Programme Day 1

Day 1 9 September 2026 (Wednesday)
Time
Programme
8:00 am – 5:00 pm

BrightSparX Programme — Programme

Danum 4,5 (Level 5)

8:00 am – 9:00 am

Registration and Breakfast

09:00 am – 09:40 am

Keynote 1

Shaping the Future of Nutrition: Micronutrient Analysis and Biofortification Innovation

Speaker Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ujang Tinggi Associate Professor, Griffith University, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, Griffith University Queensland (Australia)

09:45 am – 10:25 am

Keynote 2

Innovative WASH Solutions for the Control and Elimination of NTDs

Speaker Prof. Darren Gray Programme Director, QIMR Berghofer (Australia)

10:30 am – 10:50 am

Morning Tea Break

10:55 am – 11:15 am

From Infrastructure to Intelligence: Applying Digital Twins in Healthcare Environments

Speaker Ts. Frank Wee Managing Director, Insight Analytics Berhad (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

100 Days to Save 8 Million Lives: How A New Kind of Personal Manufacturing System is Transforming Global Pandemic Response

Speaker Richard Vellacott Chief Executive Officer, Biologic Technologies Ltd (United Kingdom)
Main Hall
11:20 am – 11:40 am

Antimicrobial Activities of Natural Compounds Against Burkholderia pseudomallei: An Exploratory Study

Research project: Evaluation of Anti-microbial Activities of Natural Compounds against Burkholderia pseudomallei

SpeakerDr. Yuwana PodinAssociate Professor, Principal Investigator, Institute of Health and Community Medicine, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

Diagnostic Accessibility Through Portability – POC and AI

Speaker Dr. Karl Bertram Co-Founder & Managing Director, ATEM Structural Discovery (United States)
Main Hall
11:45 am – 12:05 pm

Therapeutic Potential of Engkabang (Shorea macrophylla) for Drug Development

Research project: Therapeutic potential of Engkabang (Shorea macrophylla) from Sarawak: Phytochemicals, disease-resistant and medicinal properties for drug development

Speaker Prof. Dr. Khong Heng Yen Chief Editor, Journal of Smart Science and Technology, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Sarawak (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

Beyond LNPs: A Thermostable Polymer/lipid Platform for mRNA Vaccines and Targeted Therapeutics

Speaker Dr. Madhavan Nallani Chief Executive Officer, ACM Biolabs Pte Ltd (Singapore)
Main Hall
12:10 pm – 12:30 pm

Antimicrobials from Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) Microbial Natural Product Library (MNPL) effective against Klebsiella pneumoniae

Research project: Antimicrobials from Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) Microbial Natural Product Library (MNPL) active against Klebsiella penumoniae resistance strain

Speaker Dr. Ann Anni Basik Head of R&D, Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

From Bench to Bedside: Ethically and Legally Compliant Medical Research & Clinical Trials

Speaker Lieutenant Commander, Dr. Irina V. Etobayeva Director, Malaysia Detachment, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit INDO PACIFIC (United States)
Main Hall
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm

Lunch

Boulevard Grand Ballroom (Level 5)

02:00 pm – 02:40 pm

Keynote 3

Biologics Innovation through National Platform: From Capability to Global Impact

Speaker Dr. Wan Kah Fei Head of Antibody Technology Division, Experimental Drug Development Center (EDDC) (Singapore)

02:45 pm – 03:25 pm

Keynote 4

Artificial Intelligence for Health Equity: Bridging Rural–Urban Gaps Through Translational Innovation

Speaker Prof. Patrick Then Hang Hui Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Artificial Intelligence Centre (Malaysia)

03:30 pm – 03:50 pm

Eco-Friendly Anti-Sandfly Agents from Plants and Fungi

Research Project: Development of anti-sandflies (Leishmania spp.) formulation from plants of Fabacease family and entomopathogenic ascomycete fungi isolated from Miri, Sarawak

Speaker Dr. Muhammad Noor Hazwan Bin Jusoh Senior Lecturer, Curtin Malaysia (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

The Evolving Role of Pathogen Surveillance in Global Health

Speaker Dr. Khoo Yoong Khean Deputy Director and Assistant Professor, Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness (Malaysia)
Main Hall
03:55 pm – 04:15 pm

Long Reads, Long Reach: Building A Collaborative Genomics Ecosystem in Sarawak

Speaker Dr. Bryan Aidan Wee Senior Scientist, Sarawak Infectious Disease Centre (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

Rapid, Portable Detection of Respiratory Viruses — Anywhere, Anytime

Speaker Dr. Gao Yuji Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Health Innovation & Technology, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Main Hall
04:20 pm – 04:40 pm

Empowering local agriculture through sustainable, science-driven animal feed solutions is the key to lasting food security

Research project: Production of probiotic fortified animal feed from local plant resources and fish wastes

Speaker Dr. Lee Kui Soon Senior Lecturer, UNIMAS (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

Accelerating Antiviral Innovation for Pandemic Preparedness and Global Health Security

Speaker Dr. Chu Jang Hann, Justin Associate Professor, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Main Hall
04:45 pm – 05:05 pm

Green Nanoparticles for Plant Protection

Research project: Green Synthesis of Modified Water-soluble Phenolic Acid Conjugated Chitosan Nanoparticles: Characterisation and Biological Activity Against Fungal Plant Pathogens

Speaker Prof. Awang Ahmad Sallehin bin Awang Husaini Professor, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Malaysia)
Danum 2, 3

RACSMEI: A nationwide One Health multi-pathogen survey at the human–animal–environment interface in Cambodia

Speaker Dr. Claude Flamand Head of Epidemiology and Public Health Unit, Institut Pasteur of Cambodia (France)
Main Hall
05:30 pm – 07:30 pm

Networking Reception

Boulevard Grand Ballroom (Level 5)

End of Day 1