the TEAM
FOUNDER AND LEAD
Nirmala Bhoo-Pathy works as a Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, and practices as a public health physician in Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia. She is also a visiting scholar at Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom since 2014. Dr. Bhoo Pathy’s career is focused on optimizing life after cancer in resource-limited settings through research and advocacy. She is particularly interested in the state of cancer control in low- and middle-income countries and enhancing treatment outcomes and patient-centered outcomes in these settings.
Notably, Dr Bhoo Pathy was the principal investigator of phase III of the ASEAN CosTs In ONcology (ACTION) study, comprising close to 10,000 cancer patients from eight low-and middle-income member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN). The study has been crucial in providing country-specific evidence for Southeast Asian nations to prioritize policies and develop local solutions to reduce the financial loss and premature deaths associated with cancer. Dr. Bhoo-Pathy currently serves in two Lancet Commissions, namely the Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer, and the Lancet Commission on Cancer and Health Systems. Besides her involvement in these commissions, she is a member of the Covid-19 and Cancer Taskforce, a globally representative group of cancer leaders who are gravely concerned that decisions made under the duress of the pandemic will have momentous consequences for cancer mortality for years to come https://covidcancertaskforce.org/
Nirmala Bhoo Pathy graduated as a medical doctor from Universiti Malaya, Malaysia in 2001. Following completion of her master’s degree in Public Health with distinction in 2008, she was awarded a fellowship by the European Commission, under which she completed a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology with cum laude, followed by a PhD (cancer epidemiology) from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands in 2011.
Email: nirmala.bhoopathy@ummc.edu.my
Researcher Id Link : https://publons.com/researcher/1193025/nirmala-bhoo-pathy/
SENIOR ADVISOR
Dr. Yip is currently a consultant breast surgeon in Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care in Malaysia and is the lead clinician for the breast cancer research program in Cancer Research Malaysia. Dr. Yip was conferred Professor Emeritus by the University of Malaya in Oct 2016. She has over 240 publications in peer-reviewed journals mainly on breast cancer in the Asian setting with an H index of 38. She was a past president of the Association of University Surgeons of Asia (2003-2005) College of Surgeons of Malaysia (2010-2013) and Breast Surgery International (2015-2017). She is currently the President-Elect of the International Surgical Society. Although a clinician, Dr. Yip is very involved in cancer control and prevention and was a past President of the Asia Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention. (2010- 2012) She has been appointed an expert in cancer control by the World Health Organisation and has been on 2 IMPACT missions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to assess the cancer control program in Cambodia and Jordan. She has been involved with the Breast Health Global Initiative since 2005. She was awarded an honorary fellowship from the American College of Surgeons in Oct 2013 and from the American Surgical Association in April 2017. She is currently an associate editor with the World Journal of Surgery, academic editor of the International Journal of Surgical Oncology, and on the international editorial board of JAMA Surgery. She is currently a member of the executive committee of the Breast Cancer Welfare Association in charge of research and development. She is a member of the Global Breast Cancer Initiative and is a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Breast Cancer.
Email: chenghar.yip@gmail.com
Researcher Id Link : https://publons.com/researcher/2844392/cheng-har-yip/
ADVISOR
Ranjit, a breast cancer survivor since 1998, has a basic qualification in Physiotherapy, and a Master of Science degree in Community Disability Studies (University College London, UK) in 1996. Ranjit is a patient advocate, immediate past president, of Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia, committee member of Together against Cancer Association Malaysia, board member of Reach to Recovery International, a global breast cancer support and advocacy program, and Advanced Breast Cancer Global Alliance. Peer Reviewer for the Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation for Cancer (mainly LMICs) led by the World Health Organization. Previously she has been the President of Reach to Recovery International and a board member of the Union for International Cancer Control. In 2004, she also received an award for the Outstanding UICC volunteer and in 2011, the Theresa Lasser Award was conferred by Reach to Recovery International. Ranjit conducts training in Reach to recovery peer support and peer navigation in cancer care. Doctor-Patient communication skills for medical students and moderator for international forums. She is a consultant and trainer for a number of regional and global cancer-related groups. Her article on Cancer-My personal Account was published in The Lancet.
Email : ranjit.pritam54@gmail.com
ADVISOR
Marniza Saad is a Clinical Oncologist at the Department of Clinical Oncology, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), and an Associate Professor at Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya (UM) Kuala Lumpur. After obtaining her Medical Degree from the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff in 1997, she underwent specialist training in Clinical Oncology at Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff UK, and attained FRCR qualification in 2006. She was the Head of the Department of Clinical Oncology UMMC from 2013 to 2015 and has been a trainer for the Master of Clinical Oncology program at Universiti Malaya since 2006. She was inducted as a Member of the College of Radiology, Academy of Medicine, Malaysia in 2009. She is an executive committee member of the Malaysian Oncological Society. Her areas of special interest include genitourinary cancer, sarcoma, breast, and gastrointestinal cancers. She is the principal investigator of numerous multi-center clinical trials in genitourinary cancers including KEYNOTE-052, IMvigor130, LATITUDE, and the currently ongoing KEYNOTE-992, MAGNITUDE, AMPLITUDE, and PREVALENCE studies.
Email: marniza@ummc.edu.my
ADVISOR
Dr. Ros Suzanna Ahmad Bustamam is a clinical oncologist, and currently heads the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Notably, she is the National Head of Services for Radiotherapy and Oncology for the Ministry of Health Malaysia. She was part of the team that developed the Malaysian Clinical Practice Guidelines for Cervical Cancer, and also the Systemic Therapy Protocol in 2016, and 2017, respectively. Dr. Ros is also actively involved in oncology trials in HKL, namely for colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers.
Email: rossuzanna@gmail.com
ADVISOR
Dr Chiu-Wan Ng is Professor of Public Health in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (SPM) at the University of Malaya. She graduated in Medicine from National University of Singapore, obtained her MPH in Health Systems Management and PhD in Health Economics from the University of Malaya. Professor Ng is an expert in Health Systems and Policies. Her main research interests include health systems, financing and economics, in particular efforts to achieve universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries in the Asia Pacific region. In addition to publishing in this area, she is also a faculty of several regional health system courses organized by the Asia Network for Capacity Building in Health Systems Strengthening and the World Bank. She is the Malaysian country investigator for the EQUITAP (Equity in Asia Pacific health systems) and the GNHE (Global Network on Health Equity) research collaborations.
Email: chiuwan.ng@ummc.edu.my
Researcher Id Link : https://publons.com/researcher/2840720/chiu-wan-ng/
ASSOCIATES
Stella obtained her Bachelor of Science (BSc) with Cum Laude in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2016, and Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Universiti Malaya in 2021. Her research interest lies in improving patient outcomes after cancer, specifically in financial outcomes and working after cancer. Her career goal is to employ implementation science to bridge the gap between evidence from epidemiology studies and translate them into useful health policies that will benefit both patients and the health system. For the past 5 years, she has been actively involved as the lead in various research projects that examined the financial impact of cancer, and the unmet financial needs among cancer-stricken households in Malaysia. Lately, she has also been involved in the development of a needs assessment tool for women living with breast cancer, whereby the tool has recently been validated and is now awaiting copyright. Recognizing that access to financial resources remains a major barrier among cancer survivors in the country, she is currently working on a project to develop a financial navigation program for cancer survivors and their families.
Areas of interest: Cancer Survivorship, Patient-centered Outcomes, Financial Toxicity, Implementation Science
Email: stella_kyc@hotmail.com
Researcher Id Link : https://publons.com/researcher/3591317/yek-ching-kong/
Harenthri’s primary research interest is focused on the psychological well-being of patients and their caregivers along the cancer continuum. She also has extensive fieldwork experience in counseling patients with cancer and has equipped herself with a broad range of interpersonal communications techniques. She majored in psychology for her undergraduate studies and furthered in her postgraduate research in psychosocial oncology. As part of her master’s study, she has received training to utilize tools such as Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in performing psychological assessments for patients with cancer. She is the project lead for a cohort study investigating the predictors of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with cancer, where we are currently working towards using Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM) semi-structured, evidence-based intervention to provide psychological support for patients with advanced and metastatic cancers and their caregivers in Malaysia settings. Her long-term career goal is to advance the field of psychosocial oncology in Malaysia through practice, research, and advocacy in this area.
Area of Interest: Psychosocial Oncology, Depression, Anxiety
Email: devyharenthri@gmail.com
Nur Nadiatul Asyikin binti Bujang graduated as a medical doctor from the Universiti Malaya in 2011. After 7 years of medical practice in various capacities in the Ministry of Health Malaysia, she completed her Master of Public health (MPH) with distinction in the University Malaya in 2019. Nadia is presently pursuing her doctoral degree (Doctor of Public Health) in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. She is actively involved in cancer research, raising cancer awareness, and advocating for better cancer care, specifically colorectal cancer. She is an active member of CORUM (Colorectal Cancer Survivorship Society Malaysia) since 2020. Nadia is currently developing a needs evaluation questionnaire for Malaysians living with colorectal cancer. The tool will eventually be used to measure the unmet needs of colorectal cancer survivors in the nation and identify the associated factors that will allow for appropriate and targeted care or intervention to be delivered to the cancer patient with higher needs.
Area of Interest: Cancer Prevention, Cancer Epidemiology, Public Health
Email: nadiatulasyikin@gmail.com
Dr. Lim graduated as a medical doctor from Universiti Malaya in 2009. After completing his Master of Public Health in 2014, Dr. Lim passed his doctoral studies in Public Health with distinction in 2019. His thesis was titled “Health impacts of night work among employees in Malaysia”. After graduation, he went back to the Ministry of Health and served in the Selangor State Health Department and the National Institute of Health Malaysia before joining Universiti Malaya as an occupational health physician. Dr. Lim’s primary interest is on the influence of the circadian system on chronic diseases including cancer. He also studies shift work as a surrogate for exposure to light at night including the related biomarkers for cancer, metabolic syndrome, and mental health.
Email: yclim@um.edu.my
Dr. Nithiya Sinarajoo graduated from Universitas Udayana Medical School, Indonesia, in 2011. After serving as a medical officer in the Public Health Unit of Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), Klang, she went on to complete her Masters of Public Health in Universiti Malaya in 2020. Nithya is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Public Health. Through her research, she aspires to establish a happier future for those who are dealing with breast cancer by highlighting their unmet needs
Area of Interest: Public Health, Epidemiology
Email: elamathi860@gmail.com
Malar graduated from Universitas Padjajaran medical school in Bandung, Indonesia in 2008. Thereafter she obtained her master’s degree in the field of Public Health at Universiti Malaya in 2020. Her exposure to palliative care began when she was in charge of setting up the Palliative Care Unit in Institut Kanser Negara, Putrajaya under the tutelage of Dr. Richard Lim Boon Leong, the National Head of palliative care service. Thereafter, she served in the Planning Division of MOH as a senior principal assistant director. These experiences gave her the clarity that improving palliative care service in a primary care setting is paramount to enhancing the quality of life for our population. Her research focuses on delivering sustainable palliative care to adults dealing with Serious Health-Related Suffering (SHS) in Malaysia. It aims to explore the knowledge, challenges, and barriers faced by primary care doctors. The study also looks into the availability of minimum standards on providing palliative care in primary care facilities in Malaysia. The findings from this study will be used to identify the strategies to overcome the gaps.
Area of Interest: Public health , Palliative Care, Health Policy Planning
Email: malar15@yahoo.com
Teoh Soo Peng served the Ministry of Health Malaysia for 8 years as an instructor for medical lab technologists prior to embarking on her current field of study in Public Health. Her research interest lies in improving health services, particularly emergency preparedness for cancer care services. The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the health system is not prepared to deal with the indirect effects of the health of patients with chronic disorders such as cancer. Continuity of cancer care delivery during any crisis should be streamlined to minimize the increased morbidity and mortality of cancer patients that can arise as an adverse effect of the crisis. A co-design approach with cancer stakeholders is taken to develop a guideline for continuity in the delivery of high-quality cancer care during the ongoing pandemic in the nation, which can also be adapted during unforeseen crises in the future.
Area of Interest: Public health, continuity of cancer care amidst pandemic
Email: corynneteoh@gmail.com
Cailian graduated from Baotou Medical College, Inner Mongolia Technology University in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China in 2011. She has worked as a gynecologist at Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital between 2011 and 2013. Thereafter she is registered as an O&G in 2014 and worked as a qualified O&G specialist at Wuhou District People’s Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan. When she has obtained 3 years’ clinical practical experience, she has decided to continue her master’s degree in the field of Public Health at MAHSA University in 2018. Having completed her master’s study, she joined the Doctor of Public Health program at Universiti Malaya. Her interest in doctorate research is related to the financial burden among cancer patients. The goal of this research is to evaluate how cancer diagnosis and treatment impact patients financially, and in turn influence their mental health and quality of life. Therefore, the study will highlight the challenges and barriers that cancer patients and survivors are facing apart from the physical disability per se. Moreover, the subjective distress of the patients should be paid attention to during cancer treatment and follow-up. Besides, the gender disparities on this financial impact of cancer will be explored. Thus, the findings from this study will be used to identify the strategies to overcome the gaps.
Area of Interest: Public health, Cancer Care, Financial impact of cancer, gender disparity
Email: xiongcailian@yahoo.com
Veni graduated with a Bachelors’ degree in Biohealth Science from Universiti Malaya and later on pursued a Masters’s in Medical Sciences (Public Health) from the Medical Faculty of Universiti Malaya. She also holds an MBA obtained from University Putra Malaysia (UPM) and is currently pursuing her PhD in Public Health, back in her alma mater, UM. Veni comes from a background of extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Coming from a drug-making industry, she has always been on the other end of the spectrum, supplying treatment options and medications to patients. She is now keen to explore the patient perspective of the spectrum, particularly looking at financial hardships in cancer patients. She is intending to achieve this thru her current PhD research to identify the financially vulnerable population in Malaysia amongst cancer patients and survivors so that rectification measures can be taken from all angles, be it the government, or even private sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry. With that, she hopes that she will be able to assist cancer patients in their disease management journey, at least by providing a platform for them through her research work.
Area of Interest: Cancer epidemiology, financial toxicity
Email: venivenusha@gmail.com
Shri completed her B.Sc in Biomedicine in 2008, and has been working as a Research Officer in the Centre of Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute for Clinical Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia since 2011. She is presently completing her master’s degree in the field of Medical Sciences at Universiti Malaya. Her research interest lies primarily in the area of cancer and all her current research work focuses on cancer prognosis/survival, treatment outcome, and patient-centered outcome. Shri started her career serving as a Project Manager of the ACTION study (ASEAN CosT In ONcology) which comprises close to 10,000 cancer patients from eight low and middle-income ASEAN countries. Notably, her work on health-related quality of life and psychological distress among Malaysian cancer survivors from the ACTION study won her an ESMO young investigator award in 2016. She has also been involved in various studies exploring the association between comorbidities and cancer. To date, she has published over 20 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. Based on Google Scholar, her H-index is 12 and she has more than 300 total citations as of June 2021.
Area of Interest: Cancer epidemiology, Cardio-oncology
Email: shridevi@crc.gov.my
In February 2020, Nishalini had completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Science in Management and Science University (MSU) Malaysia. Her enthusiasm and hard work during her undergrad program had led her to achieve a prestigious award; MSU’s 2019 best researcher award. Aside from her active participation in lab-based studies, public health and wellness have always been a great interest of hers. Her dedication towards research and community had urged her to join WeCan@MY as an enumerator in July 2020. As an enumerator, she was actively involved in the data collection of several studies conducted by the research team of WeCan@MY.This experience had given her the opportunities to learn more about public health research and analysis. Her ultimate goal is to be an expert in cancer epidemiology research, and with practice and learning, she’s taking one step further every day.
Area of Interest: Public Health, Cancer epidemiology
Email : nishaliniandy24@gmail.com
Dr. Nadia binti Mohamad Rashidi is a medical doctor who graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2012 with a dual degree of MBBS/BSc. After completing the mandatory horsemanship training upon returning to Malaysia, she gained further working experience in primary health care management and women’s and children’s health for several years. In 2019, she was the Chief Assistant Director of the Penang Health State Department’s Tuberculosis and Leprosy Division, where she coordinated various infectious disease control programmes. The Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) awarded her a scholarship to continue her passion in public health at the University Malaya. She completed her Master in Public Health with distinction in 2021. Currently, she is pursuing her doctoral degree (Doctor of Public Health), where she is currently working on traditional and complementary medicine integration policies within available oncological services.
Interest(s): Epidemiology, Health Systems, Health Policy
Email : nadia.mohamadrashidi@gmail.com
Dr. Chin Vern Song has work experience as a research assistant and clinician. He received his medical degree (MBBS) from International Medical University, Malaysia in 2017. In 2021, he received his Masters of Biomedical Science from Utrecht University, Netherlands. Dr. Song’s research focuses on epidemiological research. He has worked on a study on the effectiveness of breast cancer treatment guidelines in a middle-income setting. He also has worked on a systematic review on HIV self-testing in sub-Saharan Africa.
Area of interest: Epidemiology of non-communicable/chronic diseases, global health, medical statistics
Michelle is a general physician and an aspiring radiation oncologist from the Philippines. She was a direct entrant to the prestigious INTARMED program of the University of the Philippines, a 7-year accelerated medical program for the country’s top 40 high school graduates. She completed her medical internship at the Philippine General Hospital, a tertiary academic center and the largest government hospital in the Philippines. She has an exemplary leadership background, having served as high school student council president, medical school class president, and medical interns’ president. She graduated with the university’s Leadership Award and was named one of Ten Outstanding Medical Students in the national capital region of the Philippines. Michelle is also an avid runner and has won several track and field medals.Having worked with very poor populations and underserved communities in the Philippines, Michelle is very passionate about improving access to cancer care in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Southeast Asia.
Research Interests: radiation oncology, global oncology, financial toxicity, health disparities, social determinants of health, public health
Website: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=-T5IgtwAAAAJ
Email: eala.michelle@gmail.com
INTERNS
Sharminii obtained her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the International Medical University (IMU), Malaysia in 2019. During her course of study in IMU, she was part of a research project titled ‘The effect of palm oil consumption on total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides: a systematic review’ and was awarded the Certificate of Excellence for Best Oral Presentation in the National Health Professionals Undergraduate Research Conference 2017. Prior to that, her passion for cancer research dates back to 2010 when her mother was diagnosed with Stage III Breast Cancer. She is currently pursuing her internship here and planning to pursue her Masters in Clinical Epidemiology next year. Her areas of interest include early cancer detection, cancer control and chemotherapy-related cardiotoxicity.
Email: sharminii_30@yahoo.com