PENANG, 16 June 2015 – The recently concluded USM DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst German Academic Exchange Service) Summer School, jointly organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and School of Medical Sciences hosted 7 visiting professors and specialists from Germany to disseminate their expertise in the area of electrophysiology at USM.  

9 postgraduate students, 5 lecturers and an Associate Professor from 5 Malaysian universities (USM, UM, UNiSZA, UiTM and UTP) attended the training workshop.

Director of USM’s Neuroscience Research and Service Centre Professor Dato' Dr. Jafri Malin Abdulllah said that the participants consisted of Ph.D candidates and young lecturers from the five universities who were keen to specialise in the area of Electrophysiology as a career path.

“The equipment used for the training was modelled on equipment found in European laboratories, which enabled participants to focus on hands-on analysis using white mice as specimens,” he explained.

The workshop also provided participants with training by professors and specialists in their respective fields who combined theory with practical experience within the set-up of laboratory experiments.

Dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor Dr. Munavvar Zubaid Abdul Sattar stated that the first phase of the workshop held at the USM main campus in Penang had succeeded in providing valuable training and insights to participants hailing from various Malaysian universities as part of its efforts to increase the number of scientists and researchers specialising in neuron and blood circulatory-based equipment technology.

“Transdisciplinary co-operation has been established between the scientists involved and there is a strong likelihood of establishing research projects in this field in the near future,” he noted during his remarks at the conclusion of the first phase of the workshop at the USM main campus. 
 
USM Vice-Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman meanwhile welcomed and lauded the effort at hosting the summer school, and expressed his hope that the training obtained would contribute towards enhancing USM’s expertise in the Neurosciences whilst also providing participants with opportunities for future research.

“It is my fervent hope that co-operation in the field of Neurosciences between Malaysia and Germany will continue for years to come so that USM can be developed as a hub for applied Neuroscience and clinical research, and ultimately be able to produce trained neuroscience scientists for the country and the surrounding region,” he added.

The Vice-Chancellor also expressed his appreciation for the expertise of the specialists and scientists who had contributed various equipment to USM in 2009 including the BA-1S Intracellular/Patch Amplifier which has been used extensively for teaching and research in the field of Electrophysiology.

The 12-day workshop which ran from 1 – 12 June 2015 was broken up into two phases hosted at two separate locations. The first phase was conducted at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the USM main campus while the second phase culminated at the Department of Neurosciences, School of Medical Sciences at the Kubang Kerian, Kelantan campus.

Since the inception of its Electrophysiology programme, USM has sponsored 3 overseas-trained lecturers in Electrophysiology at the Universities of Nottingham UK, University of Sydney and University of Melbourne, Australia respectively. It plans to send another two trainee lecturers to Gottingen University by the end of this year. – Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe/Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah