership is further demonstrated through the AHRC–UKRI Research Networking Grant (2018), facilitating collaboration with Coventry University (UK), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and DesignPAK (Pakistan) on barriers to women’s mobility. Recently she was awarded a grant from the British Council and SEAMEO-Rihed working on projects related to women leadership in collaboration with University of Gadjah Mada and University of West England at Bristol. She is also now working with Majlis Bandaraya Kuantan on understanding the persona of the elderly at the Temporary Relief Centre during disaster with Dr Nik Elyna Myeda and Dr Nur Aulia Rosni and on urban farming and community farming with Associate Professor Dr Nikmatul Adha Nordin.  She actively integrates empirical findings into undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, ensuring their relevance to real-world urban challenges. Her applied work includes close collaboration with the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, community empowerment programs, and advisory roles with the Ministry of Federal Territories, particularly in flood mitigation and urban resilience. She has also secured and contributed to numerous competitive grants, including UMCARES, the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), and the Integrated Research Grant (IIRG) involving cross-faculty collaboration with Engineering and Medicine on active transportation and public health. She authored 2 books, Mobiliti Pengangkutan Wanita and Children in the Built Environment and many other chapters in books.  Her recent accolades include the SATU Grant, supporting collaboration with National Cheng Kung University, IIT Roorkee, and Universiti Sains Malaysia, and the ASEAN University Alliance (AUA) Scholars Grant (2020/2021) for research on women’s mobility with Universitas Indonesia. She contributes to scholarly governance as an Editor for Universitas Indonesia’s in-house journal, and regularly serves as a reviewer and scientific committee member for international journals, conferences, and research platforms. Associate Professor Dr. Adilah is an active member of regional and international professional networks, including the APRU Children and Youth Working Group, the Asia-Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) Mentorship Programme, and the Women Leadership Foundation. Professionally, she is a graduate of the Malaysian Institute of Planners, registered with the Board of Town Planners Malaysia, a member of the Transportation Science Society Malaysia, and an affiliate of heritage-focused organisations such as the UM Cultural Heritage Research Centre and the Perak Heritage Society. Through her interdisciplinary scholarship, policy engagement, and commitment to leadership development, Associate Professor Dr. Yong Adilah Binti Shamsul Harumain exemplifies a forward-thinking academic leader grounded in strong planning traditions. Her work continues to advance inclusive mobility, safe cities, urban heritage, and community-based planning, reflecting Universiti Malaya’s ethos as a Home of the Bright, Land of the Brave.