Committee Members

Lewis Mehl-Madrona completed his MD at Stanford University School of Medicine and his PhD in Neuropsychology at the Psychological Studies Institute. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Maine in Indigenous Philosophy. He has published more than 125 papers in reputed journals and is a clinical faculty at the University of New England.

Petunia has completed her PhD at the age of 29 years from Tshwane University of Technology and postdoctoral studies from Agricultural Research Council (ARC). she is a lecturer at the Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa. She has published 8 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as a reviewer for local and international journals.

Feng He is a leading researcher at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM). His work focuses on liver disease, cancer biology, and inflammation, particularly the molecular mechanisms behind metabolic disorders like MASLD. He has published extensively on pathways such as NRF2 and ATF4, and his research has received over 6,000 citations. Professor He is recognized for bridging traditional Chinese medicine with modern biomedical science.

Valerie A. Ubbes is a Professor Emerita who has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, 10 chapters, and 5 books in her career with Miami University, Oxford, OH. She is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist with a PhD in Health Education from the Ohio State University. As an educator, Dr. Ubbes developed and taught 23 new courses over three decades.

Mr. Thabang Mphahlele began his academic journey in 2017 with a Diploma in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Johannesburg (UJ), graduating in 2021. He completed an Advanced Diploma in 2022 and earned his BSc Honours in Chemistry the same year. He is currently pursuing an MSc in Chemistry under Prof. Derek Ndinteh at UJ’s Drug Discovery and Smart Molecules Research Laboratory. A member of the Centre for Natural Product Research, Mr. Mphahlele is a dedicated young researcher with a manuscript ready for publication and a strong interest in drug discovery and natural product chemistry.

Muhammad Javid Iqbal is a doctoral researcher from Pakistan, currently pursuing his PhD in the Doctorate of Sciences in Applied Cellular and Molecular Biology (BIOMOL) at Universidad de La Frontera, Chile. He has authored over 10 scientific publications, including journal articles and conference abstracts. With prior experience as a lecturer, his expertise lies in computational biology, natural product drug discovery, and traditional medicine.

I completed my PhD from Tuebingen University, Germany June, 2002. I am the founding and immediate Center Leader for Covenant Applied Informatics and Communications ACE (CApIC-ACE, ace.covenantuniversity.edu.ng), a World Bank funded project and also the founding and immediate head of Covenant University Bioinformatics Research (CUBRe, https://cubreweb.vercel.app/), both at Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. At the moment, I am a Professor and Senior Scientist at the Applied Bioinformatics Department of the German Cancer Research Center (aka DKFZ) and a guest Professor at the Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. I am also the Lead PI of the West African Sustainable Leadership and Innovative Training in Bioinformatics Research (WASLITBRe (waslitbre.org)) and a consultant Senior Scientist at CUBRe, Ota, Nigeria and the African Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Data Intensive Science, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda. I have been teaching starting as a Graduate Assistant since the year 1992. I had overseen the training of 17 MSc and 18 PhD students and 4 Postdoctoral fellows (one of which are the tail end of completion).

Abstract

Shunli Rui has completed his PhD at the age of 26 years from Chongqing University and postdoctoral studies under PhD Wuquan Deng, from Chongqing University School of Medicine. He has been engaged in basic research on diabetic foot ulcers and published more than 5 papers in reputed journals.

Dr. Jing Du is a professor in Beijing Anding Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University in Beijing, China. She is mainly engaged in the research of cellular and molecular pathophysiology and neuropsychopharmacology of mental diseases such as depression, anxiety, autism and Alzheimer’s disease. She was formerly a staff scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health(NIH) in USA. She has published 62 SCI articles. Her H index is 35. She has won many awards, such as ACNP/Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals Travel Award, the NIH Performance Award in Recognition and Appreciation of Special Achievement issued by the National Institutes of Health. She is a Full member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).

Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Harisun Yaakob is a Malaysian academician and certified technologist, with over 24 years of experience in herbal technology and sustainable product innovation. She holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the United Kingdom, with earlier qualifications in Bioprocess Engineering and Food Technology. She has written many research papers, led successful herbal product and consultation projects, and has been invited as a speaker at international events. Her outstanding work has received both national and international awards for herbal innovation and sustainability.

Abstract

There is an exponential increase in the global prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in all populations. The objective of this review is to examine how different cultures and molecular entities influence the progression of NAFLD.

Research databases, including PubMed, Scopus, the American Diabetes Association, The American Liver Foundation, and Diabetes UK, were used to retrieve information. Our data analysis showed that cultural norms shape the perceptions of health, illness, and

mortality, thus influencing how individuals view themselves and express their experiences and may also affect decisions related to treatment and healthcare. Cultural competence, the ability to understand and navigate cultural differences, is essential for

eliciting patient and practitioner perspectives and integrating this understanding into diagnostic and treatment plans. By acknowledging and respecting a patient’s cultural background, healthcare providers can foster trust, improve care quality, enhance

acceptance of diagnoses, and boost treatment adherence. Although cultural factors play a crucial role in the progression of NAFLD, the disease is also shaped by genetic predispositions, molecular mechanisms, and comorbidities. Molecular pathways involved

in the development and progression of NAFLD include alterations in lipid metabolism, Insulin signaling, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, defective gut microbiome, and Inflammation. This study concludes that a combination of cultural preferences and

molecular factors has contributed to the worldwide exponential rise in the prevalence of NAFLD, which in turn has led to an increase in the prevalence of comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Akowuah received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Science Malaysia. He is a seasoned academic with extensive experience in higher education and research supervision at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. He currently serves as a member of the academic staff at the School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia. His research interests include the development and validation of analytical and bioanalytical techniques, pharmacokinetic interaction studies, and the evaluation of bioactive compounds for their potential inhibitory effects on nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Jie Liu earned Ph.D in Pharmacology/Toxicology in 1992 at University of Kansa Medical Center, and was a Staff Scientist at NCI at NIEHS/NIH and a Research Assistant/Associate/Professor at KU Medical Center. Dr. Jie Liu became a Visiting Professor at Zunyi Medical University since 2010. Dr. Jie Liu has 315 publications in PubMed, including 50+ on metals in traditional medicines.  Dr. Jie Liu was the lead Guest Editor on Special issue of Evid-based Complement Alt Med to address the issue and currently on the Editorial Board of Front Pharmacol and Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. His paper “A review of cinnabar (HgS) and/or realgar (As4S4)-containing traditional medicines. J Ethnopharmacol, 2018, 210:340” has been cited 31 times

CHAN is now the CEO and Principal Scientist of Gallant Biotechnology Limited who was Research Associate of Division of Life Science and Center for Chinese Medicine at HKUST and Research Assistant Professor of HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute. He has strong enthusiasm in developing quality assurance standards in valuable Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and nutraceuticals. He has been trained as a molecular biologist during his study of undergraduate and Master of Philosophy. After that, he has applied molecular authentication on TCM materials for more than 15 years. During the years he studied in HKUST, Dr. CHAN has equipped himself with frontier technology of quality control including the application of LC-MS/MS, macroscopic and microscopic identification of TCM and different cellular and pharmaceutical assays. His expertise is using multi-disciplinal quality assurance methods on a single specific subject. This style has been fully revealed on his PhD thesis about the quality assurance study on cubilose/edible bird‘s nest (EBN). After he has obtained his PhD in 2013, Dr. Chan switch his focus on cosmetics science and development of nutraceuticals products. In need of seeking new targets for product development, Dr. Chan also keen on developing high-throughput screening technology for drug screening. From 2013 to 2021, he has been involved in managing more than 10 government funded projects. He has published 38 papers on international scientific journals and 28 patents. He was the chief editor of a special issue of the scientific journal eCAM.

Chenzhong LI is the X.Q. Deng Presidential Chair Professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) (CUHKSZ), the co-editor-in-chiefs of the international flagship journal Biosensor and Bioelectronics. Before joining CUHK Shenzhen in 2023, Li helds positions such as the research officer at the National Research Council Canada (NRC), the World Ahead professor at Florida International University, the professor of Biomedical Engineering at Tulane University, and the Program Director in the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) Division of National Science Foundation to oversee AI biosensors and biomedical devices research and manage grants for hundreds of research projects nationwide. Li is an expert in bioinstrumentation, specifically in the development of biomedical devices for both diagnostic and therapeutic, which could also have cross-applications for environmental, food safety monitoring, agriculture, and homeland security. Li is the Member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Member of the National Academy of Inventors, AIMBE fellow of the American Academy of Medical Biological Sciences. By 2025, he has published nearly 210 research papers, and is the main inventor of 21 international patents. He was the founder and technical director of three start-up companies in China, the United States, and Canada.

Jiaxu Chen is Chair Professor of the School of Chinese Medicine; Director of TCM Formula-pattern Research Center of Jinan University (JNU), Guangzhou, China. Chair Professor of Chinese Medicine Diagnostics in Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM). He has received the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Scholar award, the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, and the Distinguished Young Scholar in the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Prof. Jiaxu Chen focuses on the standardization of TCM syndromes and their biological basis of emotional disorders. His current research topics are the neurobiological pathology of depression and the antidepressant mechanism of Chinese medicine, Xiaoyaosan.

Zhaotong Cong is a researcher and Deputy Director of the Institute of Materia Medica Genomics, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She received Ph.D. in 2021 from the School of Pharmacy, Fudan University. Her primary research focuses on the molecular pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine, with an emphasis on GPCR-targeted drug discovery. As one of the principal investigators, she established the GPCR target library and high-throughput screening technology system for traditional Chinese medicine. She has published more than ten academic papers as the first author or corresponding author in internationally renowned journals, including PNAS (2021, 2022, 2023), Nature Communications (2020, 2021, 2022), Cell Discovery (2024a, 2024b), and The Innovation (2025).

Victor Benno MEYER-ROCHOW is a New Zealander with a PhD in Neurobiology and a DSc in Ethnobiomedical Studies (both from the Australian National University in Canberra). His physiological research took him several times to Antarctica and the Arctic, but whose ethnobiomedicall work focused on Central and Western Australia, Papua New Guinea, North-East India and the DPRK (North Korea). For 14 years (2000-2014) he worked at the International University in Bremen before becoming the Managing Director of the Research Institute of Luminous Organisms on the Japanese Pacific island of Hachijojima for 5 years. He then worked as Senior Scientist and Visiting Professor on a 3-year contract at Andong National University in Korea util June 2022 and is now back at Oulu University, Oulu SF-90140, Finland as an Emeritus Professor.

Over the past seven years, my research has focused on developing treatment strategies for various cancers, particularly lung cancer. My projects have included screening of medicinal plants for bioactive compounds, alongside the synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles aimed at enhancing targeted drug delivery. Currently, my PhD research explores the application of lithium as a potential inhibitor of inflammatory responses in lung adenocarcinoma cells stimulated with SARS-CoV-2 glycoproteins. This study aims to bridge oncology and infectious disease research by examining how lithium modulates key inflammatory markers, potentially offering insight into therapeutic approaches for cancer patients with COVID-19-associated complications.

Aicha Boubker is currently a third-year PhD student in the Department of Chemistry at theFaculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University of Rabat, Morocco. Her research centers on aromaticand medicinal plants, with a special focus on the phytochemical profiling, antioxidant potential,chromatographic behavior, and microbiological properties of plant extracts.Through a multidisciplinary scientific approach, she explores the identification and characterizationof bioactive compounds, aiming to highlight their therapeutic potential and their applicability inhealthcare, pharmaceuticals, and the food industry. Her work contributes to the growing field ofnatural product research and the development of sustainable alternatives to synthetic compounds.

Nurdiana is currently the Head of the TuAH Industrial Research Laboratory and an Associate Professor at the School of Biology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). She graduated with a Bachelor of Biochemistry (Hons.) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2005. Dr Nurdiana obtained her MSc in Physiology from UiTM and completed her PhD in Animal Physiology at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Dr Nurdiana strengthened her leadership and proficiency in academic administration at the Faculty of Applied Sciences and the Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation, UiTM. She has successfully coordinated the Master of Applied Biology programme from 2018 to 2019 and contributed to the Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences track from 2019 to 2020 and the Health and Wellness track from 2020 to 2022. Over 15 years of service, she has been a Resource Person for multiple undergraduate and postgraduate courses, demonstrating her commitment to education and curriculum development. Her active involvement as a committee member of UiTM CARE highlights her dedication to the university community. Her service excellence has been recognized with several awards, including the Excellence Service Award by UiTM and the Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation. As a researcher, Dr Nurdiana specializes in physiology, biochemistry, and natural products, focusing on investigating the biochemical and pathophysiological changes associated with diabetes, obesity, dementia, ageing, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Her research also extends to developing biomaterial carriers for a better chance of delivering active substances to specific tissue as an adjunct treatment. Dr Nurdiana has published over 20 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, accumulating more than 262 citations and achieving an h-index of 9 in Scopus. She has been awarded numerous national grants as a principal investigator, amounting to RM 1,477,600.00, and her work has gained international recognition, with features in Asia Research News and Wikipedia. Her innovation has garnered multiple awards, including a Grand Award from Bank Islam, 1 diamond, 5 golds, 3 silver, 1st running up in healthy lifestyle track, and accolades for best poster and best booth from 2017 to 2023. Her expertise is well recognized as she is the Editorial Board Member of multiple scientific journals like Scientific Research Journal (SRJ), International Pharmacy Acta (IPA) from Iran, Clinical Research in Nephrology & Kidney Diseases from India, and Journal of Advanced Agricultural Technologies (JOAAT) from Thailand. Dr Nurdiana was invited as a Visiting Professor at the Kazakh National Medical University (KazNMU) in 2023. With a mission to impart knowledge for the betterment of the nation, Dr Nurdiana decided to actively collaborate with industry partners to expedite the commercialization of research outputs. She initiated the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement between UiTM and Bio Fluid Sdn Bhd in 2020 and 2022. Dr Nurdiana is the first researcher at UiTM registered under the Researcher Industry Scientific Exchange (RISE) program by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI). Beyond her academic and research achievements, Dr Nurdiana is dedicated to community engagement. She serves as an innovation advisor to nurture young talent at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Saujana Utama and as secretary for the Setia Impian 3 Resident Association.

Mohd Azmuddin Abdullah obtained an M. Eng in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (1994) from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), United Kingdom, and a PhD in Bioprocess Engineering (1999) from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). He was a Visiting Scientist (1997) at the Plant Physiology Laboratory, Kinki University, Japan, and a Post-Doctoral Fellow (2000-2001) at the Biomaterials Science and Engineering Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He was an Academic in the Department of Biotechnology, UPM (1994-2004), Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (2004-2014), and in the Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (2015-2021). He was appointed as the Director of R&D in SIBCo Medical and Pharmaceuticals Sdn. Bhd. since August 2021. He has authored/co-authored 200 articles, presented in 50 conferences and had 6 Malaysian patents granted, and 3 trademarks, on bioenergy, bioproducts and biopharmaceuticals. In 2015, he was awarded the Teaching Excellence Award for “Health, Safety and Environment as the basis for innovative T, R, D, C & E on Sustainability” by the Association for the Advancement of Biodiversity Science (AABS), India; and in 2017, the Scientist Medal by the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM), at the European Advanced Material Congress, Sweden. In August 2022, he was appointed as Fellow by the IAAM for the contribution on “Integrated Biorefinery for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts”