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Action Lab: Malaysia

Who We Are

We are an active and dynamic multidisciplinary team of researchers at Monash University Malaysia (MUM), dedicated to exploring the intersection of communities, digital technology, and social innovation. Our focus lies in addressing the crucial challenge of sustainability and inclusion within the realm of digital technology.

Action Lab: Malaysia (ALM) and Monash University Malaysia are part of a broader strategy to establish a network of Action Labs (Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and UK), where each lab complements another, including research expertise, networking, and resources. We also see the network as a means of establishing teaching and pedagogy support.

Aims of ALM:

Be the “go-to” lab in the region for applied computing research for the local and national government, the third sector and the healthcare providers;
Be a jumping-off point for digital aspects for Monash University Australia (MUA) and Action Lab Network collaborators worldwide seeking to engage in research and impact projects in South-East Asia;
Foster multi- and cross-disciplinary research activities between the School of IT and schools within Monash University Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia;
Establish a pipeline of external funding sufficient to sustain and grow ALM research and doctoral training activities, and;
To be the leading center for Human-Computer Interaction research in South-East Asia as measured by the annual number of ACM CHI papers.

Selected Active Projects

- This project aims to develop and validate a comprehensive framework for understanding and assessing the roles and interactions between psychosocial and physical risk factors across age groups.
- The WAge team is made of great people from SINTEF Digital, Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV), FMH, Walk With Path Limited, Universitat Jaume I, Central Institute for Labour Protection - National Research Institute, Monash University Malaysia, SEAT S.A., University of Stirling
- Contact Tag Alshehri / Abbey Tan / Wong Kok Sheik for more information.
AI in mental health - CSIRO Next Generation Graduates Program (with MUA, UniMelbourne) (LK, CY, MK, WKS)
- The project aims to establish a student cohort who will work together to explore innovative approaches towards AI-driven methods and solutions for improving the mental health of the Australian population.
- MUM is funding three (3) PhD students [ 1 more IT student to be recruited ]
- Student 1 (on-going) - supervised by LMK
  - This project focuses on leveraging ubiquitous devices to detect mental health disorders by integrating multiple modalities.
  - It combines smartphone usage and sensor data with social media data to improve the detection of mental health disorders - aiming to gain valuable insights into how individuals with mental health conditions present themselves publicly on social media compared to their behavior in private settings, as captured by mobile sensing.
- Contact Wong Kok Sheik for more information.
- Intake24 is an open-source online tool used for recording dietary intake information. It is a technology-based alternative to capture food consumption data from participants.
- This project develops Intake24 for use in Malaysia including translation to Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, addition of foods to the database to cover the diverse range of ingredients and dishes consumed in the region, food photographs for portion size estimation of regional foods and links to food composition data.
- Contact Amutha Ramadas for more information
- Creating and implementing a Data Management Plans (DMP) for each study adds responsibilities and risks for researchers, leading to inconsistent data handling practices and potential collaboration obstacles. Moreover, current data management systems lack proper governance, transparency, and feedback mechanisms for research participants.
- This project aims to build a transparent infrastructure that enables its researchers to securely store and analyse data related to the research in human computer interaction. This system would be a “one-stop shop” for storing, analysing and sharing research data (both quantitative and qualitative) using open standards.
- At this stage, the use cases are the health surveillance data from SEACO, as well as microbiome data from the Monash University Malaysia Microbiome Research Centre.
- Contact Soon lay Ki for more information
- WHInc is a Monash-led project focused on improving women's health in three low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in South and Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh). It supports Monash’s Impact 2030 goal of creating thriving communities. Building on the success of the South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), the project will bring together key partners to create a unique, collaborative model for advancing women’s health innovations across borders.
- This project aims to coordinate activities across Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSSs) in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh to close the gap between observation and action in women’s health. The project will leverage a network of multidisciplinary researchers, local women’s health service providers, a unified framework for data collection, and a system for storing and analyzing data that respects the sovereignty of the communities involved, allowing for cross-site comparisons.
- The team comprises a highly connected network of researchers with expertise related to women’s global health and participatory digital methods, across both MUA and MUM campuses. The project is led by Jessica Watterson (MUA) with close mentorship from Patrick Olivier (FIT, MUA), Jacqueline Boyle (FMNHS, MUA), and Prof Tin Tin Su (SEACO, JCSMHS, MUM).
- Contact Vithya Velaithan / Tag Alshehri for more information