Prof. Dr. Pei Pei Chong received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), U.K. in the field of Biochemistry and Applied Molecular Biology through a full scholarship. She had graduated with a first-class honours from the same institution with a B.Sc. (Hons), sponsored by the Malaysian government.Upon graduation, she worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology, National University of Singapore (NUS). A year later, she began her career as an academic starting with the position of Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, in Selangor, Malaysia. In 2012, she did her sabbatical research in NUS for 9 months, after which she was appointed as a Visiting Research Associate Professor for a period of 2 years in the Centre for Translational Medicine, Infectious Diseases Group headed by Prof. Dr. Naoki Yamamoto.Prof Chong had joined Taylor’s University in 2018 and was appointed as the Head of Research in 2019, and Director of the Digital Health and Medical Advancement Impact Lab in 2022. Prof. Chong has a keen interest in infectious diseases research and has worked extensively on candidiasis and secondarily, on drug-resistant bacteria. She also has a strong track record in research covering the molecular pathogenesis of cancers, especially for the types of cancers which have an etiological link to viruses including HPV in cervical cancer and EBV in nasopharyngeal cancer. She had managed to obtain several granted patents and received research innovation awards both from her university as well as from international invention exhibitions. Her current research interests include trans-disciplinary research that encompasses multiple fields that include applied microbiology, engineering, IT and biological sciences in the quest for improved healthcare for the universal population.
Dr. Rina B. Opulencia is a professor of microbiology, and molecular and biology and biotechnology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños where she graduated with a BS in Biology. She obtained her Master of Science in Microbiology at University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia with an Australian scholarship grant, and her PhD in Microbiology at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA through a Fulbright-Philippine Agriculture Scholarship. She is the 2024 Institute of Biological Sciences Outstanding Researcher Award (Senior Category), a recipient of the 2019 Professor William L. Fernandez Award for Excellence in Teaching Microbiology given by the Philippine Society for Microbiology, Inc., placed second in the Philippine Talent Search for Young Scientists given by National Academy of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology, and conferred the title "University of the Philippines Scientist I" for 2020-2022, and 2023-2025, for her scientific productivity.Her current research endeavors include microbial diversity of and bioactive compound-producing microorganisms from extreme environments, bioremediation, recombinant antibodies, multidrug resistant pathogens, and genetic basis of multidrug resistance. Her research has thus far resulted in 30 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and several presentations in international scientific meetings. She has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, and mentoring several undergraduate, Master's and PhD students in Microbiology, and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She instituted graduate courses in microbiology, and authored laboratory manuals in specialized microbiology courses, namely, Microbial Genetics and Phenotypic Techniques in Microbial Identification.She is the Chair of the Graduate Program Management Committee for PhD Microbiology, co-chair of the Graduate Program Management Committee for MS Microbiology , and member of the Graduate Program Management Committee for MS and PhD Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She is currently a member of the editorial board of PLOS One, and has served as reviewer of manuscripts submitted for publication in various peer-reviewed journals, and as technical reviewer of research proposals submitted to Philippine funding agencies. She has also served as a member of technical working groups in biotechnology and in risk analysis of foodborne antimicrobial resistance in the Philippines.
Professor Marriott's career commenced at LaTrobe University, continued at Bristol University, then academic appointments at the National University of Singapore, RMIT University and Monash University. His research includes invention of cryogenic modulation in GC, leading to device development, fundamental principles and a large applications base with primary research in multidimensional GC (MDGC), comprehensive two-dimensional GC (GC×GC), and mass spectrometry. He applies MDGC and GC×GC to diverse separations including: pesticides; petrochemicals; pharmaceuticals; foods, flavours and beverage analysis; natural products; toxins. He has had visiting appointments in China, South Korea, Brazil, and Malaysia.
Mr. Steven graduated with a Bachelor of Food Science & Technology from the University of Putra Malaysia in 2004. He has 20 years experience in Edible Oil-related process design, project coordination, execution, supervision, and commissioning. He has built more than 40 units of Edible Oil processing plants and traveled to more than 30 countries worldwide to transfer edible oil processing knowledge. He built the First ever Vitamin E extraction and purification plant and successfully commissioned it in 2008 in Kenya, East Africa. In 2018, he built the First Red Palm Oil mild refining integration with a Vitamin E concentration Plant in Malaysia. In 2022, he built the New Version of the Vitamin E Extraction Plant in Sabah, Malaysia.
Dr. Chen Jit Ern is the Director of the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development and an Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Sunway University. His primary research interest is in the development and utilization of genetic engineering techniques and molecular tools on various microalgae, to study the underlying mechanisms of physiological traits such as lipid accumulation and heat tolerance. Dr Chen’s current primary project is focused on studying the potential for increased heat-tolerance in Zooxanthellae, the photosynthetic coral endosymbiont, with an emphasis on heat-activated retrotransposons and on experimental evolution of heat-tolerance in microalgae. Other areas of interests include the effects of algae auxins on the growth of higher plants, monitoring biodiversity in Bandar Sunway and advising Sunway Group on their sustainability initiatives and Climate Value-at-Risk analyses.
Professor Leong is a distinguished genomics expert with extensive experience in both academia and industry, having received prestigious awards such as the FMD Fellowship (USA), the Institute of Biomedical Science President's Award (UK), and the Top Research Scientist Malaysia (TRSM). He was formerly a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and holds fellowships with the Institute of Biomedical Science (FIBMS, UK), the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB, UK), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC, UK). As the founder and CEO of AGTC Genomics, he continues to advance the field while serving as an adjunct professor and visiting fellow at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.