The Department of Anatomy recently organised the Human Anatomy Expo between 5th- 7th January 2023 at the Human Anatomy Lab. The 3-day expo was open from 10 am to 4.30 pm.
The department has been organising similar exhibitions for the past few years. However, this year, the exhibition was open to the public for the first time to promote education regarding human anatomy, as well as to create awareness and generate interest in the sciences and medical field among children.
There were some exciting and eye-catching booths throughout the event, which included videos presentations, book sales, photobooths, and games with prizes. Visitors had the opportunity to take a closer look at preserved body parts such as a 45-year-old human brain (dissected in half to show what it looks like on the inside), and the growth stages of a human baby. Two microscopes were also prepared for visitors to view different cellular morphologies of tissue samples from different parts of the human body. Another highlight of the Expo was the opportunity to touch a real cadaver that has been preserved!
The expo also coincided with an organ donation campaign where visitors could pledge to donate their organs.
The Annual Universiti Malaya Research Carnival 2022 (UMRC 2022) with the theme “Connect, Engage, Partner: Accelerating Research Excellence” was held from 8th-10th January 2023. During this carnival, a competition called My UM Pitch, was held at the Dewan Tunku Chancellor on 9th January 2023. The competition aimed to provide a great platform for academicians and researchers (including post-doctoral and research fellows) to exercise their communication skills through a three-minute presentation using language that was comprehensible for a non-specialist audience.
Two academics from the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Chong Pan Pan from The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Dr. Bavani Arumugam from the Department of Biomedical Science, successfully secured the 1st and 2nd prize in the competition respectively. Dr. Chong’s award winning project was on “Autologous and Allogeneic Platelet-derived Extracellular Vesicles (P-EV) for the Repair of Knee Cartilage Injury and Osteoarthritis”, while Dr. Bavani’s project was on “Oral Insulin for Diabetes Therapy: A Point Mutation (Lys29Arg) Approach”. The prizes secured by both women were a RM30,000 and a RM20,000 research grant respectively.
Phase 3 of Etiqa's Free Cervical Screening Programme with the ROSE Foundation (Removing Obstacles to Cervical ScrEening), was officially launched by YAB Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Dr. Wan Ismail, Patron of PUSPANITA (Wives of Civil Servants and Women Civil Servants Association) as part of concerted efforts to eliminate cervical cancer in Malaysia. Funded by Etiqa and implemented by the ROSE Foundation, the one-year nationwide programme is worth RM1.22 million, aiming to screen 5,500 eligible women aged 30 to 65 from identified B40 communities.
Phase 3 of the programme introduces an on-site colposcopy treatment for women which includes an initial assessment using a mobile colposcopy device that produces high quality images of the cervix. Upon assessment, patients with pre-cancer virus will be treated at the location using a Portable Thermal Coagulator. Apart from providing an innovative solution to detecting pre-cancer-causing HPV viruses in women, the programme will now empower women to get themselves treated, which will eventually help to save more lives.
The event was graced by YAB Dato’ Seri Dr Wan Azizah Dr Wan Ismail, Patron of PUSPANITA (Wives of Civil Servants and Women Civil Servants Association). Also present at the event were Datuk R. Karunakaran, Chairman of Maybank Ageas Holdings Berhad (the parent company of Etiqa General Insurance Berhad, Etiqa Life Insurance Berhad, Etiqa General Takaful Berhad, and Etiqa Family Takaful Berhad), Paul Low Hong Ceong, Chief Executive Officer of Etiqa Life Insurance Berhad, Professor Dato’ Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Chair of the ROSE Foundation, Professor Dr. Woo Yin Ling, Founder and Trustee of the ROSE Foundation, and Puan Sri To’ Puan Seri Norizam binti Che Mohd Nor, Yang DiPertua of PUSPANITA.
The Rose Foundation hopes to reach more Malaysian women and their family members by providing accessible screening and a treatment facility. Professor Dato’ Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Chair of the ROSE Foundation said, “Thanks to Etiqa’s sponsorship, we are pleased to introduce the Mobile Colposcopy equipment that enables the volunteer medical teams to travel to rural/interior communities and treat the women screened who are HPV positive. With this new equipment, they can receive appropriate support, treatment and care.”
“Program ROSE embraces all aspects of cervical cancer screening that integrates self-sampling, primary HPV testing and the digital health platform using mobile technology, and ensuring women who require follow-up are linked to care for treatment,” she added.
Professor Dr. Woo Yin Ling, Founder and Trustee of the ROSE Foundation said that “Program ROSE has achieved another milestone in cervical screening with the mobile colposcopy, and is a step up in our outreach programme that allows on-site medical treatment for women tested positive with HPV, particularly in reaching out to remote rural areas. With the mobile colposcopy, Program ROSE can return to the location after the initial HPV PCR self-sampling screening and provide treatment for those tested HPV positive on-site. This helps boost the women’s confidence as they would be receiving linkage to care and further follow-up treatment, which is Program ROSE’s integrated approach for cervical screening.”
Thus far, Program ROSE has been introduced to over 150 health clinics across 12 states. 28 ROSE-friendly government hospitals with over 90 healthcare professionals are now engaged to provide follow-up treatment for women who have been tested positive through our programme. We are grateful for their extended support structure and achievements for Program ROSE.
The ROSE Foundation was established in 2019 as a company limited by guarantee and as a charitable foundation in Malaysia. It is a joint venture between Universiti Malaya and the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer (formerly known as VCS, Victorian Cytology Service Inc.). The ROSE Foundation has set itself the ambitious goal of making Malaysia one of the first nations in the region to be free of cervical cancer. Program ROSE offers women the choice of using a self-swab: a quick, convenient and effective approach to enable molecular tests to be undertaken, followed by prompt delivery of results straight to women's mobile phones.
The Alliance of Academic Health Centers International, also known as AAHCI, was established in 2007 as the international arm of the Association of Academic Health Centers, or AAHC. Its original goal was to encourage international cooperation and the advancement of organizational strategy and management proficiency. AAHCI serves as a forum for leaders from developed and emerging academic health centers and systems worldwide to communicate, exchange best practices, and explore various topics, several of which are specific to academic health centers. In 2022, AAHC/I merged with the Association of American Medical Colleges. AAHCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
The AAHCI Regional Offices serve the geographic region while maintaining a close tie with the AAHCI headquarters in Washington DC, USA. The AAHCI Southeast Asia Regional Office's duties include coordinating regional conferences and events, promoting discourse on critical topics relevant to academic health centers and systems in Southeast Asia, aiding in the evolution of AAHCI initiatives, and enhancing connections between present and potential AAHC and AAHCI affiliates. The AAHCI SEA Regional Office is currently hosted by the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia and Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya will undertake the role as the next AAHCI SEA Regional Office coming July 2023.
The 2023 AAHCI SEA Regional Meeting organised by Universitas Indonesia was held on 11th – 12th January 2023 in Bali, Indonesia. This event was the first in-person meetings for all the members since Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to have such gatherings. The theme of the meeting was ‘Partnerships for Preparedness: Improving Response and Recovery in the Southeast Asia Region and Globally.’ The meeting provided academic health center leaders an opportunity to gather and explore the challenges facing their health systems. Session topics include residency programs, medical education, leadership training, and many more.
Delegates from Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya were Professor Dr. April Camilla Roslani (Dean), Professor Dr. Yazid Jalaludin (Deputy Dean of Undergraduate), Professor Dr. Jamuna Vadivelu (Head of MERDU), Assoc. Prof. Dr. N. Vairavan (Head of IUFOM) and Ms. Caroline Chin (Assistant Registrar of PNP). Besides meeting the leaders from various member institutions to discuss and share knowledge, the FOM delegates also had a meeting with the current AAHCI SEA Regional Office host and the Director of the AAHCI to discuss the next steps for FOM to assume the role as the AAHCI SEA Regional Office for a 2-year term.
The Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) organized an entomology workshop in collaboration with Universiti Malaya (Malaysia), James Cook University (Australia), and the National Research and Innovation Agency (Indonesia) in January 2023. The workshop was carried out for a week from 16th- 20th January 2023 at the Faculty of Medicine, USU in Medan, Indonesia. The workshop was officiated by Dr. Inke Nadia Diniyanti Lubis, the Deputy Dean of USU. This workshop aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of participants in morphological and molecular identification of mosquitoes, both in the field, and in the laboratory. The workshop was facilitated by four facilitators from Indonesia and Malaysia, namely Dr. Triwibowo Ambargarjito and Mr. Mujiyono from the National Research and Innovation Agency, as well as Dr. Wong Meng Li and Dr. Nanthakumar Jeyaprakasam from Universiti Malaya. The entomology workshop was attended by lecturers, postgraduate students, research assistants, and government officers.
The workshop was divided into two components. The first component encompassed lectures in morphological and molecular identification, mosquito dissection, and blood meal analysis, whereas the second component is comprised of practical sessions, where the participants acquired hands-on experience on mosquito morphology identification, mosquito dissection, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction from mosquitoes, and molecular identification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, blood-meal analysis and sequence alignment analysis were included. Besides knowledge and experience sharing, this workshop also served as a platform for future cross-national collaborations between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia.
On 18th January 2023, the Faculty hosted the Certificate Presentation and Pledge Recitation Ceremony to celebrate the Final Year MBBS Students of the 2020/2021 academic session. The event was officiated by Universiti Malaya Pro-Chancellor Toh Puan Dr. Aishah Ong. In attendance was Professor Dr. Yatimah Alias, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), Professor Dr. April Camilla Roslani, Dean of Faculty of Medicine, as well as over 100 participants including students and members of the Faculty.
On 27th January 2023, the Department of Parasitology’s Journal Club held a seminar on "Application of Spatio-Temporal Epidemiology Analysis in Tropical Disease", presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Romano Ngui via Zoom. He began the session by outlining the basic concept of spatial-temporal epidemiology. Spatial-temporal refers to an analysis method that uses data collected across time and space and has at least one spatial and temporal property, while epidemiology refers to the understanding of risk factors or the effect of intervention. The transmission of infectious diseases is closely linked to the concept of spatial and temporal proximity. By using the Geographic Information System (GIS), a type of database containing geographic data, we are able to create, manage, analyze, and map all types of data to help understand patterns, relationships, and their geographic context. In 1854, John Snow used the power of mapping to determine the root cause of a cholera outbreak in London, ultimately revealing contaminated water as the source of the epidemic.
In this seminar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Romano also shared some of his collaborative work with other researchers to map the geographical distribution of infectious diseases and their associated vectors, including soil-transmitted helminthiases, leptospirosis, malaria, and dengue. One of his studies which utilised the GIS and geostatistical methods in determining the spatial dispersal of the dengue vector Ae. albopictus mosquitoes in residential areas have assisted health authorities in enhancing their current approach to vector control programmes. This was by performing more targeted residual spraying of Ae. albopictus resting sites, especially in high-density areas of the species and where hotspots have been identified. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Romano emphasised the GIS as an alternative tool for monitoring and controlling various infectious diseases, a powerful tool that has been successfully implemented to help address several major disease outbreaks (SARS and COVID-19), and a tool to provide information through the analysis of a particular disease's geographical and real-time distribution (spatial-temporal analysis).
Speaker’s Background
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Romano Ngui obtained his Bachelor of Biomedical Science in 2008, Master of Medical Science in 2010 and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 2013 from Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. His PhD thesis has been awarded distinction by the Universiti Malaya. Currently, he is a senior lecturer at the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.
Last Update: 30/05/2023
