Experts for Media: Women in Research

A resource for journalists to find stories and sources.

At Asia Research News, we have a strong network of researchers at institutes throughout Asia and beyond. Our Experts for Media series highlights ongoing research and expertise around one theme or topic. 

Experts for Media is part of our ongoing efforts to increase inclusion and diversity of voices in science communication and news coverage. 

 

We invite journalists to contact these experts directly, or reach out to us at [email protected] if you need help finding a source.

Don't find an expert you are looking for? See other Experts for Media lists or go to the Researchers page for the full list of contacts in our network.

Organizations supporting women in research

Tell us about any organizations we’ve missed or to be added to the list, email us: [email protected].


*NEW* Asia Research News 2024 magazineCheck out stories on women and the passionate research work they do:

 


ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE

 

Dr. Alicia An

Associate Professor, School of Energy and Environment
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: water and membrane technologies; nanobubble technology in aquaculture
Languages: English; Korean

Dr. An is an associate professor at the School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong (CityU). Her research into membrane-based water treatment spans over a decade and covers various new technologies and applications. Among these is the development of a novel membrane system for bacteria-resistant organics oxidation in wastewater. View full profile.

Dr. Andrea Lay Hoon Kwa

Pharmacy Clinician Scientist and Assistant Director
Pharmacy (Research), Singapore General Hospital
Associate Professor
Duke-NUS Medical School
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Critical care medicine, infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance research
Languages: English 

Dr. Kwa is currently a Pharmacy Clinician Scientist and Assistant Director, Pharmacy (Research), at the Singapore General Hospital and an associate professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. She specializes in critical care medicine, infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance research. View full profile here.

Dr. Mags Crumlish

Professor
Institute of Aquaculture
University of Stirling
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: aquatic microbial diseases; antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture
Languages: English

Dr. Crumlish has researched aquatic microbial diseases, specifically ones that have economic impact in global aquaculture, and potential solutions to such infectious diseases. She is leading a multidisciplinary project to develop innovative vaccines and delivery methods to reduce AMR development in Vietnam's freshwater aquaculture sector. View full profile here.

Dr. Natrah Fatin Bt Mohd Ikhsan

Associate Professor, Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies, Research and International)
Department of Aquaculture
Faculty of Agriculture
University Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: phycology; aquatic microbial ecology; antimicrobial resistance in shrimp aquaculture; quorum sensing and quenching
Languages: English; Malay

Dr. Natrah Ikhsan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). She is also an Associate Researcher in the Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Bioscience, UPM, and an Interim Member of Laboratory of Sustainable Aquaculture, International Institute of Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, UPM. Currently, she is the Deputy Dean of Graduate studies, Research and International, Faculty of Agriculture, UPM. View full profile.

Dr. Phan Thi Van

Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: aquatic animal health; aquaculture animal disease; environment; good aquaculture practices (GAP); food safety in aquaculture
Languages: English; Vietnamese

Dr. Van was the Director of the Research Institute for Aquaculture No.1 (RIA1) under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). With her extensive expertise in aquatic animal health and aquaculture safety management and practices, she has served as resource expert by agencies across the world, including FAO and UNDP. Her recent research focused on the use of ozone nanobubble injections in water to help reduce bacterial load and improve fish and shrimp response to pathogens. View full profile.

Dr. Soojin Jang 

Head
Institut Pasteur Korea’s Antibacterial Resistance Research Laboratory
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: antimicrobial/antibacterial resistance
Languages: English; Korean

Dr. Jang heads the Antibacterial Resistance Research Laboratory at Institut Pasteur Korea, where her team focuses on discovering new antibacterial agents for “superbugs” or bacteria resistant to most antibiotics. She also serves as Associate Editor (Infection and Immunity) for the Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences journal. View full profile.

Dr. Sophie St-Hilaire

Associate Head / Professor of Aquatic Animal Health
Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: infectious disease control and prevention in aquaculture; veterinary epidemiology; aquatic animal medicine
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. St-Hilaire is associate head and professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, City University of Hong Kong (CityU). She and her colleagues are studying how to fight antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture environments by reducing bacterial and antibiotic levels through improved filtration systems and coating materials. View full profile.

Dr Sohinee Sarkar

Senior Research Fellow
Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: immunology; antimicrobial resistance; novel antimicrobials; novel therapeutics and vaccines against antibiotic-resistant pathogens
Languages comfortable speaking: English; Bengali; Hindi

Dr Sarkar is currently a senior research fellow at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. She is actively engaged in collaborating with academic and industry stakeholders, including in India, and leads multiple projects for the development of novel therapeutics/vaccines to tackle antimicrobial resistance. Read full profile here.

 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & MACHINE LEARNING

Assistant Professor Dorien Herremans

Information Systems Technology and Design 
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Audio, AI and Music
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Herremans directs the Game Lab at SUTD. She researches machine learning and music for automatic music generation, data mining for music classification (hit prediction) and novel applications in the intersections of machine learning/optimization and domains such as digital music and stock market prediction. Read full profile here.

Professor Helen Meng

Systems Engineering and Engineering Management
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: speech and language processing, big data, artificial intelligence
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Meng is a recognized scholar in the field of multilingual speech and language processing, multimodal human-computer interaction and Big Data analytics. An IEEE Fellow, she has helped found numerous research centers and currently leads an interdisciplinary project on artificial intelligence. Read full profile here.

 

ASTRONOMY & COSMOLOGY 

Associate Professor Jia Liu

Director
Center for Data-Driven Discovery
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise: dark matter, halos, filaments, voids; data science; universe simulations

Jia Liu is the Director of the Center for Data-Driven Discovery and associate professor at CMB Group at Kavli IPMU. She uses cosmological observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and galaxies together with state-of-the-art numerical simulations to study fundamental physics, such as the nature of dark energy and neutrino mass. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Elisa Ferreira

Kavli IPMU CMB Group
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) 
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise: cosmology; astrophysics; high energy physics; dark energy; dark matter
Languages: English; Portuguese

Elisa Ferreira is Assistant Professor at the Kavli IPMU and at the Institute of Physics of the University of São Paulo. Her research deals with the interface between cosmology, astrophysics, and high energy physics, focusing mostly on dark energy and dark matter. Read full profile here.

 

BIOLOGY, HEALTH & MEDICINE

Professor Ayumi Hirano-Iwata

Advanced Institute for Materials Research / Research Institute of Electrical Communication
Tohoku University, JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Bioelectronics, Nanobiotechnology, Biosensor
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Japanese 

Dr. Hirano-Iwata has developed an artificial cell membrane as a novel system for screening side effects of drugs on the heart. This system can assess the potential risks of drugs that unintentionally interfere with the function of membrane proteins in the heart muscle. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Danielle Anderson

Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School, SINGAPORE
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Emerging infectious diseases, Virus/host relationship, COVID, diagnostic platforms
Language comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Anderson studies the virus/host relationship of a diverse group of medically important viruses, including Measles virus, Mumps virus and Nipah virus. She and her team isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus from one of the first infected patients in Singapore, and helped developed a COVID-19 test kit. She is also an expert in other clinically relevant emerging infectious diseases, such as MERS and Zika virus. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Durriyyah Sharifah Hasan Adli

Neuroscience Research Group
University of Malaya, MALAYSIA
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Durriyyah Sharifah Hasan Adli and her team study the effects of food, such as Habbatus Sauda/Black cumin (Nigella sativa) and honey, on brain microstructures and memory. They also compare Islamic and neuroscience perspectives on issues like learning and sleep for children with and without autism spectrum disorders. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Hira Khalid

Department of Chemistry
Forman Christian College University, PAKISTAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Women in STEM, Women's Health (Cancer)
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Khalid is an expert in medicinal chemistry, leading a research group working in drug discovery and development for treating neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and hepatitis C. They also investigate heavy metals in air, water, food and clinical samples. Read full profile here.

Professor Mangala Gunatilake

Department of Physiology
University of Colombo, SRI LANKA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: rabies vaccinations, laboratory animal science
Languages comfortable speaking: Sinhalese and English

Prof. Gunatilake is a veterinarian who pioneered immunogenicity studies in canines following anti-rabies vaccination, which helped revise Sri Lanka's vaccination protocols. She promotes education and training around animal welfare in research and finding alternatives. She founded the Sri Lanka Association for Laboratory Animal Science, and in February 2021, founded the Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments in Sri Lanka. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Naomi Shiga

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Tohoku University, JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Reproduction, Disorders of sex development, Women’s health, Adolescent and young adult gynecology
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Japanese 

Dr. Shiga is developing a new device for embryo evaluation that measures embryo oxygen consumption, and a new medication for infertility. She has investigated genes causing disorders in sex development using a whole-genome reference panel constructed by the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization. Read full profile here.

Professor Nimanthi Jayathilaka

Department of Chemistry
University of Kelaniya, SRI LANKA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Dengue, biomarkers of disease severity, infectious disease markers, edible oils and nutrition, antioxidants and bioavailability
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Sinhala

Dr. Jayathilaka recently identified a biomarker that predicts which patients will develop severe dengue before showing symptoms, enabling clinicians to direct limited resources to the most at-risk patients. She also investigates the nutritional qualities of coconut milk and oil. She is an Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World Early Career Fellow. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Peiyin Hung

Arnold School of Public Health
University of South Carolina, US
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: rural health, women’s health, health equity
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Chinese

Dr. Hung researches rural health disparity, quality of care, spatial access to health services, and women's health. She investigates geographic disparities in hospital services and quality of health care at the national, state, and institutional levels. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Sophia Archuleta

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine
National University Hospital / National University of Singapore
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: COVID-19, infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, Women in Medicine
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Archuleta has extensive clinical and leadership experience in the COVID-19 response as Head of Infectious Diseases at the National University Hospital. She also directs the National HIV Program at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore. As president of Women in Science and Healthcare at the National University Health System (NUHS) Singapore, she works on empowering women in academic medicine, and closing the persistent leadership gap. Read full profile here.

Professor Thusharie Sugandhika Suresh

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences
University of Sri Jayewardenepura, SRI LANKA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: dysmennorrhoea, gender-based violence in university, indigenous medicine, herbal medicine standardization, functional foods

Prof. Thusharie Sugandhika Suresh researches dysmennorrhoea and gender-based violence, as well as conducting clinical trials for indigenous and Ayurveda medicines. Read full profile here

Dr. Wang Hongyan

Duke-NUS Medical School, SINGAPORE
Email: [email protected]
Language comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Wang’s team described how dormant neural stem cells in fruit flies are activated and generate new neurons. If the same mechanisms apply in the human brain, the ability to awaken dormant neural stem cells could stimulate new treatments to compensate for brain injury or the neuronal loss seen in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. Read full profile here.

Dr. Ziyan Guo

The University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Guo has developed an intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided robot for bilateral stereotactic neurosurgery, which can assist in treating various movement and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and major depression. It allows for shorter procedural time and optimized workflow, as surgeons could accurately control and evaluate the stereotactic manipulation bilaterally to the left and right brain targets in real-time. Guo was named an MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 in 2019. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Lauren Sallan

Marine Macroevolution Unit
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: paleontology, evolution, marine ecology, fossils, history of life, fish, early evolution of vertebrates.
Languages comfortable speaking in: 

Assistant Professsor Lauren Sallan is a fish paleobiologist who uses big data — the fossil record — to study how some species win and others lose. Her multiple TED Talks on the evolution of fishes, mass extinction and paleontology have received over 3 million views. Read full profile here. 

Professor Gail Tripp

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, sensitivity to reinforcement, parenting
Languages comfortable speaking in:

Professor Gail Tripp is a neurobiologist who,with her team, established the OIST Children’s Research Center to undertake research on the nature, etiology and management of ADHD with English and Japanese speaking children and families. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Izumi Fukunaga

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: neuroscience (sense of smell, brain circuits, neurophysiology, sensory systems, animal behaviour)
Languages comfortable speaking in: English

Assistant Professor Izumi Fukunaga grew up in Japan and Malaysia and went to London to study neuroscience. Her research focuses on to investigate how sensory circuits in the brain function. Read full profile here. 

Dr Kanimolli Arasu

International Medical University
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Nutrition & Dietetics, Bone health nutrition, Pediatric nutrition
Languages comfortable speaking in:

Dr Kanimolli Arasu is a lecturer and a dietitian at the International Medical University, Malaysia. Read full profile here.

Assoc. Prof Wong Sin Yeng

Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation 
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: biodiversity; tropical plant diversity, evolution and phylogeny, particularly for the Malesian region

Dr. Wong Sin Yeng is an associate professor and Deputy Director at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), whose work has led to identifying hundreds of new plant species in Southeast Asia. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Dr. Chong Li Choo

Food Security & Nutrition Impact Lab
Taylor's University
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: food technology and innovative product design and processing; sustainable food processing; nutritional evaluation

Associate Professor Dr. Chong Li Choo, an eminent academic and luminary in food technology and innovation, holds a Ph.D. in Food Processing & Preservation. Currently, as Associate Professor at Taylor's University, she steers groundbreaking research as the Director of the Food Security & Nutrition Impact Lab and serves as Programme Director for the distinguished Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Culinology program. Read full profile here.

 

CINEMA & HISTORY

Professor Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano

Graduate School of Letters
Kyoto University, JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Japanese Cinema, East Asian Cinemas, <Post-3.11> Documentary, Queer Visions
Languages comfortable speaking: English and Japanese

Dr. Wada-Marciano specializes in Japanese and East Asian cinemas, with a focus on digital media, disaster film, eco-cinema, and post-colonial cinema in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Her latest book No Nukes: <Post-3.11> Power of Cinema and Art (Nagoya University Press, 2021, in Japanese) was recently released. Although it has been ten years since the Fukushima disaster happened, the book rings an alarm that the nuclear disaster in Japan has not been settled at all, by analyzing documentary films in the post-3.11 period. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Sachiko Kawai

National Museum of Japanese History
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: medieval Japanese history, Heian and Kamakura periods (794-1333), women’s and gender history
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Japanese

Dr. Kawai's research on how medieval Japanese royal women strategized to overcome disparity is relevant in a time when COVID-19 has exposed ongoing problems tied to the vulnerability of (Japanese) women and gender stereotypes (such as the remarks made by the Tokyo Olympics chief.) Read full profile here.

 

DISASTERS

Associate Professor Kanako Iuchi

International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS)
Tohoku University, JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: post-disaster resettlement, recovery planning, post-disaster rebuilding, international development, community development 
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Japanese

Dr. Iuchi has been working in the field of international development planning and disaster risk management for more than 25 years, specializing in disaster management planning, urban and regional planning, and community development. Currently, Iuchi conducts longitudinal research in the disaster-stricken areas on topics of community relocation, post-disaster planning, and governance. See full profile.

Professor Reiko Kuwano

Department of Human and Social Systems
Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo (UTokyo-IIS), JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: geotechnical engineering, sinkhole, road cave-in, internal erosion of soil
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Japanese

Dr. Kuwano has been investigating the detailed mechanism of internal erosion of soil, which can be the trigger of the formation and expansion of subsurface cavities. Those cavities may cause sinkholes or road cavities. See full profile.

Associate Professor Takako Izumi

International Strategy for Disaster Mitigation, Regional and Urban Reconstruction Research Division
International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS)
Tohoku University, JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Disaster risk reduction, Disaster risk management, International collaboration, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian assistance
Languages comfortable speaking: Japanese, English

Dr. Izumi has more than 15 years experience in disaster response, recovery, risk reduction with UN agencies and NGOs before joining Tohoku University. For example, Izumi worked for the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the UN Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias in Indonesia. See full profile. 

 

ECONOMICS, JOBS & WOMEN WORKERS

Associate Professor Drusilla Brown

Department of Economics
Tufts University, US
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: labor standards, social compliance, apparel industry, high performance workplace systems, sexual harassment, workplace training
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Brown has more than 20 years experience conducting field experiments on various interventions designed to improve work conditions in global supply chains, particularly in industries dominated by women, such as apparel. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Huê-Tâm Jamme

School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
Arizona State University, US
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Women in transportation, Women in public space, Women and informal vending
Languages comfortable speaking: 
English, French, Vietnamese

Dr. Jamme's research focuses on the intersection between mobility, public space, and technological innovation. She is currently exploring the role of the gig economy for women’s empowerment in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand, and how home-based gig work relates to street vending, a typically women-based activity. Read full profile here.

Janhavi Dave

International Coordinator
HomeNet South Asia
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Economic Empowerment, Informal Economy Women Workers, Home-Based Workers, South Asia, Membership-Based Organisations of Poor
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Hindi

HomeNet South Asia (HNSA) is conducting research of women home-based workers in garment supply chains. While coronavirus has impacted the entire world, women home-based workers are particularly vulnerable and have been significantly affected. HNSA is a network of 60 home-based workers’ organisations, representing 800,000 home-based workers across South Asia. As the International Coordinator of HNSA, I can speak on the impact of coronavirus on the poor women home-based workers in South Asia. Read full profile here.

Professor Kyoko Kusakabe

Department of Development and Sustainability
Asian Institute of Technology, THAILAND
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Gender equality, gender issues in the informal sector, garment industry, fisheries, marine plastic, migration, childcare, Covid-19 (focus on gendered effect on work), women’s participation in decision making, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Japanese, Thai

Dr. Kusakabe has been researching women migrant factory workers and women in fisheries in the Mekong region, some of the most vulnerable and dynamic groups in this region, for the last decade. Read full profile here.

Professor Lisa Wan

School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Department of Marketing
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Tourism, Consumer Behaviours
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese, Putonghua

Prof. Wan studies tourism, consumer behaviours and brand management, and has provided insight on impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism and business, including how robots might bring people back to restaurants and hotels. Read full profile here.

Professor Maggie Hu

School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Department of Finance
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Real Estate Economics and Finance, Banking and Finance
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Putonghua

Prof. Maggie Hu is Assistant Professor of Real Estate and Finance at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her main research interests include empirical corporate finance, banking and real estate finance. Recently, she has given media interviews on the impact of Covid-19 on real estate. Read full profile here.

Ms Priyanka Jayawardena

Research Economist
Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka
Email: [email protected] 
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Econometrics and Economic Modeling, Economics of Education, Health, Economics and Policy, Labour & Migration
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Priyanka Jayawardena conducts economic policy-related research on the economics of health, education and labour. She has authored/co-authored a number of studies on health equity. Member of the Southern Voice network. Read full profile here.

Navsharan Singh  

Governance and Justice Program, Asia Regional Office, India
International Development Research Centre
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: informal sector workers, vulnerable groups, women, internally displaced people and refugees
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Hindi

Navsharan Singh has researched and published extensively on informal sector workers, especially women workers and the precarity of their work and lives. She has also been working on the vulnerability of Internally Displaced People and those affected by mass sectarian violence. COVID-19 impacts these groups very significantly and in very specific ways. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Nilanjan Raghunath

Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Covid and social impact, Future of work, automation, sociology, anthropology, women in STEM, Bitcoins and Policy and Impact of Algorithms on Social Life.
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Raghunath is a sociologist focused on the nature of work, including work in a cryptocurrency economy, collaboration in times of disruption, and teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read full profile here.

Sabina Dewan

President and Executive Director
JustJobs Network, US & INDIA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Jobs, wages, technology, future of work, global value chains, skills and apprenticeships, jobs and the energy transition, labour markets, growth  
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Hindi

Sabina Dewan co-founded the JustJobs Network in 2013, and has two decades of professional experience studying the changing trends in the world of work. This includes a specialized focus on how trends like technology, urbanization, restructuring of trade into global value chains, migration and climate change affect women’s work, and the opportunities and challenges that women face to equal and productive participation in labour markets. Read full profile here.

Dr. Shoirakhon Nurdinova

Department of Economics
Namangan State University, UZBEKISTAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: happiness economics, gender studies, Central Eurasian studies
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Turkish, Uzbek

Dr. Nurdinova researches happiness economics, gender issues, and labor migration from Central Asia. Read full profile here.

Ms Sunimalee Madurawala

Research Economist
Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Health Economics and Policy, Gender and Population Studies
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Sunimalee Madurawala researches issues around gender, health economics, education and labour. She co-authored the study: “Liberalising Health Services under SAARC Agreement on Trade in Services (SATIS): Implications for South Asian Countries”, and the report “Public or Private: Determinants of Choice of Healthcare Providers in Sri Lanka”. Member of the Southern Voice network. Read full profile here.

Professor Vijaya Khader

Department of Foods & Nutrition
Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, INDIA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Economic Empowerment of Women; Health Security; Rural Development
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Prof. Khader has spent more than 30 years researching economic empowerment of Rural, Farm, Fisher and Tribal Women. Gender aspects underpins her research on livelihoods, food and nutrition security, growth and well-being of community. Read full profile here.

Ngu Wah Win 

Centre for Economic and Social Development (CESD), Myanmar 
Ph.D. candidate, Faculty of Economics, Chaing Mai University
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: development and labor economics, macroeconomics, policy studies, financial inclusion, migration in Southeast Asia (particularly Myanmar and Thailand)
Languages comfortable speaking: English; Burmese

Ms Win's research encompasses a wide range of issues faced by society and especially women, including agriculture (trade, climate resilience), migration and social protection, and fintech and digital solutions for smallholders. She has worked with the World Bank, Asia Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and Myanmar Myanmar government ministries and knowledge institutions. Read full profile here.

 

ENGINEERING, MATERIALS & PHYSICS

Professor Anisa Qamar

Department of Physics
University of Peshawar, PAKISTAN
Email: [email protected] 
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Plasma physics, South Asia, women, STEM, higher education, regional co-opeartion
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Urdu

Dr. Qamar researches theoretical plasma physics and actively works to increase participation of women in physics in South Asia. She is the president of the Pakistan Physical Society. Read full profile here.

Professor Aruna Dhathathreyan

Advanced Materials Lab
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CISR) Central Leather Research Institute, INDIA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Biophysical Chemistry
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Tamil

Dr. Dhathathreyan studies colloid, surface science and biophysical chemistry. She is a subject expert in physical chemistry for India's Science and Engineering Research Board and Department of Science and Technology, and is the Research Ambassador for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Chennai. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Dawn Tan

Engineering Product Development
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Nano-Photonics, Nonlinear Optics, Optical Signals Processing, Silicon Photonics
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Tan researches experimental optical physics, including ways to enhance data transmission via the Internet by improving reliability and lowering costs. She works to bridge the gap between academia and industry, as well as boost women's participation in engineering fields. Read full profile here.

Dr. Hortense Le Ferrand

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering
Nanyang Technological University, SINGAPORE
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: composite materials, ceramics, additive manufacturing and bioinspiration
Languages comfortable speaking: English, French

Dr. Le Ferrand leads a team exploring natural materials, bioinspired concepts, microstructural engineering and 3D printing to develop multifunctional durable structures. Read full profile here.

Dr. Sravya Tekumalla

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Nanyang Technological University, SINGAPORE
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Metal Additive manufacturing; Metallurgical Engineering
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Hindi, Telugu

Dr. Tekumalla researches high strength, next generation 3D printed metallic materials for biomedical applications, such as artificial hip joints, bone plates and screws, and dental implants. Read full profile here.  

Professor Umida Ziyamukhamedova

Department of Materials Science
Tashkent State Transport University, UZBEKISTAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: polymer composite materials, fillers, mineral fillers, physical and mechanical properties of heterocomposites, wear resistance, corrosion resistance
Languages comfortable speaking: Russian, English at the pre-intermediate level

Dr. Ziyamukhamedova researches and develops composite materials, with a focus on materials used in mechanical engineering. She holds four patents. Read full profile here.

Dr. Teng Yin Ting

School of Applied Science
Republic Polytechnic, SINGAPORE
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: nanomaterials, lithium-ion batteries, urban agriculture, agrivoltaics, applied materials development, women in STEM
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Teng Yin Ting researches battery materials, energy harvesting materials, chemical additives and nanomaterials. She works with industry to develop sustainable materials. Read full profile here.

Professor Christine Luscombe

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: photovoltaics (solar cells), green chemistry, organic electronics, flexible/stretchable electronics, microplastics, polymers
Languages comfortable speaking in:

Professor Christine Luscombe's current research focuses on the synthesis of semiconducting polymers for organic electronics and has published >100 papers in this area of research. Read full profile here.

Assistant Professor Paola Laureno

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: protein engineering and evolution 
Languages comfortable speaking in:

Assistant Professor Paola Laureno is an organic chemist with broad interests in biochemistry and protein evolution. Read full profile here.

Ts Dr. Siti Kudnie Sahari  

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise: advanced semiconductor materials; semiconductor processing; solar devices 
Languages comfortable speaking in: English; Bahasa

Ts Dr. Siti Kudnie Sahari is a senior lecturer at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Her current research interests include thin film, advanced semiconductor materials, semiconductor processing and solar devices. Read full profile here.

Dr. Naoka Nagamura 

Research Center for Advanced Measurement and Characterization
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: advanced materials; electrochemistry; photoemission spectroscopy
Languages: English; Japanese

Dr Naoka Nagamura is senior researcher at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and visiting associate professor at Tokyo University of Science. She researches advanced materials, electrochemistry and photoemission spectroscopy. Read full profile here.

Miho Katsuragawa

Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU)
E
mail: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: experimental physics; detector/instrument development; gamma-ray imaging; high energy astrophysics
Languages: English; Japanese

Miho Katsuragawa is an experimental physicist and specially appointed project researcher at Kavli IPMU. Her PhD research focused on the observational study of supernova remnants, studying x-rays to uncover star evolution. Her current research shifted from astrophysics to nuclear medicine, using X-ray and gamma ray detectors used in her previous research to now look into a body. Read full profile here.   

Emily Nardoni

Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: quantum field theory (QFT); effective field theory (EFT); string theory
Languages: English

Emily Nardoni is a theoretical physicist who is currently a Kavli IPMU Fellow and project researcher. She specializes in theoretical high energy physics, with her research focus on understanding the nature of quantum field theory (QFT) and where ripples between various quantum fields are strongly interacting. She has explored supersymmetric gauge theory, effective field theory (EFT), string theory and holography. Read full profile here.

Dr Dora Hu Juanjuan

Head, Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) Division
Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR
Email: [email protected] 
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: sustainable built environment; fiber optics; sensor applications
Languages: English

Dr Dora Hu Juanjuan is currently the Head of the Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) division at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR, Singapore and also an Adjunct Associate Professor at school of EEE, NTU. Dora has made a remarkable impact on the field of built environment through her leadership in research and translation efforts in the applications of digital technologies. She has been listed in Singapore 100 Women in Tech 2023. Read full profile here.

 

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

Associate Professor Audrey Chia

NUS Business School & Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
National University of Singapore
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Leadership, social innovation, social finance, diversity & inclusions, global health, healthcare management, philanthropy, planetary health, health and the environment, sustainable development.
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Chia works at the intersection of Business, Medicine and Environment, examining issues ranging from sustainable development, pandemics, diversity, environment, social innovation and philanthropy. She has advised many global companies on diversity, inclusion and managing in Asia. Read full profile here.

Dr. Aparna B. Gunjal

Department of Microbiology
Dr. D.Y. Patil, Arts, Commerce & Science College, Pimpri, Pune, INDIA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Bioremediation, Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Gunjal is a microbiologist with expertise in solid waste management, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, e-waste management and bioremediation, in particular treating contaminated soil and water with biological processes. Read full profile here

Associate Professor Bige Tunçer

Architecture and Sustainable Design 
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Computation, Sustainable Design Science, Architectural Design, Architectural Information Management
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Tunçer directs the SUTD Informed Design Lab, which works on using data for informed architectural and urban spaces. Using computation, the lab looks at how to strengthen and automate things in urban design by building models and testing them for better human use, perception and comfort before construction. Read full profile here

Dr. Fauziah Tufail Ahmad

Department of Crop Science
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Food Science and Technology, Phytochemistry, Food Microbiology, Postharvest
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Malay

Dr. Fauziah Tufail Ahmad studies food science and technology, including bioactive compounds, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, especially from agricultural by-products. Recently, she found promising use of by-products as an affordable biopesticide that will not significantly affect the environment and human health. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Hasibun Naher 

Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Brac University, BANGLADESH
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Applied Mathematics, Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), Fractional Differential Equations (FDEs), Travelling Wave Solutions, Solitons, Women in STEM, Active Learning, Sustainable Mathematics Education, Sustainable Development using Mathematical Modeling, Storm Surges, Tsunami Simulation, Earthquakes, and Energy
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Naher is a mathematician working on numerical models related to natural disasters including storm surges, tsunami simulation, earthquakes, and energy. Read full profile here.

Dr. Hemu Kharel Kafle

Center for Water and Atmospheric Research
Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences, NEPAL
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: climate change, water resources, environment, food security, Women in STEM
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Kafle has studied extreme climatic conditions and their impact on food and water resources for 18 years. She is the first scientist in Nepal working in drought assessment and mitigation on a regional scale. An Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) Early Career Fellow, she helped found the OWSD Nepal Chapter and works to inspire young women to pursue STEM fields. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Lynette Cheah

Engineering Systems and Design 
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Transportation Systems & Logistics
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Cheah leads the Sustainable Urban Mobility research group at SUTD, which develops data-driven models and tools to reduce the environmental impacts of passenger and urban freight transport. She is serving as a review editor of the UN IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Mashura Shammi

Department of Environmental Sciences
Jahangirnagar University, BANGLADESH
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Climate change, greenhouse gas, strategic environmental assessment
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Shammi helped establish the Hydrobiogeochemistry and Pollution Control Laboratory, which is monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from lakes and water bodies due to anthropogenic activities and contributing to climate change. Her team is also working on salinity intrusion, waste management, and strategic environmental assessment. She is an Early Career Fellow of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Sitti Raehanah Muhamad Shaleh

Director, Borneo Marine Research Institute
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: aquaculture, seaweed, sea cucumber, fish, microalgae
Languages comfortable speaking: English 

Dr. Sitti Raehanah Muhamad Shaleh's research is focused on aquaculture, particularly seaweed and sea cucumber farming. She is the director of the Borneo Marine Research Institute at UMS. Read full profile here

Ms. Sjoukje Yao Wu

European Climate Pact Ambassador
Shanghai Theatre Academy
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: new media platforms; climate change documentaries; climate education & awareness; 
Languages comfortable speaking: English; Chinese; Dutch; German

Ms. Wu is a Climate Pact Ambassador of the European Commission and a member of European Platform of Women Scientists and Women Scientist from Developing Countries. Her research focuses on promoting sustainable development cooperation between government, universities and enterprises on new media platforms. Read full profile here. 

Associate Professor Yang Huiying

Engineering Product Development
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Material Science, Additive Manufacturing, Energy and Chemicals, Water and Water Purification
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Chinese

Dr. Yang and her team research water desalination and energy storage. She developed a low dimensional nanomaterial to efficiently desalinate ocean water using a process of hybrid capacitive deionization, which also provides low-cost energy storage. Read full profile here.

Dr Sierin Lim 

Associate Dean (Global Partnerships), Graduate College
Associate Professor, Bioengineering at the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Nanyang Technological University
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: bioengineered and applied nanomaterials; plastic biodegradation and upcycling; diversity in STEM; biotech
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Indonesian

Dr Lim and her research group focuses on the design and engineering of biological entities for applications in health and the environment. She leads a program in engineering enzymes and microbes to up-cycle plastic wastes to oil, cellulose, and cannabinoids. She advocates for diversity in STEM and leads the Ministry of Education-funded Promotion of Women in Engineering, Research, and Science (POWERS) programme at NTU. Read full profile here.

Ts. Uganeeswary Suparmaniam

PETRONAS University of Technology
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: bioengineering; circular bio-economy; chemical engineering; integration of IoT and machine learning for sustainable development goals 
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Malay, Tamil

Ts. Uganeeswary Suparmaniam is a scientist, sustainability advocate, and climate activist. Her research and technological development interests revolve around pilot-scale carbon bio-mitigation via algae cultivation, techno-economical optimization, waste management, and innovative circular bio-economy creation. Read full profile here

Dr Mia Ardiati Tedjosaputro 

Assistant Professor and Deputy Head of Department
Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University (XJTLU)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: design behaviour; augmented reality; bamboo architecture; circular design and economy; digital design
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr Tedjosaputro is the DHoD (Deputy Head of Architecture Department) and Digital Design and Fabrication lab (DDF LAB) coordinator at XJTLU. She is an Indonesian architect with professional experience in Indonesia and Singapore prior to obtaining her PhD from the University of Nottingham UK. Her main research focuses are the study of design behaviour, augmented reality, bamboo architecture and circular design. She also founded Architects Without Borders (AWB), a work-in-progress platform for social missions through architecture practices. Read full profile here.

 

MATH & STATISTICS

Professor Jyoti U. Devkota

Department of Mathematics
Kathmandu University, NEPAL
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Gender gap, Education, Employment, Data, Developing country
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Devkota is a professor of statistics, researching development and application of statistical methodology to solve problems in renewable energy, population and health. Referencing data published by the Ministry of Education, she can talk about the gender gap in education and employment from the perspective of a developing country. Read full profile here.

Dr. Sahana Prasad

Formerly Associate Professor, Department of Statistics
CHRIST(Deemed to be University), INDIA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: women in STEM
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Hindi, Kannada

Dr. Prasad is a statistician with more than 30 years teaching at the university level. She writes commentaries and contributes regularly to news outlets, most recently focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on higher education in India. Read full profile here.

Man Wai Cheung

Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) 
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise: math; algebraic geometry; combinatorics; representation theory

Man Wai Cheung is a Project Researcher and the first Chien-Shiung Wu Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at KAVLI Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU). Her research lies in the interplay between algebraic geometry, combinatorics and representation theory. Her main goal is to attain the mirror symmetries for cluster varieties. Read full profile here

SOCIAL & POLITICAL SCIENCES

Professor Mary Racelis

Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Institute of Philippine Culture, School of Social Sciences
Ateneo de Manila University, PHILIPPINES
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: urban poor women, informal settlements, reproductive health, grassroots human rights, gender-disaggregated data, community organizing, participatory research  
Languages comfortable speaking: English 

Dr. Racelis researches urban poor communities and families, highlighting the leadership roles of women in organizing and demanding services. She has written many articles about the Philippines's 2012 Reproductive Health Bill. Read full profile here.

Ms Nisha Arunatilake 

Director of Research
Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: effectiveness of relief responses by government, economic impact
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Ms Nisha Arunatilake has been conducting research on adequacy and coverage of relief responses by governments for some time. She is researching the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and the effectiveness of government relief efforts on reaching the most affected. Member of the Southern Voice network. Read full profile here.

Associate Professor Sayema Khatun

Department of Anthropology
Jahangirnagar University, BANGLADESH
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Anthropology, Ethnography, South Asian Society and Culture, Gender-based violence, Rohingya Refugee, Nationalism, Ethnic conflict, Indigeneity, Identity, Border.
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Bengali

Prof. Khatun is a socio-cultural anthropologist who has studied gender and feminism, particularly in Bangladesh and South Asia, for 20 years. She is currently researching Rohingya refugee policy in Bangladesh for a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin. Read full profile here.

Professor Sun Sun Lim

Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Women in technology, Digital literacy, User Perceptions, Technologies in Smart Cities, Mobile communication and the family, New Media and Society, Communication
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Lim investigates how people domesticate technology. Her research focuses on digital literacy, user perceptions, and public understanding of pervasive ambient technologies deployed in smart cities. Her latest books include Transcendent Parenting – Raising Children in the Digital Age (Oxford University Press, in press, 2019) and Asian Perspectives on Digital Culture: Emerging Phenomena, Enduring Concepts (Routledge, 2016). Read full profile here

Associate Professor Wei Quinn Yow 

Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Psychology, social cognition, bilingualism, education, technology and aging
Languages comfortable speaking: English

Dr. Yow leads the SUTD Language and Social Cognition Lab, investigating how language impacts on our cognitive functioning and understanding of the social world. She studies patterns of dual language use, how language environment may influence how children perceive communicative cues, and how technology influences the way we communicate. Read full profile here.   

Ms Aye Lei Tun 

Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: gender and sexualities; gender and politics; media; cultural studies; conflict studies; Myanmar 
Languages comfortable speaking: English; Burmese

Ms Tun from Mandalay holds a Master’s Degree in Development Practice from the University of Queensland and Gender, Human Rights and Conflict Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She enrolled in the PhD program in Political Science at McMaster University, Canada. She is currently working as a Research Consultant for Gender and Media related studies. She is a published author with a background in journalism with local newspapers, and media and communications (for UNODC, UNDP and Oxfam). Read full profile here.  

WOMEN'S HEALTH, RIGHTS & ADVOCACY

Chisato Kitanaka  

Harassment Consultation Office
Hiroshima University, JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Violence against women including domestic violence and abuse, sexual violence and sexual harassment. Gender issues. Academic misconduct, academic bullying, bullying in workplace.
Languages comfortable speaking: Japanese, English

Chisato Kitanaka is a sociologist studying domestic violence and sexual violence situations and measures in Japan, and is the director of two NGOs, All Japan Women’s Shelter Network and Rape Crisis Center in Hiroshima. See full profile here.

Professor Masako Tanaka

Faculty of Global Studies
Sophia University, JAPAN
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Gender, Migration, Development, South Asia
Languages comfortable speaking: Japanese, English, Nepali

Dr. Tanaka is a certified social worker, academic and activist focusing on gender and migration in Japan. She studies reproductive health issues, including lack of access to contraception, for migrants and all women in Japan. Read full profile here.

May Sabe Phyu

Gender Equality Network, MYANMAR
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Gender equality in Myanmar
Languages comfortable speaking: Myanmar, English

May Sabe Phyu is the director of the Gender Equality Network, a diverse and inclusive network of more than 130 civil society organisations, national and international NGOs, and technical resource persons working to bring about gender equality and the fulfilment of women’s rights in Myanmar.

Dr. Mais Aljunaidy

Department of Psychology
Bilkent University, TURKEY
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: mental health, women in science, pregnancy complications

Dr. Aljunaidy is an expert in women's mental health, with research encompassing psychology, neuroscience, maternal and fetal health. She was shortlisted for Athena40, a list highlighting the world's most forward-thinking women, in 2020. Read full profile here.

Shailey Hingorani

Head of Advocacy, Research, and Communications
AWARE, the Association of Women for Action and Research, SINGAPORE
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: violence against women, labour rights, unpaid care
Languages comfortable speaking: English 

AWARE in an NGO in Singapore advocating for gender equality and conducts research on related issues to support its policy recommendations and programs. Read full profile here.

Professor So Yeon Leem

Sookmyung Research Institute of Humanities
Sookmyung Women’s University, SOUTH KOREA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Women in STEM, Women’s Health (Cosmetic Surgery), Young Korean Women
Languages comfortable speaking: Korean, English 

Dr. Leem is a leading expert on women’s cosmetic surgery practices in Korea, and women in STEM in Korea. She has published academic articles and news interviews in both English and Korean on these topics, and teaches Science, Technology and Gender at Seoul National University. Read full profile here.

Dr. Tri Hastuti Nur Rochimah

Communication Studies
University Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta and ‘Aisyiyah, INDONESIA
Email: [email protected] 
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: reproductive health (women and youth), gender equality and women empowerment (violence against women, child marriage), women in politics, women leadership, women and media
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Indonesian

Dr. Tri Hastuti Nur Rochimah works on women's reproductive health, women's rights, leadership, antipoverty and related issues in Indonesia, especially in the context of religion and culture. Read full profile here

 


Experts are grouped by topic and alphabetized by name. If you would like to suggest a researcher for this list, please contact us. A special thanks to our community for participating in our largest Experts for Media list yet, and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World for their assistance introducing experts from more countries. 

The theme for International Women's Day 2024 is "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress"


While you are here, you might also be interested in exploring our other #WomenInSTEM resources:

Giants In History - Asia's Women in Science 
Addressing gender bias in STEM communications 

You can see other Experts for Media lists, including for COVID-19, here.