KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Professor Dr. Shaharum Shamsuddin is currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student Affairs & Alumni) Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). He previously served as the Deputy Dean and Chairman of the Biomedicine Programme at the School of Health Sciences, USM. He is also the Coordinator of the USM-RIKEN International Centre for Ageing Science (URICAS), and served as a USM Senate Member from 2017 to 2019. His field of specialisations are in molecular biology, biochemistry, gene regulation, proteinprotein interaction and nanomedicine with research interests oriented towards tumour gene regulation, molecular mechanism of disease, gene expression and epigenetics of ageing.

Professor Shaharum has guided and continues to guide many postgraduate students. He is also a distinguished recipient of the Anugerah Khidmat Cemerlang award. He has completed thirteen research grants as the Principal Investigator. Additionally, he has served as an external evaluator for the positions of Associate Professor and Professor, and for various academic programmes at the national level. He has also worked both as an internal and external examiner for Master's and PhD candidates.

Recognized for his expertise, Prof. Shaharum has been a consultant for various local agencies and serves as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. Furthermore, he has published extensively in internationally renowned, peer-reviewed journals. 

General Chair

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suharni Mohamad currently holds the position of the Deputy Dean (Research, Innovation, & Industry-Community Engagement) at the School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She pursued a postdoctoral fellowship specializing in HIV genotyping at the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, following the completion of her PhD in Molecular Medicine at the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), USM. 

Her primary research focus is on the development of molecular diagnostic assays for high-risk human papillomavirus associated with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Additionally, she is actively engaged in oral microbiology research, which includes the development of intraoral devices for in-situ biofilm collection and the study of antimicrobial activities of natural products. She has won gold medal awards at ITEX for her innovative research endeavors.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suharni has been actively engaged in both fundamental and applied research, successfully securing several national grants from the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, as well as university research grants. Her scholarly output is reflected in numerous scientific articles in reputable journals and her contribution chapters to books. She has supervised more than 30 Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, providing guidance and mentorship as they pursue their research goals.