Research & Development
Annual Report 2018

Women Health Seminar Speakers: Ms. Teh Siew Hoon, UTAR;
Associate Prof. Dr. Tin Tin Su, University of Malaya (UM);
and Associate Prof. Dr. Soma Mitra, University of Nottingham.
Date: 17 May 2018
Time: 8.30 am – 12.40pm
Venue: UTAR Sungai Long Campus

UTAR Centre for Cancer Research and Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World Malaysia Chapter (OWSD MC) jointly organised the Women Health Seminar on 17 May 2018 at Sungai Long Campus.

The seminar aims to address and raise the public awareness on the specific issues related to women’s health while providing access to the knowledge relating to the spectrum of women’s overall body health.

Present at the seminar were Centre for Cancer Research Chairperson-cum-Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences’ (FMHS) Head of Postgraduate Programmes Prof Dr Lim Yang Mooi, Organising Chairperson Dr Ng Foong Leng, students and staff.

In her welcome remark, Dr Ng said, “Women experience diseases and health issues which are different compared to men. This is due to the different biological, social and behavioural conditions. The top women killers include cancer, emotional disorder and hormone-related disorders. Women should anticipate positivity in life to improve their health and prolong their life span. However, to accomplish this, it is essential for women to understand their body and learn how to improve their lives through fitness.”

Prof Lim gave a conceptual introduction of the OWSD and its objective. The OWSD aims to provide a networking platform for women to help them excel in their life. “We understand that women have a lot of opportunities but we can’t hold on to the opportunities due to the commitments in career and family. However, this should not be a reason for us to fall behind. We must learn to overcome the limitations in life in order to be successful in the society. Achieve your own success regardless of any reason putting you behind!”

FMHS lecturer Teh Siew Hoon presented a talk titled “The management of primary dysmenorrhea with Chinese Medicine”. In her talk, she spoke about the definition of primary dysmenorrhea, its presenting symptoms, the prevalence and its effects on daily lives as well as types of herbs to ease the pain. She said, “There are four types of body conditions. These conditions are known as Qi and blood deficiency, kidney deficiency, blood stasis due to cold and blood stasis due to stagnation of Qi. It is important for one to recognise their own body condition before seeking diagnosis and treatment. Herbal medicines and acupuncture are able to effectively lower down the prostaglandin level in the blood.”

Universiti Malaya Centre for Population Health Head and Department of Social and Preventive Medicine Assoc Prof Dr Tin Tin Su gave a talk titled “Return to work (RTW) and financial hardship among breast cancer survivors in Malaysia”. In her research, she spoke about the prevalence and factors associated with RTW among breast cancer survivors from an international perspective; and RTW, income loss and financial hardship among breast cancer survivors in Malaysian scenario. She added, “There are few factors associated with RTW such as socio-demographic factors, disease-related factors, treatment-related factors, psychological factors and work-related factors. Special consideration should be given to part-time employees and private sectors as the RTW rate is now higher. Policy makers could also introduce an unemployment insurance programme that may help these groups to ease their financial burden of cancer treatment and post-treatment care.”

University of Nottingham Assoc Prof Dr Soma Mitra in her talk titled “Nutritional Support for Pre and Post Conception” said, “Infant mortality is a mirror of the population’s physical health and socio-economic status. The women’s nutritional status before conception influence the physiological events during pregnancy, nutrition during pregnancy sets the scene for meeting nutritional needs during lactation. We could work towards a healthy pregnancy.” In her talk, she also explained on topics such as body weight for pre and post conception, the energy cost of pregnancy, principles for estimating nutritional needs in pregnancy, developmental origins of health and disease (DOHAD) and recommendations for energy intake in the Malaysian context. The seminar was followed by a survey session before it adjourned.

The itinerary of the seminar is as follow:

The seminar was attended by 28 registered participants. The main sponsors for the event were Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, Malaysian Chapter (OWSD MC) and were supported by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR).

The list of lectures/ invited talks is as follow:

The number of participants for the conference were 84 in total, with 23 that were from UTAR and 61 non-UTAR members. One of the sponsors of the event, Matrioux, was also an exhibitor on the day of the event. The other sponsors of the talks were:

• Agilent Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
• Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Straits Scientific (M) Sdn. Bhd.
• Insan Saintifik Sdn Bhd
• Canvio Sdn. Bhd. & Miltenyl Biotec
• Bita Lifescience Sdn. Bhd.
• AccesHemOnc
• Matrioux

Genitourinary Cancer Awareness Seminar
Speakers: Dato’ Dr Selvalingam Sothilingam; Dr Murallitharan M.; Assoc Prof Dr Thaw Zin; Dr. Mohammed Abdulrazzaq Jabbar; Nizar Abdul Majeed Kutty and Kenneth Low.
Date: 18th October 2018
Venue: Sg Long Campus, UTAR


UTAR Centre for Cancer Research (CCR) organised the Genitourinary Cancer Awareness Seminar on 18 October 2018 at Sungai Long Campus.

At the seminar, CCR Chairperson-cum-Postgraduate Programmes Head Prof Dr Lim Yang Mooi gave opening remarks on behalf of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) Dean Emeritus Prof Dr Cheong Soon Keng. “Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. In this year alone, the estimation of cancer death is about 10 million in number and this number keeps on increasing,” she said, adding that approximately 70 percent of deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries. Therefore, the seminar was held to tackle the problem by educating, promoting and understanding the importance of healthy lifestyle.

Prof Lim also highlighted the importance of preventing cancer and encouraged the participants to get screening tests regularly. She hoped that the participants will benefit greatly from the seminar. She also believes that cancer is avoidable, preventable, treatable and curable. “We should have the thought that we can fight cancer as long as we have the knowledge and understanding of carcinogenesis,” she said.

On the other hand, Organising Chairperson Prof Dr Swaminathan Manickam expressed his gratitude to all the participants for their support. In his remarks, he explained that the purpose of having such seminar was to inform, educate, raise awareness, and inspire action for the public to reduce cancer.

The seminar saw a series of talks delivered by invited speakers, namely Consultant Urologist Dato’ Dr Selvalingam Sothilingam from Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Medical Director Dr Murallitharan M. from National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM), FMHS Clinical Assoc Prof Dr Thaw Zin, senior lecturer Dr Mohammed Abdulrazzaq Jabbar, Department of Physiotherapy Head Nizar Abdul Majeed Kutty and Senior Nutritionist Kenneth Low from NCSM.



The Seminar saw a total number of 55 participants and was sponsored by Persatuan Biokima Dan Bilologi Molekul, MC Lab Sdn Bhd and Leeds dynamic Sdn Bhd. The National Cancer Society Malaysia was an exhibitor on the day of event.