Khatijah Yusoff

Prof. Khatijah graduated with a First Class Honours in Microbiology, PhD and DSc (honoris causa) from La Trobe University, Melbourne. Her research on Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has won her many awards including the Merdeka Award 2015, Carlos J Finlay Prize by UNESCO in 2005 and the National Young Scientist Award in 1990. She is currently working on the development of an NDV-based cancer vaccine.   She was accorded UNESCO’s Carlos Finlay Prize for microbiology in 2005 and was identified as one of the top 20 most influential women in science in the Islamic World for 2014 by Muslim-Science.Com. She won the prestigious Merdeka Award for 2015. She is Fellow and Council member of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Vice President of The World Academy of Sciences for East and South East Asia and the Pacific region and Vice-President of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences.  She is also a Member of the Council of Scientific Advisers of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.  As an exponent of Science, her 5 year stint as the Deputy Secretary General of Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia gave an opportunity to promote science through policies and development of a strong framework in managing Science in the country.  She believes strongly on the need for translating science into tangible benefits to people around the world and sat on the Board of Trustees of the international Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), SEAMEO-BIOTROP Governing Board and the Advisory Board for La Trobe Asia.   She currently sits on board for VentureTech Sdn Bhd. and Steinbeis Foundation Malaysia. Khatijah is a professor in Microbiology at Universiti Putra Malaysia.