Featured Office Bearer
Dr Lee Sau Har
Dr Lee Sau Har received her BSc Biomedical Science in 2009 and was conferred her PhD degree in 2013. Her PhD project primarily focused on the discovery of anticancer agents from natural products. With her excellence in research, she was selected to attend the Nobel Laureate meeting in 2010. After that, she joined Tsinghua University, Beijing in 2014-2015 as a postdoctoral fellow, under the support of Centre for Life Sciences (CLS) Postdoctorate Fellowship. During this period, her research interest expands into the cancer stem cell field and she was awarded two national grants from the China government for her works. Currently serving at Taylor’s University as a Senior Lecturer, Dr Lee’s current research interest encompasses discovery of potent anticancer compounds from peptides and plant sources, followed by mechanistic studies of these potential compounds. Besides, she is also exploring the use of miRNAs in the regulation of cancer cells growth, as well as how these compounds can be specifically delivered to the target cells. For this project, she has been awarded a national Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) from Ministry of Higher Education in the Year 2020. She is currently a member of multiple research associations, including MACR, MSBMB, OWSD, and an affiliate of the YSN-ASM
Dr Chua Eng Wee
Dr Eng Wee is currently a lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He was trained in molecular genetics at the University of Otago, Christchurch. His research expertise lies in elucidating the link between DNA variation and drug action, using a variety of DNA sequencing techniques and in silico tools. His current research includes examining the role of mitochondrial mutations in driving the progression of oral cancer; and ascertaining how genetic variation may alter caffeine efficacy in the treatment of apnoea of prematurity.
Dr Norafiza Zainuddin
Dr. Norafiza is currently an Associate Professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan Campus. She obtained her PhD in Oncology and Clinical Genetics from the Uppsala University, Sweden in 2010. Dr. Norafiza’s main research interests are diverse, encompassing genetics and epigenetics, particularly focusing on the role of microRNAs and gene methylation in cancer and maternal and fetal health. She has produced a number of articles on the involvement of gene methylation and the role of microRNAs in Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in particular the B-cell lymphomas. Her ongoing project is on understanding the methylation differences in maternal plasma and cell-free fetal DNA in suspected trisomy 21 cases. She is also currently working on identifying the lactation specific microRNAs among milk siblings in order to understand the basis of milk kinship. Dr. Norafiza also supports ongoing molecular characterization projects in wildlife. Her latest involvement as a co-researcher involves the molecular genetic study of the canine distemper virus in domestic and stray dogs which threats the conservation of Malayan tiger.