The Scientific Malaysian (SciMy) Advisory Board consists of experienced scientists and professionals from the academia and industry. With their experience, knowledge and skills, they will be advising the executive members of SciMy in strategic decision-making process, establishing connections for SciMy within and beyond the scientific field and aiding the growth of SciMy as an organisation.
The Scientific Malaysian Advisory Board Members
Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman is an astrophysicist and a pioneering figure in the field of space science in Malaysia. She is the current director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, Austria. She obtained her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Otago, New Zealand, in 1981, and was the first woman to do so since the university was founded.
She became a lecturer of astrophysics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 1981. As a result of her efforts in building public awareness of astronomy and space issues, space science was formally included in the national school curriculum in 1990. She also performed research for a semester in the Kiso Observatory in Japan.
Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman played a pivotal role in the establishment of the National Planetarium. She was placed in charge of the project which was launched in 1989. The National Planetarium was opened to public in May 1993. She also founded the Space Science Studies Division in the Prime Minister’s Department. As the Director General of the Division, she initiated the National Microsatellite Programme. The nation’s first remote sensing satellite, Tiung-SAT, was completed in October 1997 and was launched by a Russian rocket in 2000.
Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman’s full biography
Prof Datin Paduka Dr Khatijah Yusoff, former Deputy Secretary-General at the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
Professor Datin Paduka Dr. Khatijah binti Yusoff is one of the Malaysian women leaders in the area of science and technology. She received early education in Penang, her place of birth. She successfully procured a Colombo Plan Scholarship to further her studies at La Trobe University, Australia, where she graduated in 1979 with a first class Honours degree in Microbiology.
Her academic achievement continued to excel when she won a La Trobe University research scholarship to complete her PhD in microbial genetics in 1983. She returned to Malaysia in the same year and served at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) as an academic. She has also worked as a post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where she started to develop interest in Newcastle disease virus (NDV).
Prof Datin Paduka Dr Khatijah Yusoff’s full biography
Prof Rofina Yasmin Othman, Professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya
Professor Rofina Yasmin binti Dato’ Othman is a professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya. She obtained her BSc and MSc from the University of Surrey, UK and University of Malaya, respectively. She was then awarded a Chevening Scholarship to pursue a PhD in Plant Virology at the University of East Anglia, UK. Upon her return to Malaysia, she started her career as a lecturer at the Department of Genetics and Cellular Biology, University of Malaya. In 1999, she was appointed as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences and later a Professor in 2005.
Prof Rofina Yasmin Othman’s full biography
Dr Charles Wiener, Dean/CEO of Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine
Charles M. Wiener, M.D. is the founding Dean/CEO of Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine (PUGSOM) in Selangor, Malaysia and Professor of Medicine and Physiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. PUGSOM was established in February 2011 in collaboration with Johns Hopkins as the first graduate entry medical school in Malaysia. Dr. Wiener will also be CEO of the Perdana University Hospital upon its completion in 2014.
Dr. Wiener attended the University of Miami School of Medicine after graduating from Duke University with a degree in Management Science. He was a resident and Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington Hospitals in Seattle from 1982-1986. Prior to beginning a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins in 1988, Dr. Wiener was an American Heart Association British-American Research Fellow in the Respiratory Physiology unit of the Hammersmith Hospital in London.
Dr Charles Wiener’s full biography
Prof Dr Nor Hayati Othman, Dean (Clinical Science Research) of Universiti Sains Malaysia
Professor Dr. Nor Hayati Othman is the Dean (Clinical Science Research) for Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and a senior consultant pathologist to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. She is also the chairperson of Pathology Post-graduate Education in her University. She teaches Pathology to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia since 1987. Her research interests are in thyroid and gynae pathology especially on cervical cancer.
She teaches Pathology to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia since 1987. She was awarded exemplary lecturer award for 2 consecutive years; 2003 and 2004 and also bestowed Excellence in Service awards by the University twice in 1994 and 2004. In 2008 she was the recipient of Tokoh Citra Ilmu, an award given annually to academician of high standing by the alumni of the Medical School.
Prof Dr Nor Hayati Othman’s full biography
Prof Meharvan “Sonny” Singh, Professor of Pharmacology & Neuroscience at University of North Texas Health Science Center
Meharvan “Sonny” Singh, Ph.D. is a Professor and Chair of the department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in Fort Worth. He also serves as Director of Translational Research and Education for the Insitute for Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Research (IAADR) and is Director of Research for the Center FOR HER, a women’s health center at UNTHSC. In addition, Dr. Singh currently serves as vice president of the North Texas Alzheimer’s Association board of directors.
Dr. Singh’s research focuses on how hormones, like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, affect brain function and how the presence (or absence) of these hormones might influence brain aging as well as the vulnerability of the brain to diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and certain brain cancers. Dr. Singh’s research has been published in high quality biomedical journals and is recognized by his peers as having contributed significantly to our current understanding of how these hormones affect the brain. His research has been funded from from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private foundations such as the Alzheimer’s Association.
Prof Meharvan Singh’s biography