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Dr Yvonne Lim Ai Lian is a professor at the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. She is currently the Deputy Dean (Research) of Faculty of Medicine. She was the past president of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (MSPTM; 2014-2015) and has held various key roles in the Society. In 2008, she was awarded the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (MSPTM) Medal for being an outstanding young scientist and the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Centenary Scholarship (London). In 2015, she won the University of Malaya Excellence Award for outstanding achievement in the category of Excellent Lecturer (for Sciences). Recently, in 2016, she was the recipient of the Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM) Award.

Her research interest is on neglected tropical diseases primarily among the marginalised populations, namely the Orang Asli and migrant populations, coupling conventional and advanced tools to understand these diseases. More recently, using multidisciplinary approaches, she began exploring the molecular mechanisms that underpin the interactions between parasitic infections, gut microbiota, nutritional status and inflammatory responses. Her team’s latest landmark publication with her collaborators from New York University in the prestigious journal of SCIENCE April 2016 discovered the mechanisms of how low levels of helminth infection promote growth of probiotic bacteria that might potentially help treat inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis in the future. She has a solid network of local and international partnerships and has been invited to speak at various international and regional conferences. She has authored more than 100 original papers, written 7 book chapters and edited 2 books, including “Parasites and their vectors: A special focus on Southeast Asia” (Springer, 2013).