Associate Professor Dr. Puah Suat Moi is a microbiologist at the Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (UM). A dedicated alumna of UM, she completed her BSc in Microbiology and Master of Medical Science with distinction at the same institution, followed by research experience at RIKEN, Japan, and a PhD in Molecular Microbiology under UM’s prestigious Bright Sparks Scheme. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Science.

Dr. Puah's research expertise is rooted in bacteriology and molecular microbiology, with a strong focus on microbial genomics and biofilm-mediated antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Her work is driven by a mission to identify bacterial virulence factors that facilitate disease pathogenicity, with the goal of reducing disease severity and improving patient outcomes. A key focus of her research is biofilm-the protective communities bacteria form on medical devices and tissues, which significantly reduce antibiotic effectiveness. She employs advanced tools including whole genome sequencing (WGS), transcriptomic approaches, and reverse genetics to characterise biofilm formation, host–microbe interactions, and AMR mechanisms in human pathogens. Her work spans clinically significant pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, Elizabethkingia, foodborne bacteria, Group B Streptococcus, and Aeromonas species, with a growing interest in aquatic microbiology.

To date, Dr. Puah and her team have secured 17 research grants totalling over RM 2 million across university, national, and international levels, including collaborations with the Singapore Food Agency, the University of Technology Sydney, and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin. She has published more than 50 ISI-indexed papers (H-index: 16) and serves as Section Editor for Microbiology for the Web of Science–indexed journal Gene (Elsevier) and as Associate Editor for Gene Reports (Elsevier).

Beyond research, she is actively engaged in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and student supervision. Her contributions have earned her several prestigious recognitions, including the Institut Mérieux–MSIDC Young Investigator Award (2020), the MSGH Research Award (2021), the APEC-Australia Women Fellowship (2022), and the CAS-PIFI Fellowship (2024), in addition to numerous best poster awards at national conferences.