UTAR R&D Annual Report 2020

Centre Name:	Centre for Stem Cell Research (CSCR) (http://cscr.research.utar.edu.my/)
Chairperson:	Prof. Dr. Alan Ong Han Kiat
Description of Centre:	The Centre for Stem Cell Research, or CSCR in short, was established on 1st May 2011. The CSCR secretariat is presently located at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS). The Centre aims to promote multi-disciplinary stem cell research activities leading to the advancement of knowledge on the mechanisms of cellular reprogramming and stem cell differentiation leading to the translation of basic research findings into clinical benefits and improvement in the quality of healthcare in Malaysia. The Centre also collaborates with local and overseas universities, community, industry and the government to provide innovative solutions and to facilitate knowledge transfer.
Research area:	Development of Core Technological Platforms & Facilities For Stem Cell Research Development of Disease Models Focussing On Cancers Development of Clinical Applications Of MSCS Isolated From Various Sources Development of Strategies For Cell Therapy Of Diseases

No.	Name	Faculty	Member
1	Prof. Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat	FMHS	Chairperson
2	Emeritus Prof. Dr Cheong Soon Keng	FMHS	Advisor
3	Prof. Dr Choo Kong Bung	FMHS	Advisor
4	Dr Teoh Hoon Koon	FMHS	Secretary
5	Assoc. Prof. Dr Leong Pooi Pooi	FMHS	Treasurer
6	Dr Shereen Tang Suet Ping	FMHS	Member
7	Clic. Assoc. Prof. Dr Myat Khaing	FMHS	Member
8	Dr Lee Bee Sun	FMHS	Member
9	Dr Ong Hooi Tin	FMHS	Member
10	Dr Amy Saik Yi Hsan	FMHS	Member
11	Mr Gan Quan Fu	FMHS	Member
12	Ms. Teh Hui Xin	FMHS	Member
13	Mr. Lim Sheng Jye	FMHS	Associate member
14	Ms. Nalini Devi Verusingam	FMHS	Associate member
15	Ms. Norlaily Mohd Ali	FMHS	Associate member
16	Mr. Vimalan Rengganaten	FMHS	Associate member
17	Ms. Goh Jiunn Jye	FMHS	Associate member
18	Mr. Kim Kit Li	FMHS	Associate member
19	Mr. Kok Wei Xing	FMHS	Associate member
20	Ms. Lee Soke Sun	FMHS	Associate member
21	Ms. Lim Yee Ching	FMHS	Associate member
22	Mr. Loh Jit Kai	FMHS	Associate member
23	Dr. Erica Choong Pei Feng	MAKNA	Associate member
24	Dr. Mai Chun Wai	IMU	Associate member
25	Dr. Nareshwaran Gnanasegaran	A*STAR Singapore	Associate member
26	Dr. Wong Chee Yin	Cytopeutics Sdn. Bhd.	Associate member
27	Ms. Tai Lihui	Cytopeutics Sdn. Bhd.	Associate member

No.	Date	Event
1	22 August 2020 (10.00 am –11.30am)	Webinar: Postgraduate Life: Before and During Covid-19 Pandemic and The New Norm
2	27-28 November 2020 & 5 December 2020 (9.30am-12pm)	Webinar: Introductory Workshop on Systemic Review

No.

Date

Webinar:
Postgraduate Life: Before and During Covid-19 Pandemic and The New Norm

The Centre for Stem Cell Research (CSCR), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) organized the webinar entitled: Postgraduate Life, Before and During Covid-19 pandemic and the New Norm on the 22nd of August 2020, from 10am to 11.30am. The webinar was conducted via Microsoft Teams.

The webinar was mainly organized by the postgraduate students/associate members of CSCR, with the objective being to provide an academic discourse session for postgraduate students in Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia to share their experiences before and during Covid-19 pandemic, as well as their new practices in carrying out their daily research life.

The speakers with their affiliations and topics are summarized in the table below:

Mr. Lim Sheng Jye	UTAR	Postgraduate Life
Ms. Goh Jiunn Jye	UTAR	Full-Time vs Part-Time Postgraduate Study
Ms. Lim Yee Ching	UTAR	Me vs Stem Cell Culture During Covid-19
Mr. Kok Wei Xing	UTAR	How the Covid-19 Movement Control Order (MCO) Has Affected Molecular Works
Ms. Nalini Devi Verusingam	UTAR/National Yang-Ming University	Research Life Experience During Covid-19 Pandemic When There Is No Lockdown (Taiwan)
Dr. Sarika Parambath	University of Sydney	Research/PhD affected by Covid-19 Pandemic in University of Sydney
Ms. Erika Julieth Henao Bermudez	Torrens University Australia	Research/PhD affected by Covid-19 Pandemic in Torrens University Australia
Dr. Gary Low	Translational Research and Community Engagement (TRACE)	Research/PhD affected by Covid-19 Pandemic in the Commercial Industry

The webinar was attended by 95 participants. Among the participants were UTAR staff and students, researchers and postgraduate students from Malaysia, Australia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Indonesia, India, Columbia, Iraq and Belize.

Mr. Lim Sheng Jye presenting his talk on “Postgraduate Life”

Emcee of the day Ms. Lee Soke Sun and the last presenter Dr Gary Low

Webinar:
Introductory Workshop on Systemic Review
27th Dec, 28th Dec and 5th Dec 2020, 10am – 12pm

The Centre for Stem Cell Research (CSCR) and Centre for Research on Non-communicable diseases (CRNCD), Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences (FMHS) jointly organized a webinar entitled “Introductory workshop to Systemic Review” on 27 Nov, 28 Nov and 5 Dec 2020 via Microsoft Teams, each session was conducted from 10am to 12noon.

There were a total of 27 participants attending the workshop, comprising of UTAR staff and postgraduate students. The organising committee members of the webinar were as below:

Chair	Prof Alan Ong Han Kiat
Co-Chair	Prof John Paul Judson
Secretary	Dr Ling Wei Chih
Assistant Secretary	Mr Gan Quan Fu
Treasurer	Dr Shereen Tang Suet Ping
Assistant Treasurer	Mr Martin Ebenezer Chellappan
Brochure & registration	Dr Amy Saik Yi Hsan Dr Lee Siew Keah
Alumni contacts:	Prof Alan Ong Han Kiat
CPD points application:	Dr Wong Jun Leong Ms Liew Siew Fun
Event hosts:	Day 1: Prof Alan/Prof Judson/Dr Gary Low Day 2: Dr Ling/Dr Teoh/ Dr Gary Low Day 3: Dr Lee/Dr Amy/ Dr Gary Low

The speakers of the webinar were Dr Gary Low (the president) and his team members from an NGO named Translational Research and Community Engagement (TRACE) based in Sydney, Australia. It is noteworthy that Dr Gary Low is also an UTAR alumni.

This event started with a brief introduction of Dr Gary Low and his team. Following that, Dr Gary explained the function, study design and types of systemic review. Later, the participants were introduced to the numerous structures of systemic review. Before ending Day 1, a practical session on how to draft the objective(s) of a systemic review was conducted.

On Day 2 and Day 3, the participants were exposed to practical sessions on (i) the strategy to search for critical information from various databases (ii) selecting suitable articles for reviews-screening (iii) data extraction and (iv) analysing results for narrative review. All practical sessions were essential in preparation of writing a systemic review. A brief introduction to meta-analysis was also given to the participants on Day 3. The workshop ended with a Q&A session by Dr Gary.