Professor Dr. Yvonne Lim Ai Lian is the Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) at Universiti Malaya and a Senior Professor in the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine. She is also a member of the University Senate. A Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), she co-chairs the APRU Asia Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) Programme and serves on the International Advisory Committee of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities. Throughout her distinguished career, she has held several key leadership roles at both university and national levels, including Deputy Dean (Research) at the Faculty of Medicine, Director of the International Relations Office, and Associate Vice-Chancellor of Global Engagement at Universiti Malaya. She has also served as President of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine and as a Council Member of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Her research focuses on deciphering the intricate host-parasite-environment interactions that contribute to disease in indigenous and underserved communities, aiming to develop multi-targeted solutions. Additionally, she investigates the diversity of gut and skin microbiomes across populations spanning various socioeconomic and ecological landscapes, from traditional to industrialized societies. For nearly three decades, she has dedicated her work to studying infectious diseases among the Orang Asli (indigenous) communities of Peninsular Malaysia, collaborating closely with Hospital Orang Asli Gombak. Her contributions to national policy, including the Orang Asli Development Policy (DPOA), reflect her deep commitment to community welfare. Her collaboration with New York University led to a groundbreaking discovery, published in Science (2016), revealing how low levels of helminth (worm) infections promote the growth of probiotic gut microbiota. Her gut microbiome research has since expanded to studies among HIV and cancer patients. More recently, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA, she has deepened investigations into parasitic infections, gut microbiome dynamics, and the relationship between skin infections and the skin microbiome. Her work is supported by numerous national and international grants, including the prestigious US NIH R01 grants. She was recently awarded another NIH R01 grant as the principal investigator. She has published over 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles, contributed to nine book chapters, and authored three books. As a dedicated mentor, she has supervised more than 40 postgraduate students to completion and hosted researchers through extensive collaborations with institutions in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. She has also held visiting research and academic positions at leading institutions, including the Scottish Parasite Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory in Glasgow, Scotland; the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne, Australia; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA; and the Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases at Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. She has earned numerous accolades, including the MSPTM Medal (2008) for outstanding young scientists, the Universiti Malaya Excellent Lecturer Award for Science Disciplines (2015), and the Top Research Scientists of Malaysia Award (2016). In 2017, she was inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. She has been consistently recognized in Stanford University's list of the top 2% of scientists globally in her field. In 2021, she was awarded the Fulbright Scholar Award (2021/2022) for a fellowship at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at NIAID, NIH, USA. Most recently, she received the prestigious Sandosham Gold Medal Award in 2024, the highest honour from the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to parasitology and tropical medicine. Deeply passionate about her work with the Orang Asli communities, she remains committed to inspiring and empowering her colleagues and students to reach their fullest potential.  

Professor Sr Dr. Hafez Salleh , a former Deputy Dean (Undergraduate) and former Head at Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has an educational background in quantity surveying and IT in construction. Currently, he is Head of Centre for Building, Construction & Tropical Architecture (BuCTA) Research. He has a BSc, MSc and PhD Degree from School of the Built Environment and top rated, 6* Research Institute for the Built and Human Environment, University of Salford, United Kingdom. He has 30 years’ experience in both academia and industry practice and has been an active researcher and research supervisor. He is the recipient of Excellence Service Award by University of Malaya in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2022 and recipient of Loyal Service Award 20 Years in 2017. He has supervised a wide range of undergraduate and post graduate research students in various research themes. His main research interest is IT/IS strategic management in construction and sustainable design. His previous research was the development of IT/IS Readiness Model that focuses on evaluation of organizational readiness prior IT/IS investment. He is currently working on the theme of IT/IS evaluation in construction with interest in the links between ‘hard’ & human issues and BIM Implementation in construction industry. He is a Registered Consultant Quantity Surveyor (CQS) with Board of Quantity Surveyor Malaysia (BQSM), Fellow of Royal Institute of Surveyor Malaysia (FRISM), the technical committee member of Malaysian Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP) 2005-2015, Strategic Thrust 6: Leveraging Information Technology, Editorial Board Members, Journal of Surveying, Construction & Property, Associate Editor for Journal of Design and Built Environment (JDBE) and Lead Auditor for QMS ISO 9001:2008, University of Malaya. He was a Member of Quantity Surveying Accreditation Council (QSAC), BQSM, for Session 2019-2021, Auditor for QMS ISO 9001:2015 (BQSM) 2021,2022, 2023 and he is also a regular Assessor Panel of Accreditation for Quantity Surveying Programme for both RISM and BQSM and has been appointed as an External Examiner for more than 28 thesis of Master and PhD examinations.  

Izlin is currently the Deputy Dean Research at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya. She was formerly the Head of Department of Finance and Banking, as well as the Director for the Centre of Business Excellence (CBE@UM) at the faculty. She has also served as the Deputy Director at the International Institute of Public Policy and Management (INPUMA). Prior to academia, she was a corporate analyst at a multinational corporation. Izlin graduated with a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, MSc in Investment Management from Bayes Business School, City, University of London, and PhD at Nottingham University Business School. She has published in indexed journals in areas such as international finance, microfinance, financial literacy, fintech and energy finance. She has also published several books including a financial literacy handbook for primary school students, a research-based book on consumer financial vulnerabilities, and recently a book on Fintech in Malaysia. Izlin has been appointed as consultant for several projects such as on financial literacy for primary schools and on economic enhancement programmes for public infrastructure projects. She has also led 8 out of 18 research projects with a total grant value of more than RM1 million. Her current research projects include financial literacy workshops for vulnerable groups including pensioners, migrant workers as well as students. She is also a corporate trainer for finance-related courses in corporate certification programmes. As for supervision, she has supervised more than 10 PhD and 50 Master students to completion.