Our People

Professor Qasim Ayub

Email: qasim.ayub@monash.edu

Dr. Qasim Ayub joined Monash University Malaysia as Associate Professor and Director, MUMGF in September 2017. He trained as a clinician and subsequently obtained his doctorate from the University of North Texas, Denton, USA. In Pakistan he assisted in setting up a state of the art molecular biology research facility, the Biomedical and Genetic Engineering Laboratories, in Islamabad, that became the focal point for the Human Genome Diversity Project. Several of the novel male specific markers that were identified during his studies of the Pakistani populations are now routinely used in forensic DNA identification. For this work he was awarded the President of Pakistan’s Medal of Excellence for contributions to science in 2006.

From 2008 until August 2017 he worked at the world renowned Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, near Cambridge, and was a member of the 1000 Genomes Project Consortiums and the gorilla sequencing team that published several high impact papers. His research focuses on human population and evolutionary genomics and over the past decade he has analyzed DNA variation in worldwide ethnic and linguistic groups in order to understand their origins and relatedness. He continues to maintain his interest in South Asian population genetics and human evolutionary adaptations. At Monash University Malaysia he leads the Malaysian BioGenome Project and conducts research on human evolutionary and disease genomics. The aim is to analyze DNA variations in humans and other species to ascertain their origins, migration patterns, and improve our understanding of genetic factors involved in host-pathogen interactions.

In May 2019, Dr. Qasim Ayub was appointed as the Deputy Head of School (Research) for the School of Science, Monash University Malaysia. In July 2021 he was promoted to Professor.

Email: tan.hocksiew@monash.edu

Dr. Patrick Tan Hock Siew is a Senior Lecturer at Monash University Malaysia, where he also serves as the Program Director for the Bachelor of Science program and Deputy Director of the Monash University Malaysia Genomics Platform (MUMGP) since 2025.  He obtained his PhD in Biology (Molecular Microbiology) from the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, in 2017, following a Master's in Biotechnology (2011) and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons) in Biotechnology (2008) from Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Dr. Tan's research is centered on combating the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). He integrates quantitative, multiomics approaches with innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.  His work has led to award-winning innovations protected by intellectual property, such as the CampySalDeTECT rapid detection kit and APBiotics, an aptamer-based antimicrobial agent.

His research delves into how integrated multiomics can reveal the regulatory networks and evolutionary dynamics that drive AMR. Furthermore, he focuses on designing modular, nucleic-acid-based aptamers for the rapid detection and counteraction of emerging bacterial pathogens.  Dr. Tan is expanding his research into phage biology and engineering, aiming to develop phage-based therapies as a complementary approach to current aptamer strategies, thereby opening new therapeutic avenues.

Email: sadequr.rahman@monash.edu

Professor Sadequr Rahman is  Professor of Plant Genetics and currently also the Associate Head, Graduate Research. He did his undergraduate studies at Cambridge University and his PhD at London University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Toronto University, Canada. This was followed by two years of teaching at Dhaka University, Bangladesh. Subsequently, he worked with The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia for 22 years before joining Monash University in 2011. His research interests in Monash initially focused on genes involved in the biosynthesis of novel lipids and polysaccharides in plants, and DNA-based identification of avian species in the tropics. Recently, in collaboration with SEACO, Prof Sadequr led the analysis of microbiomes from the community in Segamat, Johore. Currently, Prof Sadequr is leading the 1000MY project, which involves funding from AMILI, to catalogue the microbiome composition of one thousand Malaysians of different genetic and lifestyle backgrounds. He also contributes to the Malaysian BioGenome and Vertebrate Genome Projects.

Dr. Cheah Hong Leong

Email: hongleong.cheah@monash.edu

Dr. Cheah Hong Leong has ten years of experience in microbiology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, as well as seven years of experience as a translator of research writings. He also has a short history of working as a quality control microbiologist in the pharmaceutical industry. He earned his bachelor's degree from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman in 2011 and continued his postgraduate studies in molecular biology and bacteriology at Universiti Sains Malaysia, where he received his master's degree in 2014 and his Ph.D. degree in 2022.

His doctoral research focused on RNA-seq analysis to establish the transcription start site landscape and small RNA profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. He also conducted a similar study on Leptospira biflexa as a side project. His studies have revealed the complexities of regulatory networks and sRNAome that contribute to the survival of these bacteria in hostile environments.

In January 2023, he joined Monash University Malaysia as a research fellow under the Malaysian BioGenome Project and has since shifted his research focus to conservation genomics. He is currently working on the establishment of reference genomes and population genomics of native marine animals in Malaysia, specifically sea cucumbers, under the guidance of Prof. Qasim Ayub.

Dr. Aswini Leela Loganathan

Email: Aswini.Leela@monash.edu

Dr Aswini did her Masters and PhD in Biotechnology (Molecular Genetic) at Biotechnology Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Her PhD project was on "Genetic diversity of the Green (Chelonia mydas) and Hawksbill (Erethmochelys imbricata) Turtles and the Prevalence of Chelonid Fibropapilloma-associated Herpesvirus (ChHV5) in Mabul Island Sabah, Malaysia" She brings with her experience and technical knowledge in solving problems related to Genetic, Microbiology, Histopathology and Bioinformatics among others. She has experience using next-gen sequencers such as Pacbio Sequencer and the Standard Sanger sequencer. Aswini joined Monash University Malaysia as a Research fellow in September 2020 and is working under the guidance of Prof Qasim Ayub.

Currently, her research focus is generating high-quality reference-genome assemblies using high-throughput sequencing technology. Her aim is to draw attention to the conservation of endangered animals in Malaysia through genomics and contribute towards global efforts at bio-conservation. She is also responsible for generating a generalized bioinformatic pipeline that can be used for genome analysis such as mapping, assembly and variant calling pipeline for WGS. Her current projects at Monash are aligned to contribute towards the Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP) and the Earth BioGenome Project.

Ms Lim Shu Yong

Email: lim.shuyong@monash.edu

Shu Yong received her B.Sc. in Microbiology from Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA under the JPA Scholarship in 2014. She continued her Master's study in Molecular Microbiology in University of Malaya. Her Master's project focuses on comparative genomics of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), aiming to elucidate the genetic differences of selected local strains and to identify the antibiotic resistance and virulence genes of the studied strains. She also performed transcriptome analysis to study the gene expression profile of biofilm formed by selected VRE strain.

She joined the team in July 2017 as a Research Associate, responsible for all of the wet lab assignments; from sample collection, nucleic acid extraction, library preparation up to sequencing. In mid-2021, she was promoted to Assistant Manager to manage the operation of the lab particularly in research and technical services. She is also responsible for guiding students in internship and apprenticeship program.

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