Noran N Hairi is the Deputy Dean for Research at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. Medically trained at Universiti Malaya (UM), she served in Malaysia’s Ministry of Health before earning both an MPH and an MPH (Epidemiology) with distinction from UM, and a PhD from the University of Sydney, Australia. Noran is best known for her work on the epidemiology of ageing, with a particular focus on sarcopenia, and frailty. She has made significant contributions to research on elder abuse, neglect, and financial mistreatment among older adults. She led the Prevent Elder Abuse and Neglect Initiative (PEACE), which adopted a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to address late-life abuse through professional training, public awareness campaigns, and policy advocacy. PEACE provided a platform for legislators and policymakers, leading to calls for better elder protection framework. The PEACE 1.0 study identified financial exploitation as the most common form of elder abuse, prompting the PEACE 2.0 project, a collaborative effort with Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) under Bank Negara Malaysia. Currently, the PEACE 3.0 team is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to evaluate elder abuse assessment tools. She has published extensively, supervised over 80 postgraduate students, and held key leadership roles including Dean (Health and Wellbeing Research Cluster), Chair (Research Cluster), and Head of Research Centres such as the Julius Centre University Malaya and the Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice. Dr. Noran has contributed significantly to research, policy development, and public engagement in Malaysia. As a Member of the National Senior Citizens Advisory and Consultative Council (MPPWEN) and a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, UK, she is deeply committed to advancing public health and championing critical ageing issues. Her work focuses on elder protection, combating age discrimination, and promoting social inclusion, reflecting her dedication to research excellence, education, and collaborative leadership to improve the lives of older adults.

Started his research career in the think tank sector, Dr. Lee Chee Leong (Karl) is attracted to the rise of non-traditional diplomacy in the international order today. Such appeal has taken Dr. Lee into new research horizons that started with his Monash University's doctoral research on the Chinese sub-state diplomacy in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. With constructive supervision by Professor Helen Nesadurai and Associate Professor Kuik Cheng Chwee, Dr. Lee completed his doctoral thesis that unravels how a faraway and least developed sub-state of Guangxi managed to overcome its own hurdles, navigate the complexities within the Chinese state and become the frontline actor in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. Following his doctoral completion, Dr. Lee's research on non-traditional diplomacy has expanded into Taiwan’s quasi-state diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Such quest has led him spending at great length in comprehending the concept of soft power, a concept that finds its relevance to Taiwan, which has no official diplomatic with Southeast Asia but is heavily connected to the region and has to rely on soft power in its engagements with these Southeast Asian nations. Taking Malaysia as the first case study of Taiwan's soft power in the region, Dr. Lee is developing the third intervening variable correlating both Taiwanese soft power resources and outcomes, in his course of providing a dynamical explanation for such phenomenon. For the coming years, his research focus and publications will be on the different areas featuring Taiwan-Malaysia and Taiwan-Southeast Asia cooperation such as digital social innovation (DSI) for climate change, industry-based education/training programmes, smart cities, tourism, digital democracy, agriculture, public health and medicine, ornamental aquaculture and aquascape. To date, Dr. Lee was the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships in Malaysia and overseas: University of Malaya’s Graduate Fellowship (2010-2011); Monash University’s Merit Scholarship (2016-2019); Chinese Government Scholarship (2018-2019); and Taiwan Fellowship (2020). Prior to his appointment as Senior Lecturer at the Institute of China Studies (ICS), he was the Visiting Scholar at Guangxi University for Nationalities (GXUN) (2018-10992019), Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University (NCCU) (2020) and Associate Fellow at ICS UM (2016-2019).He welcomes any potential PhD candidate who would like to work on Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations, Taiwan's soft power in Southeast Asia and Taiwan-Malaysia DSI cooperation for climate change. He is also willing to discuss with potential doctoral candidates on proposals related to the Chinese sub-state (provincial) diplomacy toward ASEAN, China's soft power in ASEAN, Southeast Asian sub-state diplomacy, comparative cases of sub-state diplomacy around the world and conceptual innovation of sub-state diplomacy as well as soft power. 

Hazlee Azil Illias was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He received Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Universiti Malaya, Malaysia in 2006. He immediately joined Freescale Semiconductors Malaysia as a product engineer before pursuing his PhD studies in 2008. He obtained PhD Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom in 2011. He was a Senior Lecturer from 2011 to 2016 and an Associate Professor from 2016 to 2024 at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Malaya. Currently, he is a Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Malaya. Since joining the Universiti Malaya, he has received funding and grants of nearly RM 3 million (~USD 0.7 million), published more than 80 journal papers in ISI-indexed publications and 80 refereed conference papers and successfully supervised to completion of 13 PhD, 6 Master's Degree by research and 37 Master's Degree project (by coursework) candidates. He is currently an Associate Editor of IET Science Measurement and Technology (since 2019) and the Head of Universiti Malaya High Voltage Laboratory and Research Group (since 2011). His current management post at the Universiti Malaya is the Director of Corporate Ranking Centre (CRC) under Associate Vice Chancellor (Corporate Strategy). He was the Head of Department of Electrical Engineering from September 2013 to July 2014, the Secretary of IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) Malaysia Chapter from 2015 to 2019 and the Counselor of IEEE Universiti Malaya Student Branch from 2018 to 2024. He is now a Senior Member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Fellow of IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology), Corporate Member of IEM (Institution of Engineers Malaysia), a registered Chartered Engineer (C.Eng UK) and a Professional Engineer (P.Eng Malaysia). He is an active reviewer for numerous high-quality journals, which include publishers from IEEE, IET, Elsevier and IOP. His main research interests include modelling and measurement of partial discharge phenomena in dielectric insulation materials, condition monitoring, insulation system diagnosis, lightning overvoltage, transmission line modelling, optimisation methods and artificial intelligence techniques.