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I completed my undergraduate degree in microbiology in Universiti Malaya in 2004. I was awarded a UM scholarship for Master of Medical Science which I passed with distinction in 2007. I then worked at RIKEN Yokohama, Japan for 18 months to gain international research experience in molecular genetics. I continued to pursue my PhD in UM under the Bright Sparks Scheme.  In October 2015, I was appointed as senior lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Science, UM.

I dived into the microbiology world with a mission to identify virulence factors that facilitate disease pathogenicity. I believe that research into the identification of bacterial virulence factors will greatly reduce disease severity, prevent prolonged suffering and hospital stays and expensive medical treatments. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and clarithromycin resistant Helicobacter pylori classified by the World Health Organization in 2017 as high-priority pathogens are my on-going organisms of interest. Biofilm formation by human pathogens via genomic and transcriptomic approaches and the functional characterisation of candidate genes using reverse genetics are the keys to unlocking disease pathogenicity, and eventually to save lives. To date, my team and I have secured 17 research grants with a total amount of more than RM 2 million. These grants have supported projects through national and international research collaborations at UM’s Faculty levels (Fac. of Medicine, Fac. of Computer Science & Information Technology, Fac. of Economic and Business, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences). The grants have also involved national researchers on an external level - Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin and Universiti Sabah Malaysia. In an approach to elevating UM to a world class university, my team and I have collaborated with Singapore Food Agency, University of Technology Sydney and Universidad Autónoma de Chile.  A research collaboration on an APEC project on command lines bioinformatic analysis with University of Technology Sydney has resulted in the expansion for a 2023 international grant on antimicrobial resistance. This professional networking aims to solve complex scientific research questions that will be translated to benefit humanity.

With regards to leadership, I was principal investigator for 5 university grants, 2 national grants and 2 international grants with a total value of more than RM 1 million. My research and collaboration have resulted in high impact publications - 40 papers with an accumulated ISI-citation of 524 with H index of 13. I have been awarded with best poster awards from various national conferences (2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), the Institut Mérieux - MSIDC Young Investigator Award 2020 from Institut Mérieux, France, Malaysian Society of Gastroenterology & Hepatology Research Award (2021) and the APEC-Australia Women Fellowship (2022). I am presently the Section Editor for WoS journal Gene (Elsevier) and Associate Editor for Gene Reports (Elsevier). Giving back to the community teaches us how important it is to help others in need, be it as a service or a mentor.  I was appointed to the secretariat committee for the 35th Symposium of The Malaysian Society for Microbiology 2022. This symposium aimed to promote science and technology in Malaysia and worldwide.

In my administrative roles, I have been the coordinator for the Biomedical Science Undergraduate Student Affairs Survey (New Student Admission, Graduate Student and Employer) since 2015. I am also a member of the curriculum review committee in the Biomedical Science programme. At the university level, I served as a committee member for UM Biosafety and Biosecurity Institutional Committee (2021-2023). I have served on various grant evaluations – internal BKP grants, UMSC CARE Fund and FRGS. On a community level to represent UM, I spearheaded a school outreach program – workshop on Genetics and Molecular Biology in Kuen Cheng High School and lead various teams of biomedical science students to facilitate workshops in indigenous communities in Desa Temuan (2018), SMK Sultan Abdul Samad (2019), SMK  Sri Aman (2019) and SMK Lembah Subang (2019) and online Science event for Kuen Cheng High School (2022).