Dr. Wong Won Fen is a faculty member at the Department of Medical Microbiology, Universiti Malaya, where she has served since 2012. She is an accomplished immunologist whose research focuses on host–pathogen interactions, immune regulation, and inflammation, particularly the immunopathogenesis of sexually transmitted infections. Her work seeks to elucidate immune dynamics and develop strategies to improve disease prognosis while advancing vaccine design and immunotherapeutic interventions. Dr. Wong received her early scientific training at Tohoku University, Japan, and has since published 112 peer-reviewed articles, achieving an h-index of 37 with over 5,700 citations. Her research excellence has been recognized through several international honours, including the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship, the Fulbright Fellowship, and the Institut Mérieux Young Investigator Award. At Universiti Malaya, Dr. Wong serves as the Faculty Ph.D. Programme Coordinator and a member of the Faculty Postgraduate Committee (JKIT). She also coordinates courses in Immunology and Advanced Medical Microbiology and contributes to institutional quality initiatives as a Quality Management System (QMS) committee member and internal auditor.

Vinnie Siow Wei Yin is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), Higher Education Center of Excellence (HICoE) specializing in molecular parasitology and entomology. She holds a PhD in Molecular Parasitology from Universiti Malaya, where her studies focused on the association of filarial parasites with their hosts and vectors. She also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science (First Class Honours) from Management and Science University, where she received an Industrial Award for her outstanding contributions. Dr. Vinnie’s primary expertise lies in  filarial parasites, insect vectors, molecular analysis, insecticide resistance, and proteomic analysis. Her current research interests focus on insect vectors that play important roles in both medical and veterinary contexts, along with their associated infectious disease agents. She is committed to unraveling the complex relationships between insects and their parasites, particularly in the context of public health. Additionally, she has experience in the detection of soil-transmitted helminth diseases among the Orang Asli communities. Her research aims to develop innovative strategies for controlling vector-borne diseases, striving to make a significant impact in the field and improve health outcomes in affected communities. In her future endeavors, She aspires to lead impactful projects that bridge research and practical solutions in the fight against infectious diseases.

Cheong Fei Wen obtained her Bachelor Degree in Biomedical Science (with distinction) from Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia. She passed her PhD with distinction and is currently holding the post of senior lecturer in the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, UM. Since PhD study, she explored into several malaria-related aspects, including protein expression of the Plasmodium knowlesi merozoite surface proteins; immunogenicity study using animal model; and epitope mapping. Her current research interests include phenotypic and genotypic measures on Plasmodium sp. resistance against anti-malarials, immunogenicity profiling of potential malarial vaccine candidates, and genome engineering in P. knowlesi using CRISPR-Cas9 system. With her deep passion in research, she has been successfully selected and awarded to attend several international workshops/courses including Ungku Omar-Newton Fund Researcher Links Workshop: Neglected Disease in SEA: Building Capacity in Epidemiological Modelling (University of Malaya, Malaysia & Imperial College London, UK) and Wellcome Genome Campus Advanced Course: Malaria Experimental Genetics (WGCAC, UK). She has also obtained and be part of 10 research grants, including UM Research Fund Assistance (BKP), UM Research Excellence Grant (UMREG), Postgraduate Research Fund (PPP), Frontier Research Grant (FRG), Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), and Long Term Research Grant Scheme (LRGS), with total amount exceeding RM 2 million. With that, she has published more than 30 articles in ISI-indexed journals.  She is currently the assistant editor of the Journal of Health and Translational Medicine (JUMMEC), associate editor of Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (APJMBB), and editorial board member of Tropical Biomedicine. She was the council member for Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (MSPTM) in 2019-2020.  She received excellent service certificate and excellent service award, UM in 2019 and 2024, respectively. She has been appointed as Programme Coordinator and assisted the department to develop a new Master by Coursework programme (Master of Medical Parasitology and Entomology, MMPE). She is also the course coordinator for courses in MMPE and Biomedical Science Programme. She is the committee member of Quality Assurance Programme - Quality Committee, Faculty of Medicine (FOM) from 2020. With her interest in academic curriculum, she has also been appointed as Programme Quality Assurance Expert (Pro-QAE) of FOM in 2021, and Pro-QAE of UM in 2024 to assist in programme curriculum related matters. In 2025, she has been appointed as FOM Deputy Quality Manager (ProQAE and stakeholders' feedback).