Public & Environmental Health (PEH)

The main aim of public health is to improve lives of individuals through the prevention and treatment of disease. The increase in average life span today is widely credited to public health achievements, such as vaccination programs and control of infectious diseases. With the prevalence of infectious diseases declining in the developed countries, public health began to put more focus on chronic diseases such as cancer and heart diseases. However, in the developing countries, many infectious diseases are still prevalent and exacerbated by malnutrition and poverty. Many of these diseases are preventable through simple, non-medical methods. Worldwide public health intervention focused on the prevention rather than treatment of a disease, through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. However, in many instances factors in the environment i.e. environmental health, can lead to the deterioration of human health and the development and spread of diseases. Environmental health addresses all human health related problems related to both the natural environment and the built environment. Environmental health concerns are rather broad but includes issues such as food safety, hazardous and solid waste management, land use, climate changes to name a few.

Strength Leader : Dr. Song Beng Kah

Staff Member

External Member

• Dr. Yong Foong Yee, Stacey

HDR Students

Master of Science (MSc)

Student's Name:         Ms Ng Shing Wei
Supervisor(s):             A/P Benjamin Li
Project Title:               Transcription-regulation of DNA-methyltransferase DNMT1 in micronuclei formation (MN) and genomic stability.
Duration of studies:     Jul 2008 – Jul 2010
Affiliated School:         School of Science

Student's Name:         Ms Lee Sau Peng
Supervisor(s):             Dr. Song Beng Kah & Dr. Yong Foong Yee
Project Title:               The use of duplex Reversed-Transciptase-PCR (RT-PCR) to Genotype FRNA coliphages in
tracking the source of fecal pollutant in prawn farms
Duration of studies:     Apr 2009 – Mar 2011
Affiliated School:         School of Science

Student's Name:         Romano Ngui
Supervisor(s):             Dr Yvonne Lim & A/P Sek C Chow
Project Title:               Epidemiological Study of Soil- Transmitted Helminthes Infection and Prevalence of Asthma cases
among Orang Asli in Malaysia
Duration of studies:     2008 -2010
Affiliated School:         Department of Parasitology (UM) and School of Science (MUSC)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Student's Name:          Angela De Silva
Supervisor(s):              Dr Tan Fui Ching, A/Prof. Lim Yau Yan
Project Title:                Induction of somatic embryos in sweet potato
Duration of studies:      Sep 2006 – Sep 2009
Affiliated School:          School of Science

Student's Name:          How Kah Yan
Supervisor(s):             Song Keang Peng, Emily Goh
Project Title:               Structural and functional analysis of fibroblast activating factor from Porphyromonas gingivalis
Duration of studies:     Nov 2007 – Nov 2010
Affiliated School:         School of Science

Student's Name:          Sonja Christine Raub
Supervisor(s):             Dr Catherine Yule
Project Title:               The impacts of disturbance on microbial ecology and functioning of Malaysian Peat Swamp Forest
Duration of studies:     Feb 2009 – Feb 2011
Affiliated School:         School of Science

MOSTI: Ministry of Science, Innovation & Technology
MGI: Malaysia Genome Institute
UKM: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
IAH: Institute for Animal Health
WTSI: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Research Publications

Journal Publications (SCI/ ISI listed)


Year 2009

Song BK, Hein I, Waugh R, Marshall D, Nadarajah K, Yap SJ, Wickneswari R (2009) The 172-kb genomic DNA region of the O. rufipogon yld1.1 locus: comparative sequence analysis with O. sativa ssp. japonica, and O. sativa ssp. indica. Funct Integrat Genomics 9: 97–108
(Impact Factor: 4.2)

Clarke CM, Bauer U, Lee CC, Tuen AA, Rembold K and Moran JA. In press Tree shrew lavatories - a novel nitrogen sequestration strategy in a tropical pitcher plant. Biology Letters.
(Impact Factor: 2.7)

Chuah TH. (2009) Ectopomyia hancocki, a new species of Acanthonevrine fly (Diptera: Tephritidae: Phytalmiiinae) from Peninsular Malaysia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57(1): 25-27.
(Impact Factor: 0.648)

Yule, C.M., Leong, M.Y., Liew, K.C., Ratnarajah, L., Schmidt, K., Wong,H.M., Pearson, R.G. Boyero, L. (2009). Shredders in Malaysia: abundance and richness are higher in cool upland tropical streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28(2):404-415.
(Impact Factor: 2.36)

Lim, T.Y. Lim, Y.Y., Yule C.M. (2009) Evaluation of antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-tyrosinase activities of aour Macaranga species. Food Chemistry 114: 594-599 doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.09.093
(Impact Factor: 2.69)

Year 2008

Tan, F.C., Cheng, Q., Saha, K., Heinemann, I. U., Jahn, M., Jahn, D. and Smith, A. G. Identification and characterization of the Arabidopsis gene encoding the tetrapyrrole biosynthesis enzyme uroporphyrinogen III synthase. Biochem. J. 410(2): 291-299.
(Impact Factor: 4.01)

Shamsul Bahri Mohd Tamrin, Kazuhito Yokoyama, Juliana Jalaludin, Nasaruddin Abdul Aziz, Nizam Jemoin, Rusli Nordin, Ayub Li Naing, Yunus Abdullahand Mazlan Abdullah. The association between risk factors and low back pain among commercial vehicle drivers in Peninsular Malaysia: A preliminary result. Industrial Health 2007; 45 (2): 268-278.
(Impact Factor: 0.741)

Bin Abdin EDIMANSYAH, Bin Nordin RUSLI, Lin Naing, Bin Abdullah MOHAMED RUSLI, Than WINN. Relationship of psychosocial work factors and health-related quality of life in male automotive assembly workers in Malaysia. Industrial Health 2007; 45 (3): 437-448.
(Impact Factor: 0.741)

Jackson, C.R., Liew, K.C. and Yule, C.M (2008) Structural and functional changes with depth in microbial communities in tropical peat swamp forest sediments. Microbial Ecology.
(Impact Factor: 2.885)

Wells A, Yule CM (2008) The caddisflies (Trichoptera) from a tropical peat swamp in Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia, including two new species. Aquatic Insects 30: 69-76.
(Impact Factor: 0.345)

Bin Abdin EDIMANSYAH, Bin Nordin RUSLI, Lin Naing, Bin Abdullah MOHAMED RUSLI, Than WINN, Bin Raja Hussin TENGKU MOHAMED ARIFF. Self-perceived depression, anxiety, stress and their relationships with psychosocial job factors in male automotive assembly workers. Industrial Health March 2008; 46 (2): 90-100.
(Impact Factor: 0.741)

Yule CM (2008) Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in Indo-Malayan peat swamp forests. Biodiversity and Conservation DOI: 10.1007/s10531-008-9510-5.
(Impact Factor: 1.473)

Edimansyah, B.A., Rusli, B.N., & Naing, L. Effects of short duration management training on self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress in male automotive assembly workers: a quasi-experimental study. BMC Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2008, 3:28 (http://www.occup-med.com/content/3/1/28).
(Impact Factor: 1.07)

Rusli, B.N., Edimansyah, B.A., & Naing, L. Working conditions, self-perceived stress, anxiety, depression and quality of life: A structural equation modelling approach. BMC Public Health 2008, 8:48 (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/8/48).
(Impact Factor: 1.7)

Year 2007

Tan, F.C. and Swain, S. M. (2007) Functional characterisation of AP3, SOC1 and WUS homologues from citrus (Citrus sinensis). Physiol. Plant. 131: 481-495.
(Impact Factor: 2.192)

Song BK, Nadarajah K, Romanov MN, Wickneswari R (2007) A non-redundant strategy for identification of a minimum tiling path BAC contig spanning approximately 390 kb of the QTL yld1.1 in Oryza rufipogon . Kor J Genet 29: 447-458
(Impact Factor: 0.4)

Morse JC, Bae YJ, Munkhjargal G, Sangpradub N, Tanida K, Vshivkova TS, Wang B, Yang L, Yule CM (2007) Freshwater biomonitoring with macroinvertebrates in East Asia. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5: 33-42
(Impact Factor: 5.065)