Dr Sam is a medical graduate from the University of Nottingham in the UK, and completed his postgraduate training in Medical Microbiology in London. He joined the University of Malaya in 2005. He is head of the diagnostic virology and advanced (molecular) diagnostics units in the University of Malaya Medical Centre, a 1000-bed tertiary referral centre. His clinical diagnostic work includes expanding molecular diagnostic services and involvement in hospital responses to emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19. He teaches both undergraduates and postgraduates. His research interests cover clinical, epidemiological, diagnostic and pathogenesis aspects of chikungunya virus and other arboviruses, respiratory viruses (including influenza and SARS-CoV-2), and enterovirus A71, and he has held several national and international grants.