Ageing Research in the Asian region
Monash Malaysia aims to have a strong global focus in ageing research. The research on ageing undertaken at Monash Malaysia provides unique perspectives from different dimensions. They include cultural diversity and the stages of development of societies (rural to more urbanised communities) in Asia and the developing world, neurodegenerative diseases (such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimers) that affect ageing population in the Asian Region and genetic associations and cognitive decline in the elderly.
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Prof. Tin Tin Su is a public health physician and researcher with more than 20 years of working experience. She is passionate in improving population health via community health development approach, social epidemiology and implementation research. She is a director of South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO) Health & Demographic Surveillance system and principal investigator for a community cohort which includes about 38,000 population. SEACO provides a perfect opportunity to conduct a “Longitudinal Ageing Research”. Her research interests include active ageing, geriatric syndrome, health & psychosocial needs for vulnerable rural older adults and aged friendly rural community.
Prof. Ishwar is an internationally recognized Neuroendocrinologist who has contributed greatly in the field of Reproductive Neuroscience. He is author and co-author of books and has published more than 190 original articles in reputable international journals. He is also on the Editorial Board of several international journals, as well as scientific advisor to various government bodies. He is the Founder President of NeuroMalaysia Society.
Prof. Sadequr Rahman's interest is in the applications of molecular biology, genetics and genomics for food security and environmental health and span a range of organisms - from bacteria to plants and animals. His research work has generated 10 intellectual properties on various aspects of altering starch and lipids in cereal grains.
Associate Professor Qasim Ayub
Assoc. Prof. Qasim's research focuses on population and evolutionary genomics. Over the past decade he has analyzed DNA variation in worldwide ethnic and linguistic groups in order to understand their origins, relatedness, disease susceptibility and adaptation. Several of the novel male specific markers that were identified during his studies of the Pakistani populations are now routinely used in forensic DNA identification. For this work he was awarded the President of Pakistan’s Medal of Excellence for contributions to science in 2006. Before relocating to Malaysia he spent a decade at the Wellcome Sanger Institute where he published several high profile papers. He is currently the Deputy Head of School (Research) and Director of the Monash University Malaysia Genomics Facility under the School of Science. He is leading the ambitious Malaysian BioGenome Project that aims to capture the genomic biodiversity of complex life forms in the region and address species conservation through genomics.
Dr. Mohd. Farooq Shaikh is an expert neuropharmacologist and interested in both drug discovery and understanding the disease mechanisms. His team at Monash University Malaysia has developed a zebrafish model to study the co-morbidities (secondary condition) of epilepsy. This newly developed model using the zebrafish will not only allow scientists to understand the mechanism of the disease but also will help in developing safer drugs. His team is also working on unravelling the molecular mechanisms involved in disease progression, especially the role of inflammatory biomarkers in epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. Utilizing zebrafish models, his group is studying dynamics of an important inflammatory biomarker HMGB1 which has a controversial role in many neurological, neurodegenerative and non-neurological disease conditions. He has published over 75 high impact publications in the field of Neuropharmacology.
Associate Professor Alexandre Schaefer
Assoc. Prof. Alexandre Schaefer is a researcher in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. He is currently interested in how poverty affects cognitive and emotional functions, with a particular focus on populations from developing countries. He is also interested in the study of human emotions and their interactions with cognitive processes. He has used multiple research methods, including field studies but also laboratory studies using neuroimaging (fMRI and PET), psychophysiological (EEG/ERP) and classical behavioural techniques. He currently leads an LRGS project on the determinants of healthy cognitive ageing in Malaysia.