Biography

I was born into a family that is very much related to Malaysian public health development in the 1960s, since my father was the Malaysian chief public health inspector. With this background, he always emphasised the importance of education and providing quality health for all. I began my career as a lecturer at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1986 and obtained my full professorship in 2000. In 2003 I was appointed as the founding director of the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine, a national centre of research excellence focused on diagnostic technology platforms based in the Universiti Sains Malaysia. In May 2008 I was promoted to deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation) and after that I became a woman of many firsts: vice-chancellor of the Islamic Science, University of Malaysia in 2012, director- general of Higher Education in 2014, vice-chancellor of the Universiti Sains Malaysia (one of the top research universities in Malaysia) in 2016 and president of Academy of Sciences Malaysia, also in 2016.