Hanafi Hussin is an Honorary Professor at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya.  He has received his Master's Degree and PhD in Cultural and Performing Arts Studies.  His current focus is on Southeast Asian anthropology, particularly ritual and performing arts. He actively researches and publishes on rituals and identity of the Kadazandusun community of Sabah, particularly in Penampang and Tuaran Sabah and Bajau and Bajau Laut/Sama Dilaut of the east coast of Borneo and Southern Philippines. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts (2022-2024) and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2016-2018). Before his retirement, he also served as Head of the Maritime Social Sciences and Humanities Unit, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES) and Head of Universiti Malaya Migration Research Centre (UMMRC), Universiti Malaya. He was appointed and served as a Visiting Professor at various universities, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan, China (2024), Thammasat University (2021), Universitas Indonesia (2020-2021) and Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2020). He can be reached at hanafih@um.edu.my.

ChM. Dr. Liew Sook Yee (MRSC) is a senior lecturer in Chemistry Division, Centre for Foundation Studies in Science, Universiti Malaya. She obtained a BSc from Universiti of Terengganu (UMT) in 2010 with first class honour and have been awarded “Anugerah Graduan Terbaik Keseluruhan Fakulti Sains dan Teknologi/Program Sarjana Muda Sains (Sains Kimia)”. Then, she directly pursued PhD study (fast track) with SLAI scholarship in UM and graduated in 2014. Her fields of expertise and specialization are Natural Product Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry, Enzyme Inhibition and Kinetic studies. She has plenty of experience in isolating and purifying compounds as well as structural elucidation of compounds. She also developed her expertise in cutting-edge techniques which is 13C NMR-based dereplication in natural product studies. She is a member of Royal Chemistry of Society (UK) and Institut Kimia Malaysia as well as an associate member of CENAR (UM). Her research works are conducted in Phytolab (IFM NatProLab), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and she welcomes all the collaborations from academician, scientist, researcher, company and etc.

Dr. Cindy Teh Shuan Ju is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and a leading researcher in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Dr. Teh has secured substantial research funding of more than RM10 million and has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications. She has received research grants awarded by Malaysian Government and International agencies as well as Industry partners. Dr. Cindy Teh adopts a multipronged approach in addressing the challenge of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Her research integrates molecular microbiology to uncover the mechanisms underlying resistance, virulence, and transmission dynamics of hospital-acquired pathogens. In addition to investigating the pathogens themselves, she also examines the impact of antibiotics on patients’ microbiomes and studies the carriage of multidrug-resistant organisms among hospitalized patients. Recognising the importance of behavioural factors, Dr. Teh explores the psychosocial aspects influencing healthcare workers’ compliance with hand hygiene practices. Beyond the laboratory and clinical settings, Dr. Teh is also deeply committed to community outreach. She actively engages with schoolchildren through educational initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of AMR. These programmes are designed to empower the younger generation with knowledge, encouraging them to play a proactive role in combating AMR from an early age. Dedicated to bridging science and society, she authored “AMR Diary” to raise public awareness in 2023. Beyond her research contributions, Dr. Teh has been playing several key leadership roles. As Chairperson of the Institutional Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee (IBBC), she has significantly strengthened biosafety governance and oversees all university activities involving infectious agents and toxins. She was appointed as the Quality Manager of the Faculty of Medicine from 2018 to 2022, where she played a pivotal role in enhancing academic quality and institutional standards. She has also been actively involved as the panel assessor for the accreditation of programs in the University since 2022. Dr. Teh also serves as the Coordinator of the Infra Microbiology Unit, where she leads a dedicated team actively engaged by government agencies and industry partners. Under her leadership, the unit conducts microbiological studies and delivers customised training programmes aimed at capacity building and strengthening technical competencies across sectors. Professionally, Dr. Teh serves as an Academic Editor for PeerJ. She provides expert consultation to national agencies and industry on ISO 17025 compliance and biosafety systems. She has also contributed as one of the module writers for the national biosafety training programme under the Malaysia One Health University Network (MyOHUN), helping to strengthen the country’s biosafety training framework. Additionally, she plays an active role in national policy development as a member of the National Committee for the Implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), supporting efforts to enhance biosafety and biosecurity governance at the national level. Dr. Teh’s contributions have been nationally and internationally recognised. She is a member of Young Scientists Network-academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM) since 2018. She also received the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship in 2021 and the MSIDC-Institut Mérieux Young Researcher Award in 2018. In addition, her innovative work has earned multiple medals at both national and international innovation exhibitions. To date, Dr. Teh has successfully supervised and graduated 8 PhD and 16 Master’s students, reflecting her strong commitment to postgraduate training and research mentorship.