InSyB 2018 Speakers
Keynote Speakers

PROF. N. SRINIVASAN
Indian Institute of Science
Biography
Title : Multi-domain proteins: Evolutionary features, structure, flexibility and energetics
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Biography
Title : Genome sequencing of medicinal plants – future applications
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PROF. R. SOWDHAMINI
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Plenary Speakers

ASSOC. PROF. DR ZETI AZURA M HUSSEIN
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Biography
Her work also investigates the relationships between two distinct types of interaction networks: the metabolic pathway map and the protein-protein interaction network to shed light on the relationship between disease genes and disease networks in order to understand phenotype associations between proteins and diseases as well as identifying many interesting modules, which can’t be fully annotated using a single type of data only. Her active research areas are:
• Identification of biomarkers through computational approach.
• Identification of driver genes through computational approach.
• Identification of protein complexes and functional modules by integrating PPI network and omics data.
• Development of specialized biological databases
Title : Computational systems biology in life sciences: inspiring hope in creating a better future
Advancement in techniques and approach in molecular sciences has brought forth a deluge of omics data that lead to the field of big data analysis. Computational intervention in combination with mathematical modelling are used to analyse the data for meaningful biological interpretation. Different omics technologies are combined to examine biological systems from a holistic and interdisciplinary perspective. This approach is known as systems biology and is characterized by large datasets and modelling. Systems biology requires biologists and systems-oriented scientists to work together. It offers many advantages to biologists to understand interconnected biological pathways by implementing modelling, perturbation and simulation of complex networks. Various algorithms have been developed to deal with large datasets and to model biological network of interest. This development has led to the emergence of many sub disciplines in systems biology and one that received many attentions is computational systems biology. This term, first coined by Hiroaki Kitano in 2002, uses computation to model and analyse biological data to derive system-level understanding. Under the guiding vision of systems biology, sophisticated computational methods are used to study the interconnection parts to unravel complex biological events (i.e. diseases) from protein interactions, pathways, networks, to whole cells and multicellular complexes. This effort can transform the understanding of disease processes in facilitating medical treatment and drug development. Here, a computational systems biology approach of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome will be presented to demonstrate how network analysis can be used to identify potential biomarkers. The identification of PCOS biomarkers will lead to better diagnosis and medical treatment to the patients ergo giving them hope for a better way of life.
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Biography
Mohd Firdaus Raih currently heads the Centre for Frontier Sciences at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He has a BSc (Biochemistry) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and a PhD (Computational Structural Biology) from the University of Sheffield. He currently leads a research group investigating mechanisms of epigenomic regulation, the structure and function of complex RNA molecules and the structure based computational characterization of proteins with unknown functions (hypothetical proteins).
His research is primarily directed at understanding molecular function regulation by exploring the mechanistic interactions that effect molecular level switching and the associated regulatory pathways. To accomplish this, his research group study: (i) the structure and function of non-coding RNA molecules and how their interactions with other macromolecules effect regulatory changes in the cell and (ii) the structure, function and evolution of proteins with currently uncharacterized functions (hypothetical proteins). The approaches employed in exploring these key areas of interest include bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, X-ray crystallography, synthetic biology and systems biology. The insights revealed from these investigations can provide clues as to how molecular level regulation and responses in living systems are carried out that eventually lead to an organism’s capacity to adapt to extreme (ie. extremophiles) or diverse environments (ie. pathogenic soil bacteria) as well as the discovery of novel factors associated with bacterial pathogenesis. More recent work in his group include the genome and transcriptome sequencing of several species of wide interest; examples include the Rafflesia holoparasitic flower, extremophilic organisms and a Malaysian firefly species that is noted for synchronous flashing.
Title : Three-dimensional motif searching and comparisons: applications in drug development and synthetic biology
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ASSOC. PROF. DR. MOHD FIRDAUS MOHD RAIH
Faculty of Science & Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

DR PAWEL SUWINSKI
Biography
- In research, he is involved in biomarker discovery for early cancer detection and treatment monitoring as well as new approaches for common variants annotations.
- On the commercial services front, he is providing assistance to doctors for genetic tests interpretation and management of patient cases, conducts educational seminars for physicians and public, while continuously working on services enhancement and new product development.
Title : The Growing Up of Genomic/Personalised Medicine: Present and Future Trends
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Biography
Title : Ecological informatics : data mining and knowledge discovery
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DR SORAYYA MALEK
Industry Invited Speaker

MR NICHOLAS LOW
Biography
Mr Nicholas obtained his MBA in Strategic Management from the West Coast Institute of Management & Technology Australia (WCIMT). He is also a Certified Professional Manager (CPM) of the Society of Business Practitioners, Manchester, United Kingdom. Currently the Founder Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Adviser of STI Capital Holding Group Co. Ltd, Mr. Nicholas also sits on the board of Fortune 500 company - China Railway First Group Co. and Limited (CRFG) Malaysia Berhad as Director of Public Relationship & Technical Adviser.
Mr Nicholas is a technopreneur and venture capitalist in high-tech, cultural and creative industries, premium real estate development and public infrastructure projects. He also serves as a federal & state government hi-tech & ICT solution adviser. He also does corporate strategy advising and coaching. His previous portfolio includes Regional Sales Director Silicon Graphics Inc (SGI), Project Manager at Knowledge Management of Golden Hope Plantation Berhad, Project Consultant in MAGLEV HSR with Renong Group, Online Web Consultant and Journalist of China Press, Nanyang Siang Pau Group