Dr. Meor Hakif is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Geology, University of Malaya (UM). He has written at least 100 publications including one article in Nature. He teaches undergraduate courses in Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, as well as postgraduate topics in Reservoir Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy. Previously, he was the Coordinator for the MSc in Petroleum Geology Programme for 5 years. Currently, he is President of the Geological Society of Malaysia. Dr. Meor graduated with a BSc. (Hons) in Geology from UM in 2002, which included an early exposure to the petroleum industry through an internship with Esso Production Malaysia Inc. (EPMI) on abnormal pressure in offshore Sabah. While being a Tutor at UM, he graduated with a MSc. (with distinction) in 2005, with a dissertation revising the stratigraphy of NW Peninsular Malaysia.  The MSc. included research and training on graptolite biostratigraphy at the Technische Universitat Berlin in Germany, which was supported by a German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Scholarship. In 2005, Dr. Meor worked as an Executive Geoscientist in the Petroleum Resource Assessment and Marketing division, Petroleum Management Unit (PMU) of PETRONAS, mainly working on sequence stratigraphy and sequence biostratigraphy of the Sarawak Basin, and also gaining experience in resource assessment, well log interpretation, seismic interpretation and well operations monitoring. Dr. Meor graduated with a Ph.D and DIC from Imperial College, University of London in 2011. His Ph.D project was on the sedimentology of the Nyalau Formation and Balingian Province of the Sarawak Basin. Since then, he has been actively involved as a consultant on many sedimentological related studies with several oil and gas companies. Part of the PhD included fieldwork in Bintulu, Sarawak, core description at PETRONAS and a secondment to Petrofac Malaysia (PM-304) Ltd in Kuala Lumpur. Dr. Meor also took the advantage during his PhD to visit the textbook outcrops of the Book Cliffs (Sego Fm, Ferron Sandstone, Chinle Fm., Morrison Fm.) in Utah, USA, as well as the Welsh and Wessex Basins of the UK. Dr. Meor Hakif frequently leads sedimentology, stratigraphy and petroleum geology fieldtrips to the Palaeozoic strata of NW Peninsular Malaysia and the hydrocarbon-bearing, Neogene strata of Sarawak and Labuan. He maintains good relationships with industry, with several consulting projects and fieldtrips organized for companies. He is also the Faculty Advisor for the AAPG Student Chapter of UM.  Dr. Meor's current research interests in sedimentology mainly lies in the facies composition and stratal architecture of siliciclastic rocks, and how they are used to infer depositional and basin history. In particular, many of his publications are on tidal deposits preserved in the Oligo-Miocene rock record of Malaysia. The work involves integration with fields and specialists beyond traditional geology, including geophysics and engineering. His work is mainly field-based, with field experience in northwest Peninsular Malaysia (Perlis, Kedah, Langkawi), Pahang, Kelantan, Sarawak (Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri, Marudi, Limbang, Lawas), Labuan and Sabah (Klias, Kota Kinabalu area, Kudat). Dr. Meor is also a worker on the stratigraphy of the Palaeozoic succession of northwest Peninsular Malaya, specializing in the palaeontology and biostratigraphy of Devonian tentaculitoids and graptoloids and Carboniferous ammonoids. Results of this work include the discovery and naming of a new species of ammonoid, Praedaraelites tuntungensis, from Bukit Tuntung in Perlis as well as a new species of foraminifera, Crenulosepta perlisensis. Dr. Meor also uncovered a previously unknown Devonian stratigraphic unit, now called the Sanai Limestone. Dr. Meor is a certified Professional Geologist (P.Geol.) with the Board of Geologists Malaysia.  

Dr. Nur Afiqah's research examines institutional-related structures associated with engagement in healthcare, including HIV and Hepatitis C care for people who use drugs (PWUD). This epidemiological work is informed by sociological perspectives which frame the research questions within a wider social, economic and policy environment. Additionally, she has received training in Implementation Science at Yale University.  Being an active member of the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), her current research activities have incorporated a community-based participiatory research (CBPR) component. Using this approach, she engages with local communities of PWUD and NGOs that serve these populations, whose collective views in the design and implementation of health programs are key in developing effective interventions. Additionally, she is actively involved in knowledge-transfer activities, promoting the use of evidence-based practices in real-life settings. She is also interested in drug policies, especially the impact of existing policies on youths and families.  Dr Nur Afiqah is a consultant for WHO, UNDP and International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC). She currently serves as the Vice President at the Malaysian AIDS Council.   

Rosnah Zain has served as an academician for more than 30 years. She has been involved in managing the dental faculty at the University of Malaya in the capacity of the Head of Department, the Deputy Dean (Undergraduate/Postgraduate/Research) and Dean (2010-2014)  for the last 25 years. Her role in these positions involved managing curriculum and its development, the dental services centre (including human resource infrastructure and dental patients’ general issues). In the research setting, she strongly believes in collective efforts so as to gather a wider scope of ideas yet benefiting the others as well. Through this believe she had embarked on numerous projects with numerous co-researchers within the country and from countries of the region. One of her major research endeavors is a collaborative research project with colleagues from the Oral Health Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia and Aichi-Gakuin University, Nagoya, Japan in 1993/1994. This nationwide project on the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions produced the first population-based prevalence data on oral cancer and precancer in the Malaysia. This study emphasizes her leadership and organizational skill where despite fund limitations, with national and international support, she was able to successfully manage and organize human resource infrastructure and logistics towards the successful completion of the project.Throughout the organization of these researches and in collaboration with Japanese, Swedish and German colleagues, she has developed calibration and training packages/programmes and booklets. These packages/programmes are aimed at tackling methodologic issues such that data on oral mucosal lesions will be standardized for meaningful global comparison. This training programme (DentalDetect) is currently being used widely in Malaysia and also in Cambodia. Another of her major research endeavor is the development of the Malaysian Oral Cancer Database and Tumour Bank System [a ‘Top-down Intensified Research in Priority Areas (IRPA), the 8th Malaysia Plan (RMK-80 project] in 2003, a biobanking intiative linking data and tissue providers, researchers of different disciplines from different parts of the country. With such a system, research on oral cancer in Malaysia shifted from individual/group research to the ‘team science’ approach being a collaborative effort from different institutions. As a follow-up to this, her effort was recognized by the University administration where a University of Malaya Research Centre was officially recognized and supported by the University Management with the formation of the Oral Cancer Research and Coordinating Centre at the University of Malaya (OCRCC-UM) in 2005, which she served as the Director/Head until December 2015. She is currently designated as the Founding Director and Advisor to OCRCC-UM. Her other experiences entails being involved as the Chair of the Document Preparation for Assessments in preparation for the University of Malaya Self-Audit for Programme Accreditation; being Member and Chairman for the Accreditation of Dental Programme for the MQA; Committee Member for the evaluation and monitoring of the the Higher Education Centre of Excellence (HiCOE) of the Ministry of Education; Evaluation Panel for the Malaysian Ministry of Education Research Grant; and a member of the Professional Qualifying Examination for Dentistry. Rosnah Zain has published more than 100 research and consensus papers. Her research expertise and experience lead her to receive the ‘Top Research Scientists Award 2014’(TRSM 2014) and more recently in 2016, she has been inducted as the ‘Distinguished Fellow for Asia, International College of Dentists (FICD)’.