Afiq received his First-Class Honors Degree in Biotechnology from the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST) in 2013. He received the MUST President's Award for academic excellence and being the most accomplished student in his class. In 2014, he decided to follow his passion for research and enrolled in an MSc program in Genetic Manipulation and Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Sussex, UK. After completing his MSc program, Afiq gained valuable research experience by working as a research assistant at the Cancer Research Center (CaRC), Institute for Medical Research (IMR) in Kuala Lumpur. In 2015, he was awarded an Academic Training Fellowship (SLAB/SLAI) by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to pursue his PhD at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. His doctoral research focuses on the discovery of new antiviral HIV-1 and VSV restriction factors. His findings have been published in reputable scientific journals and have gained the interest of the global scientific community. After completing his PhD in 2019, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the MRC-Centre for Virus Research (CVR) at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. In 2020, he returned to Malaysia to work as a senior lecturer in the microbiology program at the Institute of Biological Sciences, Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur. He currently teaches public health microbiology, diagnostic microbiology, microbial pathogenesis, and virology to undergraduate students. In addition to teaching, he also conducts research on various aspects of microbiology, with a particular focus on viral diseases. His research aims to understand the mechanisms of viral replication and pathogenesis as well as develop novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of viral infections. He actively collaborates with other researchers, both locally and internationally, to contribute to the global understanding of infectious diseases. In 2023, he was awarded a prestigious ASEAN-India Research & Training (A-IRTF) Fellowship from the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India for 3-month research attachment at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi).

Farid Wajdi Akashah is an Associate Professor at the Department of Building Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, and a Senior Consultant at UPUM Sdn Bhd, specializing in fire safety, and building condition evaluations. In 2024, he was appointed as a Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture, Universidad de Navarra, Spain. He holds a Bachelor of Building Surveying from Universiti Malaya and a Ph.D. in Fire Safety Engineering from Ulster University. With over RM662,200 in research grants, his work has influenced fire safety policies, building codes, and risk mitigation strategies. He serves as one of Malaysia’s Representatives to ISO/TC 92/SC 4 Fire Safety Engineering and is a committee member for the National Standards Committee on Fire Safety and the Technical Committee on Passive Fire Safety Design under the Department of Standards Malaysia, contributing to both national and international fire safety standards. A lifetime member of IAFSS and MyRBS, he also serves on the UN-backed International Fire Safety Standards (IFSS) Coalition, supporting the Decade of Action for Fire Safety. A Registered Building Surveyor, MyCREST Qualified Professional, and certified Thermographer and NDT-UT Level I, he has led fire risk management, regulatory compliance audits, and building condition evaluations for projects exceeding RM6.88 million. Recognized with the Malaysian Young Building Surveyor Award (2016) and multiple Excellent Service Awards, he continues to advance fire safety, risk management, and regulatory improvements globally.

Dr. Noor Adwa research focuses on the converge of auditing, governance and reporting and using both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (archival and survey)  research approaches and multiple theoretical lens (institutional, legitimacy, power, attribution and agency).  Her research among others relate to audit committee and other board effectiveness, internal audit, audit quality, auditor reporting, governance and sustainability.