Dr Jim Chai is a registered pharmacist with the Pharmacy Board Malaysia, the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand, and the General Pharmaceutical Council (Great Britain). He previously practised as a hospital clinical pharmacist before transitioning into academia.

He graduated from the University of Otago in 2002 and later completed his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham. His doctoral research employed a qualitative, patient-centred methodology to examine patients’ lived experiences of insulin therapy in the management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. This work laid the foundation for his sustained research interest in diabetes care, medicines use, and patient experience. He continues to expand his diabetes research portfolio, progressing from studies on insulin use to pharmacist-led prediabetes screening and early intervention models in community pharmacy practice.

At Universiti Malaya, his academic focus has broadened to include health professions education and higher education pedagogy, with particular emphasis on simulation-based learning, immersive technologies in pharmacy education, experiential learning design, and clinical readiness training. His work integrates educational innovation with service development to strengthen competency and practice preparedness among pharmacy graduates.

In addition, he serves as the Antimicrobial Stewardship Project Coordinator under the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society, where he leads the strategic development and implementation of stewardship training initiatives to enhance antimicrobial governance in Malaysian hospitals, particularly within the private healthcare sector.