Dr. Gareth Sim Maw Shin is a talented and dedicated senior lecturer at the University of Malaya, Malaysia. He is currently working in the Department of Pharmaceutical Life Sciences, within the esteemed Faculty of Pharmacy. With a PhD in Medical Science from the University of Malaya, Dr. Gareth joined the faculty as a senior lecturer in 2017. Prior to his PhD, he spent three years as a SLAI fellow under the Academic Training Scheme from the Ministry of Education Malaysia. Dr. Gareth's expertise in teaching is reflected in his role as coordinator of four Pharmacy and Biomedical modules. He is also highly regarded in the research community, with a focus on Behavioural Science, Genetic Epidemiology, and Psycho- and Neuro-pharmacogenomics in drug abuse and dependence. He is currently leading a cutting-edge project on 'Psychopharmacogenomics of Amphetamine-type Stimulants (ATS) Abuse and Dependence in the Malaysian Population'. With a strong collaboration network that includes esteemed institutions such as Monash University, Mahsa University, and more, Dr. Gareth has published several high-impact articles in prestigious journals such as Brain Research, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, and the Pharmacogenomics journal. His contributions to the field have made a significant impact and demonstrate his commitment to advancing the field of pharmacogenomics.

Dr. Ziad Baydoun, born in 1987 in Damascus, Syria, is a renowned academic and researcher specializing in architecture and built environment, with a particular focus on Islamic calligraphy placement in architecture. Dr. Baydoun pursued a degree in Interior Architecture at Damascus University, graduating with excellent marks in 2010. Following his graduation, he worked as a freelancer in the interior design field for two years before joining his father in large restoration projects of Al Azem and gazali Palaces. In 2012, Dr. Baydoun moved to Malaysia to further his education and enhance his artistic talents in 3D design and Arabic cultural arts, particularly the intricate Syrian traditional 'Ajami art. He completed his Master's degree at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in 2016. Following his Master's, he managed Damascene Art Sdn Bhd, an innovative interior design company specializing in renovation, Islamic art conservation, and creative multimedia projects, reflecting his father's company, Baydoun Art, in Syria. Dr. Baydoun earned his Ph.D. from IIUM in 2022, with a specialization in Islamic architecture. His research on virtual reality (VR) implementation for heritage preservation is widely recognized, and he has published numerous articles in international indexed journals. His expertise spans various 3D technologies and Autodesk software, including Revit, 3D Max, AutoCAD, and Lumion, as well as traditional handmade art. Currently, Dr. Baydoun is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Malaya, where he continues to inspire and mentor students in architecture and interior design. His professional journey has also seen him as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Multimedia University and a guest lecturer at IIUM. Dr. Baydoun's contributions to the field have been acknowledged through various media appearances on TV channels such as Bernama TV, TV1, and TV3, and he has been featured in newspapers for his and his family's talents in art and design. Contact Information: Email: ziad@um.edu.my LinkedIn: Dr. Ziad Baydoun Orchid ID: 0000-0001-6903-7934 Scopus ID: 57220101247

Lau Wee Yeap is Professor at the Faculty of Business and Economics, academic board member of the Asia-Europe Institute (AEI), and researcher at the Malaysia-Japan Research Centre (MJRC), Universiti Malaya. He was an Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Scholar at UAE University and Visiting Scholar under National Taiwan Library Fellowship in 2024. He previously served as Deputy Dean (Postgraduate) of the Faculty of Economics and Administration (2020-21), and Head of Department (Applied Statistics) for two terms (2013-14 and 2021). Apart from lecturing Statistics and Econometrics at FEA since 2006, he was invited to teach MBA and undergraduate classes in International Finance and Financial Econometrics at the Faculty and Graduate School of Business (GSB), University of Malaya, and both MBA and undergraduate courses in Economics, Malaysian Economy and Financial Management at the International University of Malaya-Wales (IUMW) between 2009 and 2010. Prior to joining academia, he worked for four years in financial institutions specializing in credit and trade financing before being awarded the Monbusho Scholarship (MEXT) by the Japanese Government. He studied at the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University, under the supervision of Emeritus Professor Kazuhiko Nishina, Professor of Finance, Dean of the Graduate School of Economics, and Vice President of Osaka University. In addition to presenting his work at the Nippon Finance Association Conference in Tokyo (2004 & 2005), he was selected for the Asian FA / FMA Doctoral Student Award for presenting his work at the Asian Finance Association Conference in Taipei (2004), Kuala Lumpur (2005) and Auckland (2006).  From Sept 2012 to May 2013, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Risk Management Institute, National University of Singapore (NUS RMI), a research group member in credit rating dynamics. He also attended the Executive Education Program in Portfolio Management, Asset Allocation, and Behavioral Finance conducted by Emeritus Professor Burton Malkiel, Yacine Ait-Shalia, Harrison Hong, and colleagues at the Bendheim Center for Finance, Princeton University, in June 2013. Despite having his sabbatical leave, he assisted in organising the Malaysian Economic Convention in June 2019. In addition, he was also the Local Organising Chairperson of the ISBIS Satellite Conference in August 2019.  In October 2019, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at Wenzao Ursuline University. He was invited by the Malaysian Productivity Centre (MPC) to collaborate in the Competitiveness Opinion Survey 2014-2015 and contribute to Malaysia's Business Optimism Index (BOI) study by Dun & Bradstreet, authoring a professional text for the Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII) from 2014 to 2015. He participated in a consultative project with RAM Holdings Berhad in 2020-21 and was also part of a team in an international project under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), led by Heriot-Watt University and funded by the UK Government (https://researchcovid19pandemic.com/research-collaboration-and-funding/). Universitas Airlangga has also invited him for an International Research Collaboration from 2023 to 2025.  He has worked and supervised students in applied finance, financial economics, econometrics, and capital markets. To date, 27 of his PhD students have passed their viva voce (22 PhD students graduated), and more than 90 students have passed their research papers under Master of Economics and Master of Applied Statistics. His earlier work confirms the relationship between equity style and fund performance (MF, 2007). His later work establishes economic content and information transmission in equity-style indices as leading economic indicators (Ekonomie an Mgmt, 2015) and information content on Islamic equity-style indices, joint work with Dr. Shahrin Shaharuddin (EMFT, 2017; CEF, 2017; CMR, 2017; JIMEF, 2020). His joint work with his former PhD student, Assoc. Prof. You-How Go, has new findings for spot futures relation in the Crude Palm Oil Market (Resources Policy, 2017; J. Commodity Markets, 2020; NAJEF, 2021; JES, 2023; NAJEF, 2024). Their work has been ranked by ScholarGPS as top 5 percent under Palm Oil research area (https://scholargps.com/scholars/49750352394767/ and https://scholargps.com/scholars/42032014657743/). His recent work explores market participants' trading behaviour in the Japanese Stock Market during QE tapering (APFM, 2019) and the Indonesian Stock Market (ICMR, 2021). To date, he has authored two books for Palgrave Macmillan. The first book titled "New Initiatives in the Malaysian Capital Market (2024)", and the second book  titled "Pension at Stake (2024)", and currently, he is working on his third book on modelling trading behaviour. Source: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-97-2324-9, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-97-0980-9, In addition, he has published a professional text on "Insurance Business and Economics (2015)" for Malaysian Insurance Institute, one module on "Portfolio Investment Management" for Open University Malaysia, two BOI reports, and two edited books in Statistics under UniMAP (2023) and UUM University Press (2023). In addition, he has been cited by the press and interviewed by the media (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBmCmC5eHRM). The edited book published by UUM University Press, co-edited with Assoc. Prof. Cheah Yong Kang was selected for the Anugerah Buku Negara (National Book Award) 2024- 2025 untuk Kategori Pengajian Tinggi: Matematik Terbaik.  He has been invited to present his work at BNM Economics Research Workshop, the Development Economics Research Group (DECRG) Half-Baked Seminar at the World Bank Research Hub in Malaysia, the Asian Finance Association Conference, Nippon Finance Association Conference, JEPA International Conference (Awaji Yumeibutai International Conference Center), Japan Finance Association (Kobe & Tokyo), PBFEAM Conference, Malaysian Finance Association International Conference (MFAIC), Malaysian Statistics Conference (MyStats), National Financial Literacy Symposium (NFLS), FAEA Conference, ISI Regional Conference, BMEB Conference by Bank Indonesia Institute in Bali, 13th NCTU and 16th NYCU  International Finance Conference (National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan), ISBIS Conference in Barcelona, Piraeus, and Kuala Lumpur, DTI Conference organised by the Institute of Economics (Ural Branch) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Wenzao Ursuline International Conference on Southeast Asian Studies (ICSEAS) and the 22nd ASJA-ASCOJA-JAC Symposium (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). He received the IJBF Best Paper Award at the 23rd and 24th and 27th Malaysian Finance Association International Conference in 2021, 2022 and 2025, and CMR Best Paper Award in 2025. He also won the Best Paper Award at the University-Industry Talent Bridging Conference organized by the Institute for Capital Market Research Malaysia (ICMR) in 2023. He was a joint recipient alongside Dr Muhammad Irfan for the 15th MAPIM-KPT Anugerah Pemenang Utama Makalah Jurnal Terbaik Kemanusiaan dan Sains Sosial - Indeks Kebangsaan (Best Journal Paper Award in Humanities and Social Sciences- National Index) in 2024.  He was selected for an international joint training workshop on Environmentally Green Technology and Net Zero Emission at the National Tsing Hua University from 17 to 28 Oct 2023, funded by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Taiwan. In addition, he was selected as a recipient of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Scholars Award Program 2023-2024 and the National Taiwan Library Fellowship for International Visiting Scholar in 2024.. Dr Lau is an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI), ISBIS Council Member (2019-2023), and EXCO member of the Malaysian Economic Association (since 2008 - present). He has also served as the Jan Tinbergen Awards Committee member under the International Statistical Institute (ISI). Before this, he was the Hon. Secretary (2018 to 2022) and Hon. Treasurer (2014-2018) of MEA. He also served as Hon. Secretary of the Malaysian Finance Association (MFA) from 2015 to 2019 and was a founding member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Malaysian chapter in 2008. Beyond academia, he was an Officer Cadet at PALAPES USM (1992-95) and commissioned by HM the King as Reserve Officer (Lt M) on 17 June 1995. At present, he is the Vice Chairman of the Japan Graduates' Association of Malaysia (JAGAM) Central Branch.