Special Highlight

Prof. Dr. Amir Feisal Merican Bin Aljunid Merican

Prof. Dr. Amir Feisal Merican, a professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, passed away on 17th December 2022 at the age of 54 at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur due to a lung infection. With his demise, Malaysia lost a renowned bioinformatician, scientist, geneticist, and scholar.

Prof. Amir Feisal obtained a first-class honours degree in Microbiology from the University of Malaya (UM) in 1992. He was appointed a lecturer in UM in 1995 after successfully completing his DPhil in Biochemistry and Molecular Microbiology at the University of Oxford, England. In 2006, he was awarded an MPhil degree in Computational Biology from the University of Cambridge, England. He spearheaded the development of the curriculum for both the Bachelor of Science (Bioinformatics) and Master in Bioinformatics (by coursework) degree programmes, both the first in Malaysia.

Prof Amir Feisal served as the director of the Centre for Computational and Systems Biology at the Malaysia Genome Institute of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) from November 2009 to November 2011. He was also one of the co-founders and ex-President of the Malaysian Society of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (MaSBiC). Prof Amir Feisal founded and headed the Centre of Research in Computational Sciences and Informatics for Biology, Bioindustry, Environment, Agriculture and Healthcare (CRYSTAL), a University of Malaya research centre.

For all his contributions, Prof. Amir Feisal received many distinguished awards, which include Japanese Bioindustry Association for research in Molecular Systematics with Professor Takayuki Ezaki at Gifu University School of Medicine, Japan (1998), Fulbright Fellowship for research in Bioinformatics with Nobel Laureate Professor Walter Gilbert at Harvard University (2000), Commonwealth Fellowship for research in Molecular Microbial Ecology with Professor Jon Saunders at Liverpool University (2001), and Excellent Service Award from the University of Malaya (2003).

Prof Amir will always be remembered as a dedicated, efficient, determined and well-read scholar who strived for excellence. He had an uncanny ability to reach people in a deep and positive way with his kindness, humility, consideration, generosity, affection and thoughtfulness. His wisdom and exceptional achievements has made him a role model and an icon for his students, young researchers and colleagues. To this, we give thanks for the life and career of Prof Amir.

Prof. Dr. Amir Feisal Merican is survived by his wife, a son, four daughters, a daughter-in-law, a grandson, relatives, students, colleagues and friends who mourn his death. May Allah grant him Jannatul-Firdaus and forgive his sins and may his grave be a place of comfort and light. May Allah grant his family fortitude and sabr in this difficult time.

Al-Fatihah.

Written by,
Prof. Zilfalil bin Alwi
Universiti Sains Malaysia

Prof Zarina Abdul Latiff

Prof Dr Zarina Abdul Latiff, a Senior Consultant Paediatrician & Clinical Geneticist at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) passed away on 15 October 2022 at the age of 55 at UKMMC in Kuala Lumpur, after battling cancer for more than 6 years. With her demise Malaysia not only lost the pioneer in the fields of Clinical Genetics and Genetic Counselling but also an outstanding Paediatric Hemato-oncology.

Prof Dr Zarina started her career as a medical doctor upon graduating from University of Malaya in 1992 and subsequently obtained her Master of Medicine (MMed) in Paediatrics from UKM in 1998. She then pursued her postgraduate sub-specialty training in medical genetics at the University of Glasgow and University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. Upon her return to Malaysia, she continued to serve as a senior lecturer at UKMMC. She was later promoted to Associate Professor and then Professor at the Department of Paediatrics. In 2011 she was appointed as the Head of the Department of Paediatrics followed by the appointment as Deputy Dean of postgraduate studies of UKMMC. She was also the Head of the Thalassaemia Centre at UKMMC and a committee member for the development of UKM Children Specialist Hospital.

As a health advocate for women and children, Prof Dr Zarina was active in community service and in various professional organizations and NGOs. She was the co-chair for the Health Committee of National Council of Woment's Organisations Malaysia (NCWO). She was also a committee member of the Clinical Management and Support of Rare Disease as well as, an executive committee member for the Global Globin Network and a member of the Education Committee for Human Genome Organisation (HUGO). In 2020, she was conferred Darjah Setia Negeri Sembilan (D.N.S) by the state ruler DYMM Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus, Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawi as a recognition of her professional and civic contributions.

Prof. Dr. Zarina will always be remembered for her sincerity, kindness, dedication, diligence, and patience in dealing with work and life. Her fiery spirit and positive outlook in life has made her an exemplar professional well-respected by all.

Prof. Dr. Zarina is survived by her daughter, relatives, students, patients, colleagues and friends who mourn her death. May Allah grant her the eternal abode in Heaven and grant her family fortitude and sabr in this difficult time.

Al-Fatihah.

Congratulation to Prof Zilfalil Alwi (Head of MyHVP) and Assoc. Prof. Majdah Zawawi (Member of MyHVP)

Congratulation to Prof Zilfalil Alwi (Head of MyHVP) and Assoc. Prof. Majdah Zawawi (Member of MyHVP) on their recently published book entitled "A Handbook on Medical Ethics and Law in Malaysia".

About this book:
A Handbook on Medical Ethics and Law in Malaysia is an essential read for medical students in particular and serves as a constant guide for medical doctors as well as healthcare professionals in general. It will also be of interest for law students and lawyers who want to have a closer look at the relationship between medicine, ethics and law. This handbook succinctly highlights the primary expectation that all patients have towards their medical doctors. It helps students grasp the meaning of fiduciary duty and the various ethical principles and legal principles that relate to it. The handbook also provides case studies and court decisions that will help students, medical doctors and all health professionals alike in better understanding the application of these ethical and legal principles to difficult real-life situations. This handbook is indeed a MUST HAVE for medical students and doctors as well as anyone interested in the interface between medicine, ethics and the law.

How to get it?
This book is available at https://emdash.my/a-handbook-on-medical-ethics-and-law-in-malaysia
Hurry up for 20% discounted rate. This offer is available for limited time only.

USM School of Medical Sciences and Human Genome Centre Welcome the Appointment of its First Academic Fellow in Bioinformatics

Precision medicine promises many advantages for improvement to patient care. The emergence of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology has assisted scientists to obtain a speedier access to information on human genome sequencing. To achieve the maximum impact of this technology, bioinformaticians are required to analyse the big data information.

Henceforth, to remain competitive in precision medicine, the School of Medical Sciences, USM has appointed Dr Rozaimi Razali who is currently an Assistant Professor at Qatar University, Qatar as Academic Fellow in bioinformatics under the Human Genome Centre, USM.

Before joining Qatar University, Dr Rozaimi Razali worked as a senior postdoc in the Medical and Population Genomics Lab at Sidra Medicine, Qatar, since 2018. He attained his PhD in Bioinformatics from the Imperial College London (United Kingdom), from the laboratory of Prof Michael Sternberg, where he performed in-silico studies of protein-protein interactions. Before joining Sidra, he was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, where he led multiple research projects, including the de-novo genome assembly of the tomato genome (Solanum pimpinellifolium) as well as metagenomic and antimicrobial bioprospecting of the Red Sea.

Prior to working in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Dr Rozaimi Razali worked as a Bioinformatics Manager at a Malaysian startup biotechnology company, Sengenics, where he led the Bioinformatics team to analyse NGS (clinical exomes, whole genomes and RNA-seq). He is also involved in many peer-reviewed publications and participates in multiple internal and external research grants. He was also a co-author for the paper "A whole-genome analyses of genetic variants in two Kelantan Malay individuals", published in 2014 in the HUGO Journal by Prof. Zilfalil and his team.

CITATION

MyHVP was cited in the following articles:

(i) Shotelersuk, V, Tongsima, S, Pithukpakorn, M, Eu-ahsunthornwattana, J, Mahasirimongkol, S. Precision medicine in Thailand. Am J Med Genet Part C. 2019; 181C: 245-253.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.c.31694

(ii) Precision Medicine Initiative in Malaysia. Published by Akademi Sains Malaysia