Login to Your Account

Dr. Yvonne Lim Ai Lian is a senior professor at the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur and a fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Currently, she is the Director of International Relations Office (IRO), University of Malaya and serves on the University Senate. She was the former Deputy Dean (Research) of Faculty of Medicine, UM and the past president of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (MSPTM).

Professor Lim’s research focuses on host-parasite interactions and the epidemiology and control of neglected tropical diseases primarily among the underserved communities. Her work has been funded by national and international grants (e.g. NIH). Recently, using multidisciplinary approaches, her research has helped improved understanding on how the interactions between intestinal helminths and the gut microbiota influence human immune responses. Her team’s landmark publication with collaborators from New York University in Science unravelled the mechanisms of how low levels of helminth infection promote growth of probiotic bacteria which may lead to the discovery of potential biomarkers and novel interventional strategies towards utilising helminths as a therapeutic approach.

She has published more than 160 scientific papers, 9 book chapters and 3 books. She also has a vast network of local and international partnerships. She was a visiting fellow at the Department of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Australia. She has been appointed a visiting professor at the Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan and was a temporary advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting for the schistosomiasis & soil-transmitted helminthiases data platform.

Professor Lim has received numerous awards and recognitions, among which were the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) Centenary Scholarship, the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine Medal for being an outstanding young scientist, the University of Malaya Excellence Award for outstanding achievement in the category of Excellent Lecturer (for Sciences) and the Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM) Award. She was recently featured as one of the 10 Science Stars of East Asia in Nature.