Associate Professor ChM. Dr. Noraini Ahmad is a certified chemist recognized under the Malaysian Chemist Act 1975. She currently serves as an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya. Her academic journey began with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry from Universiti Malaya in 2003, followed by a MSc in Colloid and Surface Chemistry in 2008, and a PhD in Physical Chemistry in 2012 from the same institution. During her doctoral studies, Dr. Noraini completed a prestigious research attachment at the Instituto de Química Avanzada de Cataluña - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain (2010–2012), supported by the InForm Project under the EU-FP7 programme and Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education. In 2015, she was selected to represent Malaysia as a Nanobiotechnology Scientist at the Workshop of Scientists from Russia and ASEAN Countries on Nanobiotechnology in Vladivostok, Russia. Her academic career began at the Centre for Foundation Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia (CFS IIUM), where she served as a lecturer for over three years. She joined Universiti Malaya in 2008 and was appointed as a Lecturer in 2012, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2013, and later to Associate Professor in 2021. Dr. Noraini currently holds several key administrative roles at Universiti Malaya, including: Director, Universiti Malaya Community Engagement Centre (UMCares) Coordinator, Formulation and Product Development Unit, Centre for Natural Products Research and Drug Discovery (CENAR) STEM Representative, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya STEM Centre She has also served in leadership and academic roles such as Deputy Director and Fellow of UMCares, Programme Coordinator for BSc (Chemistry), MQF Coordinator, and Head of Section (Physical Chemistry) from 2019 to 2024. Internationally, Dr. Noraini has been honored as a Visiting Professor at several universities and frequently invited as a keynote and plenary speaker at international conferences. Her areas of expertise include Physical Chemistry particularly colloid chemistry, surfactants, self-assembly, liquid crystals, chemical kinetics, and green chemistry as well as Nanomaterials Formulation and Drug Delivery Systems. Her research primarily focuses on the development of nanocarrier systems using lipids and surfactants for applications in pharmaceuticals, medical therapeutics, cosmeceuticals, and nutraceuticals. She has secured over MYR 12 million in research funding as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator, demonstrating her active involvement and commitment to scientific research. Beyond teaching and research, Dr. Noraini is deeply engaged in university service and national development through various academic committees, research evaluations, and community programmes. She has received numerous awards and recognitions at both national and international levels for her outstanding contributions to science and education.

Dr Sanjay Rampal was appointed Executive Director of the Department of Research Development under the Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Universiti Malaya in March 2025. He is a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and a Public Health Physician at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. Dr Rampal was medically trained in India and served in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia from 1998 to 2005. The clinical experiences from his early medical career helped him realize that treating one patient at a time was insufficient and that more could be done by intervening at a population level. He improved his basic epidemiology and biostatistics knowledge by completing an MPH degree in 2004 from Harvard University. He joined Universiti Malaya in 2005, intending to strengthen the research skills of the Malaysian medical and public health community. He completed his PhD in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in 2014. He was Certified in Public Health (CPH) by the US National Board of Public Health Examiners in 2013. Dr Rampal’s research has focused primarily on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease. He has investigated the etiological and prognostic roles of various factors with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These factors include gender, ethnicity, nutrition, obesity, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, and other structural determinants of health. He has further investigated the role of these traditional cardiovascular risk factors in cancer development. He hopes to leverage this information further to design and implement better prevention programs that reduce the number of new patients our healthcare system sees. In recent years, he has applied his epidemiological expertise to communicable diseases. He investigated the roles of Obesity and Diabetes on the prognosis of Dengue Severity. His methodological interests include improving research methodology, biostatistics, epidemiological designs, regression models, causal inference, multiple imputations, measurement error, and propensity scoring. Dr Rampal lectures in epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methods at Universiti Malaya. He has supervised 21 Doctoral, 10 4-year Master of Public Health, and 35 Master’s candidates to completion. He actively supervises 10+ postgraduate students. Since 2005, he has provided many methodological and biostatistical consultations to graduate students and clinical researchers. Dr. Rampal has published 89 WOS and 94 SCOPUS papers (h-index: 32 WOS, 39 SCOPUS; WOS Citations without Self-citations: 17,330) and supervised over 65 postgraduate students.   Dr Rampal is a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia and was the past honorary secretary for the College of Public Health Medicine from 2006-2009 and an executive member from 2016 to 2024. He has chaired the Public Health Medicine Specialty Education Subcommittee at the Malaysian Medical Council since 2020. He was also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for Health Technologies Economic Evaluation, Ministry of Health Malaysia, from 2017 to 2024. He had previously chaired the Malaysian National Conjoint Committee for Public Health Postgraduate Medical Program and the Public Health Society of the Malaysian Medical Association.   Dr Rampal heads the Western Pacific Regional Training Centre of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases(TDR). He is also an advisory member of the Global Health Program of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and an international advisory committee member of the ASEAN University Network Health Promotion Network. He is also a member of the International Epidemiology Association and a past member of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the Society for Epidemiologic Research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Rampal improved the prevention and control of COVID-19 through active research and translation. He had actively communicated with the public through the media on COVID-19 issues. He was a member of the following committees: 1) Science and Technology Expert Panel for Disaster Risk Reduction under the Health and Emerging Threat Cluster of the Malaysia Disaster Management Agency; 2) National COVID-19 Epidemiological Analysis Task Force under the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation; 3) AFC Covid-19 Advisory Expert Group; 4) UMMC COVID-19 Task Force; and 5) the Journal of Global Health Science Commission on COVID-19 Response.

Dr Rabiah Al-Adawiyah Rahmat is a dental lecturer and a forensic odontologist specialist in Universiti Malaya. She graduated with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from India in 2011. Upon completion, she served as a dental officer in the Malaysia Ministry of Health for two years before joining the Universiti Malaya in December 2013. She pursued her postgraduate studies at the University of Adelaide, Australia. She obtained a Graduate Diploma in Forensic Odontology in 2015 and a PhD in Forensic DNA in 2020.  Dr Rabiah has been involved in numerous forensic identification cases such as dental identification, age estimation, and clinical malpractice. She is currently active in various teaching, research and clinical work on forensic dentistry, forensic DNA and 3D imaging. She is also a strong advocate for addressing the social issue of stateless children in Malaysia.