Dr. Noor Munirah Isa is a senior lecturer at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya. Her Ph.D. in bioethics, which she received from the same department in 2013, provided her with a solid foundation for her research in this fascinating multidisciplinary field of study. Dr. Munirah has had a lifelong interest in Islam, Muslim, and science. This interest was inspired by medieval Muslim polymaths and was further cultivated when she studied biotechnology and Islamic studies for her bachelor’s degree. She was part of the first batch of students to graduate from the Universiti Malaya Applied Science with Islamic Studies undergraduate program in September 2007. This unique program provided her with the opportunity to study science and religion in an interdisciplinary manner, which has been a driving force behind her research to this day. Dr. Munirah's doctoral thesis was a study on how Muslim scholars assess selected applications of modern biotechnology from an Islamic perspective and how they view conventional perspectives in this regard. Her research has continued to focus on the intersection of science, technology, and society, and she has been especially interested in the interplay between science and Islam, bioethics, and science communication. She believes that these areas are crucial for bridging the scientific community and society, and for promoting public engagement and trust in science. In 2014–2016, Dr. Munirah conducted a small research project aimed at examining the role of Malay science fiction novels in communicating ethics in science and technology to the Malaysian public. This was followed by a larger project, which she led from 2016 to 2019, that explored the Islamic perspectives on human germline gene editing. This project was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and provided Dr. Munirah and her team with the opportunity to explore the Islamic worldview and to expound on Islamic ethical-legal concepts and principles related to human germline gene editing. Dr. Munirah is also a co-investigator in a project on developing standards for using kratom leaves for medical purposes. In addition to studying Islamic perspectives, she is also interested in cross-cultural studies of religious and cultural perspectives on bioethics. Her interest in this area has been recognized by the Global Forum on Bioethics of Research Project Fellowship from Wellcome Trust, which she received to study the ethics of human genome editing from Islamic and Confucian perspectives. She was also awarded the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Scholars Award 2020–2021, which enabled her to explore the influence of religion on bioethics in Thailand, where Buddhism is the official religion. Dr. Munirah is currently the co-principal investigator of an international research project on the ethics and governance of human embryo research and stem cell-based embryo models in Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia. This project, which runs until September 2026, is supported by the Southeast Asia Bioethics Network and focuses on regulatory frameworks, ethical concerns, and cross-cultural perspectives related to emerging reproductive biotechnologies. From May to October 2025, Dr. Munirah served as the assistant leader of a consultancy project to develop Malaysia’s National Ethics Biotechnology Guidelines under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). In this role, she contributed to drafting ethical frameworks and governance recommendations to guide the responsible application of biotechnology in the areas of agriculture, healthcare, and industry. This project reflects her ongoing commitment to advancing ethical governance in emerging technologies. Dr. Munirah recognizes that science communication is a crucial area of research that has been underexplored in Malaysia. With this in mind, she has attempted to fill this gap by conducting small projects with postgraduate students on Malaysian public knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward various topics, including vaccination, dengue fever, and medical cannabis. Through these projects, she aims to better understand public perception towards science and technology and to identify the factors that contribute to public trust in science.

Biographical note: Dr. Chew Shin Yi is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She graduated with a B.Ed TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and obtained her Ph.D. from Universiti Malaya under a fast-track programme. She has taught students from pre-school up to university level. Her interests include language learning & development, 21st-century learning, computer-mediated communication and computer-assisted language learning.  She is now working on projects related to the education of Indigenous community and Sustainable Development Goals. Her current project, funded by British Council's ISPF grant, is titled "Enhancing Educational Equity and Engagement through AI-Driven Metaverse Environments (EduSphere)."

Academician Datuk Professor Dr Lai-Meng Looi is Malaysia’s inaugural National Distinguished Professor, positioned at  the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya (UM).  She holds a concurrent appointment as senior consultant histopathologist at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).    Professor Looi studied medicine as a Malaysian Federal Scholar at the University of Singapore (1970-1975), where she was a medalist in Pathology and Social Medicine, and won King Edward VII Hall awards for literary works, art forms and poetry.  She trained in Surgical Pathology at UM, Royal Postgraduate Medical School (UK) and Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, Boston, (USA) and defended her research doctorate (on amyloidosis) at UM.  She assumed the Chair of Pathology, UM at the age of 36 years and during her long academic career at UM has served as Department Head, Deputy Dean (Postgraduate), Chair of the Medical Centre Research Committee, representative to the Malaysian Medical Council, Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee of UMMC and UM’s Committee for External Academic Evaluators.  She continues to chair the UMMC-Medical Research Ethics Committee/ Institutional Review Board.  She has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, mainly on amyloidosis, nephropathology and oncopathology, is devoted to promoting a research and ethical culture among researchers, has delivered >500 guest lectures and conducts scientific writing workshops nationally and internationally. Professor Looi is a Foundation Fellow and Academician of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) and has served as Chief Censor and Scribe of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia.   She has served as  Editor-in-Chief of the Malaysian Journal of Pathology, on the International Editorial Advisory Boards of Pathology, Journal of Pathology, Human Pathology and Histopathology, is Founding Vice-President of the Association of Malaysian Medical Journal Editors, and chaired the Ethics and Editorial Policies Committee of Asia-Pacific Association of Medical Editors.   A Fellow of both Royal Colleges of Pathologists, UK (RCPath) and Australasia (RCPA), she served as Examiner and Advisor to both.  She is the Founding President of the College of Pathologists, Academy of Medicine Malaysia, and was instrumental in developing pathology laboratory accreditation for Malaysia, the Pathology Act and several National guidelines on medical laboratory practices.  In 2010 she was honoured RCPA Distinguished Fellow and Inaugural National Distinguished Professor (Profesor Ulung Negara).  She was President of the World Association of Societies of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (WASPaLM) from 2013-2016, and chaired its Education Committee which focusses on capacity-building in countries-in-need.   She co-chaired the InterAcademy Medical Panel (now the InterAcademy Partnership for Health) for two elected terms (2010-2016) and currently represents ASM in its Executive Committee.   During her chairmanship, this global network of National Sciences and Medical Academies extended its initiatives into global health, the social determinants of health, urban health, and young physician leadership capacity-building. She chaired the ASM Newton-Ungku Omar Fund Committee for Bilateral Research Programmes with the Medical Research Council, UK. (2015-2018) and the 2019 MRC-Malaysia Joint Panel on Non-Communicable Diseases. She is a Member of the MRC (UK) Applied Global Health Research Board, and the InterAcademy Partnership Expert Working Group on Harnessing the World's Academies to combat predatory journals and conferences.  She is a Commissioner for the Lancet Commission on Diagnostics. Her contributions to research, education and medical science have been recognised with several accolades including the Panglima Jasa Negara (Datuk), Sri Indera Mahkota Pahang (Dato Indera), National Science Award, ASEAN Outstanding Scientist Award,  Merdeka Award 2016 (Health, Science and Technology category),  WASPaLM’s Gold-Headed Cane and Honorary Professor of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences-Peking Union Medical College. She was named in Stanford University's list of the World Top 2% Scientists 2022.