Keynote speakers

Prof. Gary Tse matriculated at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge in 2005 to read pre-clinical medicine. He subsequently completed his clinical training at Imperial College London, as well as PhD and MD from the University of Cambridge. He is Associate Dean (Innovations and Research) at the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU). He is also a Professor at the Department of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, China and a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey. Prior to joining HKMU, Prof. Tse held a joint position as Clinical Reader at the University of Kent (with permanent appointment until the retirement age) and Honorary Public Health Consultant at the Medway Council in local government, UK. He serves as a Nucleus Committee Member of the Population Health Section, European Association of Preventive Cardiology. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, Royal College of Pathologists and Royal College of Physicians, and an elected Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (Class II: Medicine). He has been listed on the World’s Top 2% Scientists Released by Stanford University for the Cardiovascular System & Hematology subfield since 2020 and is ranked 26th on the Top Cardiovascular Researchers from China in 2023. He has an H-index of 66 and has obtained more than HK$200 million research-related funding. He leads the Hong Kong Risk Modelling Team focusing on the use of big data and artificial intelligence for the development of predictive models for estimating biological age and risk prediction of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Dr Cynthia Chen is Assistant Professor at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on the economics of ageing, healthcare financing, and health system innovation, with the overarching aim of promoting sustainable, equitable, and age-ready health systems. She has led numerous large-scale health economic evaluations and simulation studies, most notably the Singapore Future Elderly Model, a microsimulation platform projecting chronic disease burden, healthcare spending, long-term care demand, and the impact of preventive health interventions. Her work often integrates real-world data, health technology assessment methods, and advanced econometric modelling to provide actionable insights for policy and resource allocation.

Dr Chen collaborates extensively with the Ministry of Health and other agencies, generating economic evidence to guide policy design and programme implementation. This includes evaluations of nationwide initiatives and value-based care pilots. Her research also examines reimbursement strategies for high-priced therapies in Singapore and the region, addressing health equity and financing challenges. Internationally, she contributes to the global public health community, serving as an Editorial Board Member for Nature Communications Medicine and Academic Editor for PLOS Global Public Health. Her publications appear in leading journals and have been cited in parliamentary debates and major media outlets. She also teaches courses in public health economics and applied health econometrics, mentoring graduate and doctoral students to bridge the gap between evidence generation and policy impact.

Dr Tan Maw Pin is a Professor of Geriatric Medicine at Universiti Malaya. After completing her undergraduate medical training at the University of Nottingham and her core medical training at Nottingham City Hospital, Prof Tan obtained a National Training Number in Geriatric Medicine at Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, where she also undertook two years of full-time research training at the Institute of Ageing and Health, Newcastle University. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia Long-Term Research Grant Scheme funded project, TrAnsforming CoGnitivE Frailty into Later-lifE Self-Sufficiency (AGELESS), and is the immediate past President of the Malaysian Society of Geriatric Medicine. She was a founder member of the Malaysian Falls Prevention Network (MyFalls) and Asian Falls Network, and is a core committee member of the newly founded World Falls Prevention Society. Prof Tan chairs the Malaysian Influenza Working Group which has successfully lobbied for government-funded influenza vaccination in older adults in Malaysia. She is also the organizing chair for the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics Asia Oceania Regional Congress 2028 which will be held in Kuala Lumpur.

Jerome H. Kim, M.D., is an international expert on the development and evaluation of vaccines and is the Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI).  He has unparalleled experience and success in translating innovation to impact – working with key national and international stakeholders, creating a common understanding of the value proposition, developing and executing creative strategies for sustainable growth.  At IVI he led and grew a team whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for Global Health from a small Korea-based international organization to one with a global footprint and diverse and expanding funding. IVI’s oral cholera vaccine is used around the world to prevent this deadly diarrheal disease.  IVI’s typhoid conjugate vaccine, tech-transferred to SK bioscience and PT BioFarma; both have received national approval, and the SK vaccine has been prequalified by WHO. Prior to joining IVI, he was the Program Manager for the US Army’s Advanced Development Program for HIV vaccines and led the only HIV vaccine trial to show protection against infection (RV144), the identification of correlates from the trial, and analysis of viral sieve effects.  He was also the Principal Deputy of the US Military HIV Research Program doing earlier stage R&D on HIV vaccines and the Chief, Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Pathogenesis, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.  Dr. Kim is a Distinguished Visiting Professor, Seoul National University; Adjunct Professor at the Uniformed Services University (USA) and the Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University; and is an Honorary Professor, University of Rwanda and the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Kim graduated from the University of Hawaii with High Honors in History and Highest Honors in Biology, winning the Arthur Lyman Dean Prize in the Humanities and the Library Prize in Pacific Islands Area Research.  Dr. Kim received his M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine and completed Internal Medicine Residency and Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Duke University Medical Center.  He has authored over 350 publications and has received numerous awards, including the John Maher Award for Research Excellence, USUHS, 2013; Department of the Army Research and Development Achievement Award for Technical Excellence, 2013; and the Medal of Honor for Civic Merit, Republic of Korea.

Dr Swe Yin Khin Htun is the Honorary Fellow from the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME), the highest accolade recognizing exceptional contributions to medical education on an international scale and also a Fellow from Faculty of Surgical Trainers, the Royal College of Surgeons (Edin).

She has demonstrated exceptional dedication and leadership in the field of medical education, with a series of notable accomplishments. Her contributions have been recognized both nationally and internationally, reflecting a high level of expertise and commitment.

Her innovation to merge technology with medical teaching has revolutionised the medical education world. Currently, her programs are the benchmark of quality service delivery and an example to other institutions. She, a visionary leader and a firm believer in high-standard education, has undoubtedly shaped the way medical training is done for the better, thus making her name synonymous with innovation and excellence in medical education and was awarded the “Best Medical Educator Award” from the NUH in 2020 , “outstanding Contribution outside of NUH award in 2022″ and nominated for best UG teaching award in 2024 and also the winner of 3 awards in 2024: 1) The significant contribution to ME award, 2) The excellent research and innovation award and 3) The outstanding contribution outside NUH award.”

Dr. Kathleen Chim is Programme Director and Associate Head of the Division of Health at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Li Ka Shing School of Continuing and Professional Education (HKMU LiPACE). Prior to becoming an educator, Kathleen was working as a practitioner in the UK, providing evidence-based psychosocial interventions to individuals with substance use and mental health issues in community and prison settings. Her passion lies in understanding the positive aspects of psychological trauma and using her combined experiences to help students cultivate agency and reach their untapped potential for lifelong development and growth. Kathleen received her BSc in Psychology from Royal Holloway, her MSc in Public Health and Substance Misuse from King’s College London, and her PhD in Psychology from University of Salford.

She is also registered with the British Psychological Society (BPS) as a Chartered Psychologist (Division of Academics, Researchers, and Teachers in Psychology). Her research interests include the positive personal changes or transformations (i.e. posttraumatic growth) resulting from the struggles of highly challenging circumstances, the stress-buffering effects of social support, and the role of sociocultural contexts in psychological trauma and posttraumatic growth among higher education students.

Since joining HKMU LiPACE, Kathleen has led initiatives and projects in collaboration with community partners to bridge research and practice, focusing on the socio-emotional aspects of learning, positive life transitions, mental wellbeing, and empowering students to become better prepared for an increasingly dynamic future.

Dr. Janie Ling Chin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at Durham University, UK. Since completing her PhD in 2016 on life cycle assessment (LCA) of conventional, retrofit and advanced power systems for cargo ships, she has built an extensive portfolio in sustainability, energy systems integration, hydrogen technology and thermal management.

Janie co-leads numerous high-profile research projects funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Department for Transport, Research England, the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat), Innovate UK, the European Commission, and industry. These include the UK National Clean Maritime Research Hub (£30.3m), Growing Teesside’s Hydrogen Economy and Catalysing a Just Transition to Net Zero (£11.1m), Demonstration of a Digitised Energy System Integration across Sectors Enhancing Flexibility and Resilience towards an Efficient, Sustainable, Cost-optimised, Affordable, Secure and Stable Energy Supply (also referred to as ELEXIA, ~€10m), PyroPlas: Transforming Sewage Sludge to Sustainable Transport Fuels and Materials (£8.19m), the Ayrton Challenge Programme on Sustainable Cooling Infrastructure for Fisheries in Indonesia (£2.85m), and other decarbonisation initiatives.

She leads the sustainability research in the ELEXIA project, which forms the focus of her plenary presentation at Globesync. Drawing on LCA and energy systems analysis, her work offers insights into current practices and translates research into actionable strategies for real-world decarbonisation plans. Janie also advises the United Nations as a member of the Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) WG46 on the Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Intensity of Marine Fuels.

Dr. Armstrong Ighodalo Omoregie is a microbiologist and environmental scientist whose work bridges microbial biotechnology and sustainable environmental engineering. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Centre of Borneo Regionalism and Conservation, School of Built Environment, University of Technology Sarawak (UTS), Malaysia. His research focuses on microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP), biocementation, heavy metal bioremediation, and advanced wastewater treatment technologies.

Dr Omoregie has led or co-led numerous funded research projects in Malaysia and abroad, in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Université Le Havre Normandie (France), and Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (China). His work with ureolytic bacteria and biogenic processes has been applied in building restoration, slope stabilization, landfill leachate treatment, and greywater remediation. His research has been supported by grants from Yayasan Sarawak, the MyTiger Initiative (Embassy of France), and the Kurita Water and Environment Foundation (Japan).

His PhD at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, focused on scaling up the production of Sporosarcina pasteurii using low-cost reagents and a custom-built 3000 L reactor to enable cost-effective biocementation at field scale. His earlier MSc research explored the microbial biodiversity of Sarawak’s limestone caves, identifying native urease-producing bacteria for green construction materials based on MICP.

Dr Omoregie has authored over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He is active in the development and teaching of bibliometric methods, regularly conducting workshops on research trend analysis using Scopus, VOSviewer, and AI-enhanced tools. He also supervises postgraduate students and serves on research committees at UTS. He holds a BSc (Biotechnology), MSc (By Research), and PhD in Biology from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. He is a life member of the Asian Federation of Biotechnology (Malaysia Chapter), a Graduate Technologist with the Malaysia Board of Technologists, and a member of the Hong Kong Chemical, Biological & Environmental Engineering Society.