Dr. Wan Abd Al Qadr Imad Wan-Mohtar is an Associate Professor and fermentation technologist at the University of Malaya's Functional Omics and Bioprocess Development Laboratory, located in the Faculty of Science, Institute of Biological Sciences. Professor Brian McNeil, a fungal fermentation expert, and Professor Linda Harvey, author of Practical Fermentation Technology (John Wiley & Sons), supervised him at Glasgow's Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Wan-Mohtar's research focuses on extended liquid fermentation and mushroom microbiology. He holds a BSc in Microbiology (Local Basidiomycetes), an MSc in Food Biotechnology (Bioprocessing), and a PhD in Fermentation Technology (Ganoderma lucidum). He applies his mushroom liquid growing skills to extract mushroom colours, protein, polysaccharides, and oil for SDG2 Zero Hunger, SDG6 Clean Water and Sanitation, and SDG7 Affordable and Clean Energy. He represented Malaysia among nineteen international scientists on food security post-2050 at the ''Innovative, sustainable, and circular agricultural systems for the future" utilising mushrooms in Morocco in 2019 and Korea in 2023. At the age of 37, he has 102 high-quality research articles and has been appointed as a Visiting Research Fellow at Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest in Ireland through 2024. He has also been appointed to the Young Scientist Network (YSN)- Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) till 2024, the Asian Federation of Biotechnology Malaysia (2023-2024), the Solar Research Institute (SRI) UiTM, and the CESPRO UKM Research Fellow (2021-2023). He recently published a chapter on Cultivation Strategies of Medicinal Mushrooms in Submerged-liquid Fermentation (SLF) (2019) and Ganoderma in Traditional Culture (2024) with Taylor & Francis. He has finished sabbatical break at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in 2024-2025 on hot-climate mushroom discovery (Arabian truffles). His current plan for mycology is to create Mycotechnology Research Centre Malaysia (MRCM) which covers key mycology goals such as Mycoremediation, Mycoprotein, Mycoenergy and MycoConstruction.   Current niche area:  Mycoremediation using Ganoderma                                  Future and Functional foods                                      Fungal Oils

Surinderpal Kaur is a Professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics at the Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She holds a PhD from Lancaster University, UK. With a career spanning over three decades, she has made significant contributions to the fields of linguistics, critical discourse studies, and multimodality. Her expertise lies in Critical Discourse Studies and Multimodality, with research interests spanning discrimination and prejudice, particularly in migration, Islamophobia, far-right extremism, terrorism, gender, and sexuality. She has been invited to speak by the Director-General of the OIC on Islamophobia at the UN for the International Day Against Islamophobia in 2024. She has also been invited to speak on Islamophobia by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. She has published extensively in reputable journals, contributing to the global understanding of how discourse shapes and reflects social realities.​ Currently, her work centres on climate change communication and education, reflecting her commitment to addressing pressing global challenges. She is also the Co-Chair of the University Malaya Committee for Climate Change which functions as a part of the technology advisory panel for Climate Change for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability. As Co-Chair, she is focused on ensuring that UM obtains observer status at the Conference of Parties for Climate Change, and also for UM to take the lead in climate-related research in the nation. She is also the SDG Champion for Climate Change for Universiti malaya. She has represented Malaysia and UM at COP29 (UNFCCC) in Baku on Humanising Sustainability. She is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics at UM. She is also the Acting Chair, and Vice-Chair for the Malaysian Language Deans Council, and is leading the taskforce for all public universities on Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL). She is committed to embedding digital humanities in the teaching and learning of languages and is focused on establishing a Digital Humanities Centre at the faculty, which will be the hub for TELL for the nation and ASEAN.  Beyond academia, she is actively involved in capacity-building initiatives for Punjabi and Sikh youth in Malaysia, fostering leadership and community development.  Her career reflects a deep commitment to inclusive education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the application of linguistics to address pressing social and environmental challenges. She continues to shape national and international discourse on the critical role of language in society.  

Seon-Hahn KIM, MD, PhD, FACS  Dr. Kim Seon Hahn is Professor and Consultant colorectal surgeon working at Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as his new academic position appointed in Sep 2022. He had been Professor of Colorectal Division, Department of Surgery at Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (2006-2022). He has been specifically interested in robotic and minimally invasive surgery and surgical anatomy in the colorectum during the past 30 years.   Prof. Kim has performed more than 3500 laparoscopic colon and rectal resections and over 1000 robotic rectal resections, mainly for cancer. He performed many live robotic and laparoscopic surgeries at various international congresses and at oversea hospitals. He was honored to give several orations such as; the ‘BJS Lecture’ at the 2015 Congress of European Society of Coloproctology in Dublin, the very first ‘Yasunobu Tsujinaka Memorial Oration’ at the 27th Annual Jagelman/37th Turnbull International Colorectal Symposium 2016 held in Florida, ‘The William Hugh Isbister Lecture’ at the 2019 Saudi-International Colorectal Diseases Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and ‘Dr. Pradeep Chowbay Oration’ at Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endosurgeons (IAGES) 2023 Midterm Conference in Bhopal, India.   Prof. Kim was the Founding President of Korean Association of Robotic Surgeons (KAROS, 2013-15) and the Chairman of the Korean Society of Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons (KSELS, 2014-16). He was awarded the Yeoh Ghim Seng Professor of Surgery by National University of Singapore (2008-14), and Dr. Anthony PC Yim Professorship in Minimally Invasive Surgery and Innovative Technology by Chinese University of Hong Kong (2011). He has been also invited as visiting professor/scholarship worldwide, including Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH, USA (2009), Royal Brisbane Hospital in Australia (2011), National Cheng Gong University in Taiwan (2012/2015), Kumamoto University in Japan (2013), Karolinska Institute Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden (2015/2017), and University of Western Sydney, Australia (2018-2024).