Congratulations to the winners of our MSMBB Best Scientist Awards 2025.
Best Young Scientist Award 2025 Winner: Dr Khor Wai Ho from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.
Dr. Khor Wai Ho's expertise spans the fields of reproductive physiology, fisheries and aquaculture, biotechnology, and the impacts of climate change, particularly on high-value crustacean species such as crabs and shrimps. He completed his PhD in Aquaculture at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) in 2016 and currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries, UMT, Terengganu, Malaysia. Following his doctorate, he pursued a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Biology at Shantou University, China (2017-2019), before returning to UMT as a lecturer.
Within just six years of his academic career, Dr. Khor has successfully secured multiple research grants at the university, national, and international levels. He is also an active researcher and writer, having authored over 100 publications. Of these, 51 are Web of Science-indexed papers in which he is the lead author, published in esteemed journals such as Reviews in Aquaculture, Aquaculture, and Chemosphere. Additionally, Dr. Khor has published six letters in Science and currently holds a Scopus H-index of 27. His research contributions are widely recognized on a global scale.
Distinguished Scientist Award 2025 Winner: Prof. Pung Yuh Fen from University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus.
Prof Pung Yuh Fen is a Professor at the Division of Biomedical Science, University of Nottingham Malaysia. Her research primarily focuses on the prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. She employs a multidisciplinary approach that integrates cell culture studies, animal models, and clinical samples to address complex biomedical questions with translational relevance.
In recent years, her work has been mainly cantered on the development of highly selective, sensitive, and clinically accessible biomarkers to enhance disease prevention and diagnostic accuracy in metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. This line of work has led to a patent filing and is currently being translated into practice through the development of a diagnostic kit based on the identified biomarker panels.
Prof Pung has demonstrated a sustained and commendable record of scholarly output, with peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals. As of now, her Scopus h-index stands at 22, with a total of 1,385 citations. Since 2016, she has authored 37 journal articles, including 16 published in Q1 journals. She has served as the corresponding author for 14 publications, 6 of which appeared in Q1 journals. The high impact and quality in her research achievements have significantly contributed to the academic standing of both the School and the University.
