FIVE EXCEPTIONAL young Malaysian researchers were awarded the prestigious Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment 2019 by Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, Royal Patron of the Merdeka Award Trust.
Dr Mohd Azri Ab Rani, 35; Juliana Ooi Sue May, 34; Dr Yanny Marliana Baba Ismail, 33; Feng Ying Xing, 29 and Chrishen Robert Gomez, 25 are part of the 19 recipients between the age of 22 and 35 who became the 2019 recipient of this award since its inception in 2012.
The biennial Merdeka Award Grant recognizes promising young Malaysians to cultivate their potential to be thought leaders with the spirit for innovation and a culture of excellence contributing to a positive difference to Malaysia and the lives of Malaysians. The grant covers a broad range of disciplines including visual and performing arts, sports, community and social work, finance, economics, environment, education, health, science and technology.
In recognition of their groundbreaking research efforts, the grant engages recipients in short-term international attachments at globally-renowned host organizations to help recipients build their expertise by undergoing enriching learning experiences and improving the quality and impact of their research.
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According to a news report from News Straits Times, the five recipients for this year are from distinct disciplines. They have spent years inside science labs, in the community and even lived in the jungle all for the betterment of the nation.
Juliana whose research is on social enterprise in reproductive and social health aims to produce a tool kit to assist young parents in educating their kids on social health. Her tool kit will be able to engage young parents in active parenting to help children learn survival and life skills most importantly in terms of reproductive and social health.
She plans to do her attachment at the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong and also Switzerland.
Recipient Yanny, a lecturer at the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia whose research focuses on smart material which assists in speeding up bone healing will be doing her attachment at Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Senior lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Mohd Azri plans to pursue his attachment which focuses on environmental friendly batteries which are 200 times cheaper, lighter and greener at Oxford University. As for Feng Ying Xing, he plans to continue his research on mental stress with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
He is currently a post-doctoral at the Centre for Intelligent Signal and Imaging Research (CISIR), Univerisiti Teknologi PETRONAS who aims to develop biomarkers that could help identify the nature of stress as an early preventive measure to costly mental illness.
The youngest of five recipients, Chrishen, fondly known as the “Leopard boy” is the project manager at the Borneo Carnivore Programme. He and his research team aim to study the underlying genetics behind Malaysia’s Sunda clouded leopard with the use of genetic tools as part of the conversation work they are currently doing.
Chrishen will be undertaking a conservative genetics research fellowship for the development of long-term genetics of the clouded leopard at Brown University, USA.
Out of the previous 14 young Malaysians, all the 14 have completed their international attachments. [/ihc-hide-content]
