Dr. Tan Cheng Siang is a virologist specialising in One Health and vaccine-preventable diseases, with a research focus on Human Papillomavirus, enteric viruses (including Rotavirus and Norovirus), and zoonotic coronaviruses. His goal is to generate and share local genomics and epidemiological data for global consumption.

Dr. Ho Weang Kee is a Lecturer and Researcher in Statistics. She completed her PhD in the area of missing data in longitudinal and survival studies at Newcastle University (UK). Her first post-doctoral research position was on a National Institute for Health Research Project that aimed to bring advanced methodology to the area of child speech and language development, and to help train health professionals in the use of statistical methods. She was then appointed to a post-doctoral position as a Medical/Genetic Statistician at University of Cambridge where she worked on genetic and biomarkers for cardiovascular disease based on large electronic record databases. She joined the Department of Applied Mathematics at Nottingham University, Malaysia Campus, in June 2013. Her research interests are in the application and development of statistical methodology for missing data, particularly in the context of repeated measurement studies. Her research has recently expanded into the area of statistical genetics, specifically in the application of statistical methods to genetic data for identifying and characterizing genetic variants that are associated with disease.

Herbert Schwarz is an Associate Professor in the Immunology Translational Research Programme at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Schwarz received his Ph.D. in Genetics at the University of Würzburg, Germany, in 1989. After a postdoc at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, CA, he joined the University of California, San Diego, in 1991, where he cloned the human gene for CD137 (TNFRSF9, 4-1BB). In 1994 he moved to the University of Regensburg, Germany, where his group discovered and characterized many functions and aspects of the CD37 biology. Between 1999 and 2004, Dr. Schwarz headed the Cellular Immunology Dept. at Xenova, Inc., in Cambridge, UK, and the Preclinical Research Dept. at Pieris Proteolab in Freising, Germany. During his time in Biotech industry Dr. Schwarz was responsible for the preclinical research and development of several drug candidates for immunotherapy of cancer and autoimmune disease. Dr. Schwarz joined NUS in 2004, where his group is exploring the role of CD137 in anti-tumor immune responses and in neuroinflammation. Dr. Schwarz demonstrated the powerful activity of CD137 Ligand as an adjuvant for vaccines against infectious disease and hopes to extend that to vaccination against cancers.

Prof. Xin Lu is a Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Oxford. The main goal of Prof. Xin Lu and her team's research is to identify molecular mechanisms that control cellular plasticity and suppress tumour growth. Cells are able to change their characteristics and cell fate in response to external signals. This ability to change – cellular plasticity – underlies cancer initiation, metastasis and resistance to therapy. We are particularly interested in ‘guardians’ of plasticity in epithelial cells, from which over 80% of human tumours originate. They have a long-standing interest in the tumour suppressor p53 and the ASPP family of proteins (Apoptosis-Stimulating Protein of p53; Ankyrin repeats, SH3 domain and Proline rich sequence containing proteins), which have several roles including regulation of p53. Prof. Xin Lu's current areas of interest include: understanding how selective transcription is controls cell fate; identifying regulators of cellular plasticity in upper gastrointestinal cancer initiation and metastasis (particularly oesophageal cancer and gastric cancer); and understanding the influence of infection on cell plasticity and cancer (particularly Helicobacter pylori and Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) infection).

Dr Tan Geok Chin is a Professor of Pathology, and Consultant Anatomical Pathology at Faculty of Medicine. He received his training in anatomical pathology in the National University of Malaysia and subsequently received his PhD degree at Imperial College London where he studied the characteristics of microRNA isomers in Stem Cells. His work lead to the discovery of isomiRs with functional and evolutionary importance and it was published in Nucleic Acid Research (IF:11.561). He completed the Paediatric Pathology Fellowship training in Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA. He is currently a member of the medical ethics committee in UKM and the Editor-in-Chief of the Malaysian Journal of Pathology. He has received multiple excellent service awards (2007 and 2019), including Best article award from Medical Journal of Malaysia and Best Poster Award from Royal Society, Edinburgh. He is a fellow of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia and holds a number of positions in the College of Pathologists and Malaysia Medical Council. He is a member of the credentialing committee of Anatomical Pathology, MMC. He is a member of the education committee and continuous professional development (CPD) committee of the CPath, AMM. He is the treasurer of the Chapter of Perinatal and Paediatric Pathology, CPath. He is a member of Perinatal and GUT Research Groups. His current research interest is in Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology, with a number of on-going projects, namely gene expression of hydatidiform mole, chorioamnionitis and its correlation with neonatal outcomes, and GUT microbiome of neonates.

Professor Mohammad Ilyas is a Professor of Pathology and Honorary Consultant at the University of Nottingham. He studied medicine at Bristol University, obtained his DPhil at Oxford University in Sir Walter Bodmer’s lab and is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. He was deputy director of the Nottingham Molecular Pathology Node and for 10 years he was a member of the Medical Technology Advisory Committee. Prof Ilyas’s diagnostic practice is centred on Gastro-intestinal Pathology and his research covers both technical developments and knowledge discovery mainly in the area of colorectal cancer. He also runs the Nottingham Molecular Diagnostics Training School, the Image Analysis Training School and the GI Masterclass.