ASSOCIATE PROF. SR DR. NOOR SUZAINI BINTI MOHAMED ZAID

Suzaini M. Zaid is currently teaching at the Department of Building Surveying in the Faculty of Built Environment and was the first EcoCampus Coordinator in Universiti Malaya. Suzaini holds a PhD in Planning and Urban Development from the Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales. Suzaini was part of the testing of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative (UNEP-SBCI)’s Common Carbon Metric and Protocol in the Malaysian context through her PhD research.    Her current research interest focuses on green intervention strategies through vertical greenery systems, operational energy, and user behaviour, which accumulated in multiple journal publications and her first book titled “Human Impact on Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation in the Built Environment”. She has teaching experience in the fields of building surveying, urban planning, and sustainable development.    Suzaini is also a professionally certified Green Building Index (GBI) Facilitator and a Malaysian Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Tool (MyCREST) Qualified Professional. She is determined to positively impact the built environment through green interventions to address the existential crisis of climate change.

show more »
DR. SHAFA'ATUSSARA BINTI SILAHUDIN

Born in Muar, Johor, Dr. Shafa is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Coordinator of Malay Studies at Academy of Malay Studies, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She is a Guest Researcher affiliated with Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University, Netherlands. Dr. Shafa was a Fellow at Universiti Malaya Community Engagement Centre (UMCares) for 2 years (2022-2023). Dr. Shafa experienced as Assistant Fellow (2006-2007) and College Fellow/Secretary (2008-2013) at Kolej Kediaman Tun Syed Zahiruddin (Ninth Residential College). In 2013-2019, Dr. Shafa lived in Leiden, Netherlands to continue her doctorate studies. Starting in January 2024 until present, Dr. Shafa serves as College Fellow/Treasurer at the same residential college.  Dr. Shafa obtained her Doctoral Degree from Leiden University, Netherlands on a thesis titled "Malay Singing in Pahang Villages: Identity and Practice" under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Bernard Arps (promotor) and Dr. Suryadi (co-promotor) from Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University, Netherlands. Dr. Shafa earned her Master of Malay Studies in Performing Arts and Bachelor of Science in Biohealth (Honors), both from Universiti Malaya. Dr. Shafa specialises in heritage/traditional music, Southeast Asia music history, alternative culture (including punk rock), arts community, popular media and music care. Currently, she is working on a project - music care for caregivers - with her team members from Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Business and Economics, Faculty of Creative Arts and Faculty of Education. This project is under IIRG grant (2022-2025). As an ethnographer whose research sites exist between the online and offline in hybrid fields, Dr. Shafa's interdisciplinary music and/or expressive culture research moves with performers, industry professionals and audiences. In 2023, Dr. Shafa published her book titled "Malay Singing in Pahang Villages: Identity and Practice" (Publisher: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka). In 2016, Dr. Shafa with Associate Professor Dr. Salinah Ja'afar, Associate Professor Dr. Tengku Intan Marlina Tengku Mohd Ali and Datuk Dr. Zurinah Hassan (Malaysian National Laureate) published a book titled "Wacana Pantun Melayu" (Publisher: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka). In 2024, Dr. Shafa received Darjah Paduka Mahkota Perak (P.M.P.) in conjunction with Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah's 68th birthday. Dr. Shafa was awarded Anugerah Penggiat Seni (Seni Berbahasa) Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur in 2023, Anugerah Biduan Syair ASEAN in 2022 and Anugerah Bitara Syair Nusantara in 2021. Also, Dr. Shafa was awarded Skim Latihan Akademik Fellowships (2008-2011 & 2013-2016) from Universiti Malaya. Dr. Shafa is a traditional music practitioner in Malaysia and has recorded more than 300 songs. She experienced in performing music in Southeast Asian Countries, China, Tasmania and the Netherlands. Her videos of music performance can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/@syafasara/videos

show more »
PROF. DR. SANJAY RAMPAL A/L LEKHRAJ RAMPAL

Dr Sanjay Rampal was appointed Executive Director of the Department of Research Development under the Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Universiti Malaya in March 2025. He is a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and a Public Health Physician at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.   Dr Rampal was medically trained in India and served in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia from 1998 to 2005. The clinical experiences from his early medical career helped him realize that treating one patient at a time was insufficient and that more could be done by intervening at a population level. He improved his basic epidemiology and biostatistics knowledge by completing an MPH degree in 2004 from Harvard University.   He joined Universiti Malaya in 2005, intending to strengthen the research skills of the Malaysian medical and public health community. He completed his PhD in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in 2014. He was Certified in Public Health (CPH) by the US National Board of Public Health Examiners in 2013.   Dr Rampal’s research has focused primarily on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease. He has investigated the etiological and prognostic roles of various factors with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These factors include gender, ethnicity, nutrition, obesity, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, and other structural determinants of health. He has further investigated the role of these traditional cardiovascular risk factors in cancer development. He hopes to leverage this information further to design and implement better prevention programs that reduce the number of new patients our healthcare system sees. In recent years, he has applied his epidemiological expertise to communicable diseases. He investigated the roles of Obesity and Diabetes on the prognosis of Dengue Severity. His methodological interests include improving research methodology, biostatistics, epidemiological designs, regression models, causal inference, multiple imputations, measurement error, and propensity scoring.   Dr Rampal lectures in epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methods at Universiti Malaya. He has supervised 21 Doctoral, 10 4-year Master of Public Health, and 35 Master’s candidates to completion. He actively supervises 10+ postgraduate students. Since 2005, he has provided many methodological and biostatistical consultations to graduate students and clinical researchers. Dr. Rampal has published 89 WOS and 94 SCOPUS papers (h-index: 32 WOS, 39 SCOPUS; WOS Citations without Self-citations: 17,330) and supervised over 65 postgraduate students.   Dr Rampal is a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia and was the past honorary secretary for the College of Public Health Medicine from 2006-2009 and an executive member from 2016 to 2024. He has chaired the Public Health Medicine Specialty Education Subcommittee at the Malaysian Medical Council since 2020. He was also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for Health Technologies Economic Evaluation, Ministry of Health Malaysia, from 2017 to 2024. He had previously chaired the Malaysian National Conjoint Committee for Public Health Postgraduate Medical Program and the Public Health Society of the Malaysian Medical Association.   Dr Rampal heads the Western Pacific Regional Training Centre of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases(TDR). He is also an advisory member of the Global Health Program of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and an international advisory committee member of the ASEAN University Network Health Promotion Network. He is also a member of the International Epidemiology Association and a past member of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the Society for Epidemiologic Research.   During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Rampal improved the prevention and control of COVID-19 through active research and translation. He had actively communicated with the public through the media on COVID-19 issues. He was a member of the following committees: 1) Science and Technology Expert Panel for Disaster Risk Reduction under the Health and Emerging Threat Cluster of the Malaysia Disaster Management Agency; 2) National COVID-19 Epidemiological Analysis Task Force under the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation; 3) AFC Covid-19 Advisory Expert Group; 4) UMMC COVID-19 Task Force; and 5) the Journal of Global Health Science Commission on COVID-19 Response.

show more »

RECENT PUBLICATION

LATEST AWARDED GRANT