Driven and focused; born with the spirit of an academic, and the soul of an explorer; Saiful received a PhD in Molecular Parasitology from Imperial College, London in 2006 after which he immediately joined Universiti Malaya as an academic. Currently he is a professor of Biochemistry in the Faculty of Science. More than 12 PhD and 15 MSc students have graduated under Saiful’s supervision. With over 70 publications (WOS) and an h-index of 18, Saiful is a recognized authority in the field of proteomics and has multiple collaborations with researchers across the globe. He has received more than RM 5 million in research grants. Saiful also holds various management responsibilities. Of particular note are his roles as Deputy Dean (2015-2017) and Dean (2017-present) of the Frontiers of the Natural World Research Cluster (formerly known as Frontier Science Research Cluster), and currently as the Director of IPPP. In this role, his responsibilities include ensuring growth and development of  research within UM, managing internal research grants, training researchers to empower them, developing UM’s niche and thrust areas, engaging stakeholders, and various other tasks related to research and innovation.