The main focus of   Mohammad Rais’s research are in the areas of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Natural Products and Drug Discovery. He has published several articles in international peer-reviewed journals and at the same time highlighted the pharmacological actions of  several local medicinal plants  including daun ketum (Mitragyna speciosa), cekur (Kaempferia galanga) and kacip Fatimah (Labisia Pumila).  These studies have been made possible by a series of R & D grants which he  successfully obtained under the Malaysian Development Plans and High Impact Research Grants (UM). To promote a more systematic and collaborative research in natural products in University of Malaya, Rais  helped established the Centre for Natural Products Research and Drug Discovery (CENAR) in 2003.  He has also a keen interest in basic science research, particularly in the area of Vascular Pharmacology.  His current research include investigating the role of novel angiotensin peptides, nitrates and nitrites, flavonoids and several phytochemicals in the improvement of endothelial dysfunctions in hypertension and diabetes.     Selected Publications   Autophagy through stress-activated signals: a cellular self-defence mechanism against MBIC in human breast cancer cell-lines. Mohadeseh Hasanpourghadi, Nazia Abdul Majid, Mohd Rais Mustafa. Biochemical Pharmacology. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2018.03.030 (ISI-Indexed) Choy KW, Lau YS, Murugan D, Mustafa MR (2017) Chronic treatment with paeonol improves endothelial function in mice through inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum stress- mediated oxidative stress. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0178365. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0178365 (ISI-Indexed) Ling WC, Liu J, Lau CW, Murugan DD, Mustafa MR, Huang Y. (2017).Treatment with salvianolic acid B restores endothelial function in angiotensin II-induced hypertensive mice. Biochem Pharmacol. 2017 Jul 15;136:76-85. Wei Chih Ling, Mohd Rais Mustafa, Paul M Vanhoutte, Dharmani Devi Murugan. (2017). Chronic administration of sodium nitrite prevents hypertension and protects arterial endothelial function by reducing oxidative stress in angiotensin II-infused mice. Vascul Pharmacol. 2017 May 26. pii: S1537-1891(16)30268-3 Choy KW, Mustafa MR, Lau YS, Liu J, Murugan D, Lau CW, Wang L, Zhao L, Huang Y. 2016.Paeonol protects against endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced endothelial dysfunction via AMPK/PPARδ signaling pathway. Biochem Pharmacol. 2016 Sep 15;116:51-62.      

Muhammad Kashani MOHD KAMIL, born in 1984, is a distinguished medical professional with a comprehensive educational background in medicine and sports medicine. He graduated with his medical degree from Universitas Sumatera Utara in 2011. Furthering his expertise, he obtained a postgraduate Master of Sports Medicine from Universiti Malaya in 2022. Currently, he serves as a medical lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, while also practicing as a Sports Physician at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. Additionally, he is a qualified Occupational Health Doctor. His area of interests are Sports Cardiology, Sports Emergency and eSports. Outside of his professional endeavors, he is an avid sports enthusiast, actively participating in rugby, futsal, and soccer. His medical contributions to rugby are recognized through his attainment of a Level 2 Immediate Care certification from the Malaysia Rugby Union. He has also demonstrated his leadership and organizational skills by successfully hosting and winning several prestigious futsal tournaments.

Professor Dr Maznah Dahlui is a Public Health Medicine Specialist who had served for several years with the Ministry of Health, Malaysia and was a General Practitioner before becoming an academician in the University of Malaya in 2007. Her specialty is health economics, with a major interest in the economic evaluation of health programs. She had evaluated many of the country’s health policies and programs, working with various ministries in Malaysia such as Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Science and Technology and Prime Minister’s Department. She has good linkages with international institutions such as the UNFPA, UNESCO, World Bank, WHO which have led to several consultancy projects centered on the evaluation and monitoring of health programs. Maznah’s research interest extends to cancer screening, infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C, mental health and obesity prevention; applying the economic evaluation approaches. She has been actively engaging NGOs (such as Breast Cancer Welfare Society and MAKNA) and the communities (the urban poor community and rural populations) for breast cancer screening and combating chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Her international research experiences include working with collaborators from Sanger Institute, University Cambridge, United Kingdom on the Salt Reduction Study, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Australia on Return of Investment of Harm Reduction Program, University of Usmanu Danfodia, Sokoto, Nigeria on sexual reproductive health issues under the auspices of the Africa-Asia Development University Network (AADUN), and several others. Maznah has been the Regional Director of APACPH (Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health) since 2013 and used this as an avenue for her to initiate research collaborations on community obesity prevention with several of the 47 active APACPH member institutions. With the backing of her university, in 2012 the APACPH Secretariat was successfully transferred to the University of Malaya where she had been the Vice President (Admin) until now. Her appointment as the Chair for the National Clearinghouse for Adolescent Health in Malaysia and as exclusive member of Technical Advisory Committee of Health Technology Economic Evaluation (TACHTEE), Malaysia are acknowledgments of her expertise and close working relationship with the Ministry of Health. Dr Maznah has several academic appointments by various local and international universities including as an Adjunct Professor at University of Airlangga (UA), Surabaya, Indonesia. Dr Maznah considers UA as her second workplace where she highly appreciates the shared experiences in teaching, research and publications with the faculty at Fakultas Public Health, UA. Her outstanding contributions to public health in such a short span of time contributed significantly to her election as a Fellow of the prestigious Academy Science Malaysia (2021), Fellow of Public Health Medicine Specialist Association (2019), Fellow of Public Health Physician Malaysia (2018) and Distinguished Fellow of Faculty of Public Health, Royal College of Physicians, United Kingdom (2016). Maznah’s leadership capabilities has been acknowledged by the university with her appointment as the head of Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (2011 to 2016), and as the Deputy Dean (Post-Graduate) of Faculty of Medicine (2016 to 2020). She was the senate representative of University Malaya for 2016 to 2018 and is sitting in Curriculum Review Committee of the university since 2019. Currently, Dr Maznah is the Head, Department of Research Development and Innovation at University Malaya Medical center, while leading the Case-Mix System implementation at the hospital. Dr Maznah is currently active in contributing her expertise as a Public Health specialist to curb Covid 19 pandemic where she is helping the country to assess the economic implications of the pandemic to the healthcare system and country at large. She is also in the Independent Advisory Committee for Covid 19 Vaccination of the country.