Dr Mohd Shahnaz Hasan is a Consultant Anaesthesiologist and Critical Care Physician at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and an Assoc Professor at the Department of Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. He received his MBBS and postgraduate degree in Anaesthesiology from Universiti Malaya and went on to complete his Fellowship in Emergency & Critical Care Ultrasound. Majority of his time is devoted to clinical work, teaching and research. Over the past 10 years, he has maintained active collaborations with international research institutions and researchers, conducting research in areas related to critical care nutrition, nephrology, mechanical ventilation, sedation, and antimicrobials in critically ill patients. He is currently the PI of the following ongoing international clinical trials and research projects: MEGAROX (MRINZ), SPICE IV (Monash), VICTORY trial (Wurzburg), EFFORT-X(Queens), EQUIP-ICU (Oxford), REMAP-CAP (Monash) and FOIL-INFLAME (Malaysia). He is also the institutional lead in the CCAA project (Collaboration for Research, Implementation & Training in Intensive Care in Asia and Africa) which is supported by the Wellcome Trust. His past and ongoing work with the University of Queensland team in antimicrobial pharmacokinetics and optimisation of antibiotic dosing/delivery includes: BLISS, SAFE-ICU, DECISIVE, BLING III & PK/PD, PNEUDOS, and COLLABORATE. Apart from his significant contribution in the research and care of critically ill patients, he is also heavily involved in the provision of perioperative anaesthesia care for major complex spinal surgery, which include more than 2000 cases of complex congenital, neuromuscular and idiopathic scoliosis deformity surgery in young children and adolescents. Dr Shahnaz has received local and international research grants worth more than MYR 2.27 mil. He has more than 100 publications in high impact journals (WOS) with a H-index of 16 and 2200 total citations, of which 20 as first, senior, or corresponding author. About 43% of the co-authored publications are from international collaboration with researchers in other countries or region and 37% of the publications are in the top 25% most cited worldwide.

Dr. Mohd Hafizan Md Isa is a senior lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Malaya, combining academic expertise with industry experience. He has worked with consultancy and international engineering firms, as well as in technical and academic support roles involving project management and technical design. His research focuses on sustainable construction materials and soil stabilization, with a strong emphasis on recycling waste and industrial byproducts for infrastructure applications. He is actively engaged in projects that promote sustainable construction practices, including the development of environmentally friendly materials and innovative solutions for improving infrastructure performance and durability. His areas of interest include Geotechnical Engineering, Ground Improvement, and Geomaterials, and his work seeks to merge environmental sustainability with practical engineering solutions to create greener, more resilient, and resource-efficient infrastructure.

Dr. Lai received his Ph.D. from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Technische Universität Ilmenau under the DAAD Ph.D. Sandwich Programme, and was conferred the prestigious Chancellor Award by the Queen of Johor. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering as well as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of BioSight Sdn Bhd, a spin-off company of Universiti Malaya. Dr. Lai has been instrumental in fostering industry-academic collaborations, leading multiple industrial consultation projects. His contributions to science and technology, particularly in medical engineering, have been significant. His research focuses on the development of innovative biomedical devices, including a portable, non-invasive scoliosis detection system and a point-of-care device for knee osteoarthritis diagnosis using vibroarthrography (VAG). More recently, he has pioneered novel machine learning approaches for automated cartilage pattern recognition in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), reducing the need for extensive human intervention. His work has gained substantial interest from both local and international industries. Recognized for his excellence in research and education, Dr. Lai has received more than 30 prestigious international and national awards. These include multiple Special Awards and Gold Medals, as well as Best of the Best Awards from ITEX, MTE, i-ENVEX, AiNEX, PECIPTA, and BioMalaysia Expo, among others. He has also represented Universiti Malaya in global competitions such as iCREATe in Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. Additionally, he has been honored with accolades such as the Best Presentation Award from Fukuoka University (Japan), the Best Sustainable Prototype Award at Digital Wonderland Singapore Expo 2019, an Honorable Mention Award at NSIEC 2020 (Taiwan), and the First Runner-Up Award at the Brunei Crown Prince CIPTA 2021 competition. In recognition of his achievements, he was elected as a Member of the Young Scientists Network - Academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM) in 2021 and as a board member of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Young Affiliates Network (TYAN). Dr. Lai has authored over 140 peer-reviewed publications indexed in ISI/Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus, with an h-index of 22. His work has led to the granting of 17 patents and intellectual property rights. As principal investigator or co-researcher, he has successfully completed 22 funded projects and is currently leading 13 ongoing research initiatives supported by government agencies, industry partners, and international collaborators. As a credentialed engineer, Dr. Lai is a registered Professional Engineer with a Practicing Certificate (PEPC) at the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) and holds several esteemed engineering titles, including Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust), APEC Engineer (IntPE Australia), Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng, NER Australia), Fellow and Council Member of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Senior Member of IEEE (USA), Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Chartered Engineer (CEng, UK), and Professional Technologist at the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT). Dr. Lai is actively involved in academic and professional service, serving as a Technical Programme Committee (TPC) member and reviewer for over 50 international conferences, workshops, and journals. He has delivered more than 20 keynote and invited talks at international conferences. Additionally, he serves on the editorial boards of several indexed journals, including as Associate Editor of IEEE Access and IET Image Processing, and as Lead Guest Editor for journals such as Multimedia Tools and Applications and Current Medical Imaging. Beyond his academic and research endeavors, Dr. Lai plays a pivotal role in engineering education. He is the key resource person for curriculum development and accreditation reviews (EAC/MQA/QMEC) in his department and serves as an Accreditation Panel member under the Board of Engineers Malaysia. In 2018, he was appointed as a Fellow under the Ministry of Education Malaysia’s CEO@Faculty Programme, working with C-suite executives at PLUS Malaysia Berhad on digital innovation strategies for IR4.0 transformation. He played a key role in developing commercial strategies for the PLUS Video Analytics (VA) Infrastructure, a project with an investment exceeding RM20 million. Dr. Lai’s research excellence has been recognized with numerous awards, including the ACU Fellowship by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (UK) in 2021 for his research on hospital readmission risks among recovered COVID-19 patients. He was also honored with the IEM Young Engineer Award 2021, the IEEE-EMBS Early Career Achievement Award 2021, and the BEM Malaysia Most Prominent Young Engineering Leader Award (Tokoh Muda) 2022, presented by the Prime Minister of Malaysia. In 2024, he received the Anugerah Penyelidik Muda Cemerlang (Bidang Sains) from Universiti Malaya. As the head of the Advanced Analytics Research Group at the Medical Imaging Laboratory, Dr. Lai has supervised 75 postgraduate students (19 PhD, 9 MSc, and 19 MEng completed; 21 PhD and 7 MSc ongoing). His research team has secured over RM5 million in funding for healthcare technology, medical imaging, and bioinstrumentation projects. His innovations have led to the development of clinically impactful diagnostic prototypes, including OsteoKneeKit™ and Scoltech™, both of which are currently undergoing commercialization. The Scoltech™ project has been approved under the UM Deep Tech Accelerator Programme with RM50,000 in seed funding, with Dr. Lai serving as CTO. Additionally, Dr. Lai contributes as an external examiner for PhD and MSc dissertations, both locally and internationally, and serves as a professional mentor for IEM (Malaysia) and Engineers Australia. He is also an external assessor for higher learning accreditation frameworks, an advisor for industry-academic liaison units, and a board member for Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia’s (USIM) new technologist programme. Furthermore, he serves on the Disciplinary Committee Panel of the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board (ASDB) under the Bar Council Malaysia.