Dr. Lai is a haematopathologist with area of interest in both adult and childhood haemato-oncology. After earning her Master’s in Pathology (Haematology) in 2022, she gained experience as a specialist in Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), Kuching. She helped in establishing new services such as Flow Cytometry for Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma as well as BCR-ABL1 quantification for Chronic Myeloid Luekaeia in SGH. In December 2024, she joined the Department of Pathology, University Malaya.  

Dalilawati Zainal serves as a senior lecturer in the Accounting Department within the Faculty of Business and Economics at Universiti Malaya. Currently, she holds the position of programme coordinator for the Master of Accounting (MAcc) programme and serves as the course coordinator for Student Holistic Empowerment (SHE) under the Cluster of Global Issues and Community Sustainability. She earned her Ph.D. in Accounting from Universiti Malaya (UM), a Master's Degree in Accounting from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), and a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting (Hons.) from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Her research interests encompass environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, sustainability reporting, corporate governance, information technology, and financial reporting.  

I am currently a Professor at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya. My main areas of research include Varieties of English, in particular, Malaysian English, as well as language use in educational and in multilingual contexts. Additionally, I  work on an endangered language, Melaka Portuguese, which I have digitally archived at the Endangered Languages Archive (funded by an Endangered Languages Documentation Programme grant). My research on this language have led to the co-production of materials with community representatives to encourage the use of this language. These include a mobile app. Apart from my research output which include a trademark and nine copyrights, I am a point of reference on issues related to the use of English in Malaysia and the state of endangered languages for local and international media as well as stakeholders. At present, I am a consultant for Malaysian English entries in the Oxford English Dictionary and for a project with  the National Department for Culture and Arts Melaka. My scholarship and contributions have been recognised not only by the university (UM Academic Icon 2024) but also by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM). I was elected as an ASM Fellow and am also a 2024 recipient of the ASM's Top Research Scientists award. I was conferred a lifetime honorary membership of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines, and until recently, was  an Adjunct Professor at Mahidol University in Thailand. I am also a Mercator Fellow in the CODILAC project at the University of Hamburg in Germany. At the national level, I have been actively contributing to the Ministry of Higher Education’s (i) research excellence programme as a member of the taskforce and technical committee, and (ii) research university committee. Beyond my academic and research activities, I have been involved in capacity building and mentoring of peers and early career researchers (ECRs) at the university, national and international levels.