Siti Jariani Binti Mohd Jani started her career in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya (UM) in 2009 as a science officer. After completing her PhD. in Soil and Water Science at the University of Florida, USA in 2018, she came back to the Chemistry Department, UM as a science officer before switching to her current post as Senior lecturer at the same department. Her research interest focuses on urban water quality and how urbanization and anthropogenic practices influence the storage, transport, and fate of constituents that potentially lead to urban water quality impairment. Her work centers on environmental chemical analysis and currently, she has started to expand her research area to atmospheric pollution and the application of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as a removal tool for environmental contaminants.

I’m a Senior Lecturer at the International Institute of Public Policy and Management (INPUMA), Universiti Malaya. Before I was appointed a senior lecturer, I was a visiting fellow under the UKM–Nippon Foundation Programme at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM, where I also served as a junior research fellow. Following my tenure at UKM, I was appointed as a Special Task Officer to the then-President of the Senate, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Utama Dr Rais Yatim, at the Parliament of Malaysia. In this role, I gained invaluable first-hand experience in policy discussions, bill drafting, governance processes, and diplomatic engagement. My primary research focuses on national security and foreign policy, Latin American politics, and the development and cultivation of a culture of peace in Costa Rica, examined through a constructivist framework. I have spent significant time conducting fieldwork, attending conferences, and establishing networks in Mexico and Costa Rica to deepen my understanding of Latin American politics and its wider implications for international relations. My academic interests also extend to global political dynamics from a postcolonial perspective, with a particular emphasis on debates surrounding Orientalism and Occidentalism. My work bridges theoretical insights with practical applications, fostering a nuanced understanding of the interplay between history, culture, international relations, and public policy. I am eager to supervise students within these areas of research and interest as well as those who seek to explore connections between Latin America and Southeast Asia.

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 immunologist with research interests in host–pathogen interactions, immune regulation, and inflammation, with a particular focus on the immunopathogenesis of sexually transmitted infections such as Chlamydia trachomatis and HIV. Her research integrates molecular and cellular immunology to understand immune dynamics and develop strategies for improving disease prognosis, vaccine development, and novel immunotherapeutic interventions. Dr. Wong received her early scientific training at Tohoku University, Japan, under the supervision of Professor Masanobu Satake. To date, she has published more than 115 peer-reviewed articles, with an h-index of 37 and over 5,200 citations. She has received several international recognitions, including the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship, Fulbright Visiting Scholarship, and the Institut Mérieux Young Investigator Award. At Universiti Malaya, Dr. Wong teaches in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She serves as the Course Coordinator for Immunology in the MBBS programme and for Advanced Medical Microbiology in the Biomedical Science programme, in addition to her role as Ph.D. Programme Coordinator and Quality Management System (QMS) committee member contributing to institutional quality initiatives.