Issue 11 / 2015

The Malaysian Chapter of the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science fellowship award ceremony was held at the Le Meridien Hotel, KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur in October 2015. In Malaysia, the initiative has recognised 35 outstanding woman scientists across the country for the past 10 years, with research grant worth over RM700,000 being awarded. Right before the event, Scientific Malaysian correspondent Dr. New Jaa Yien had the opportunity to chat with all three of the 2015 recipients, to get a glimpse of their research project that eventually clinched the honorable award.

Professor Philip Crosier is the Professor of Molecular Medicine in the School of Medical Sciences, at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His laboratory uses the zebrafish model to investigate aspects of human disease focussing in the areas of innate immunity, hematopoietic stem cell development, cancer and lymphangiogenesis. At a recent zebrafish workshop in Malaysia, the PR team of the Cancer Research Malaysia had the opportunity to speak to Prof. Crosier about his life and research.

Professor Dato’ Dr. Mokhtar Saidin is a Professor and the Director of Centre for Global Archaeological Research Malaysia in Universiti Sains Malaysia. He and his team made significant contributions to the exploration of Bujang Valley in Kedah and Bukit Bunuh in Perak. His other contributions include the discovery of Sungai Batu, the oldest civilisation site in Southeast Asia. In this interview, Prof. Mokhtar Saidin shares his experiences being an archaeologist in Malaysia.