Institute Member

Our Principal Research 

Prof. Dr. Haslinda Abdullah is a Professor of Applied Psychology at the Department of Social and Development Sciences, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She received her PhD from Institute of Work Health and Organizations, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom specializing in Applied Psychology. Since May 2000, she has taught various subjects and key areas of Psychology including Social Psychology, Theories in Social Psychology, Community Psychology and Psychology of Work. Currently her work are more focused on youth and development. Her credentials and knowledge on the Malaysian youth is reflected in her role as a member of the think tank for the Institute for Youth Research (IYRES), under the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia. Her research also focuses on sexual and reproductive health and started during her attachment at Bronfenbrenner Centre for Translational Research, Cornell University as a visiting scholar in 2017. She was also an invited speaker for ‘Projek Amanat Negara XVI 2019’, by United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC) to talk on the future of Malaysian children. Under a Muslim women NGO (MPWIM), she was appointed to lead a panel of expertise to select future youth leaders. Outside of academic field, she is the president of Family Empowerment Society (FAME), an NGO that strives to tackle societal issues (regarding family) head-on. She is also a trainer for Malaysian Technical Cooperation Program (MTCP) in which she trained a group of prison officers from commonwealth country on youth. Her contribution was acknowledged by Malaysia Prison Department when she was given Pingat Bakti Setia in 2015.

Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence D'Silva is deputy director  and Senior Research Officer at the Institute of Social Science Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia since 2009. He obtained his Doctorate in Development Education from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2007. His expertise is in the field of community wellbeing and quantitative data analysis. To date, he has been involved in 40 research projects at the university, national and international levels of which 8 projects as Project Leader. He is very active in the field of journal article writing and to date has produced more than 150 journal articles with index Scopus is 13. His excellence in this field showed him being appointed as an Associate Editor for the journal American Journal of Applied Sciences, Editorial Board Member for the journal International Journal of Business and Management, as well as Technical Editor for the journal Trends in Applied Sciences Research as well as the Journal of Applied Sciences. In addition, he is also active in writing his special books related to the wellbeing of the community. Dr. Jeffrey is also the founder of the IPSAS Consultancy & Training platform. Through this channel he has taught many statistical workshops involving SPSS software as well as providing a platform for other speakers to hold workshops related to research and publication.

Dr. Syafila Kamarudin  is the Head of the Cyber -Generation Laboratory at the Institute for Social Sciences Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, since 2024. She obtained a doctorate in the field of rural development from the same university by 2020. Her field of expertise includes communications technology, digital community, new media, and quantitative data analysis. To date, she has been involved in more than 10 university, national, and international research projects. Dr. Syafila is also an active author, with more than 30 journal articles published, and recorded a 4 SCOPUS index. In addition to the academic role, she is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Brawijaya, Indonesia. She was actively invited as a speaker for webinar sessions, live broadcasts, scientific forums, and became speakers in training and consultation programs organized by various agencies and institutions. Dr. Syafila is also involved as participants in a national and international academic conference. She is also enthusiastically writing for print and digital media, discussing current issues related to social media, digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and contemporary communication development.

Assc. Prof. Dr. Haliza Abdul Rahman holds a PhD. in the field of Environment and Development and a Master in the field of Environmental Management from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Head of the Youth in Leadership, Politics and Citizenship Laboratory, Institute of Social Science Studies (IPSAS) UPM. Previously, she has served as a Senior Lecturer for 8 years in the Environmental and Occupational Health Program, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, Kelantan. Her areas of expertise include Environmental Governance, Sustainability Science, Environmental Policy and Legislation, Environmental Management and Public Involvement in Environmental Related Issues. She has published extensive writing material in journals, books, chapters in books and newspapers.

Dr. Aini Azeqa Ma'rof

Dzuhailmi Dahalan holds a Bachelor's Degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia in Human Resource Development. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in 2002 and Diploma in Human Development in 1999 from Universiti Putra Malaysia. He is a Social Research Officer at the Youth and Community Wellbeing Laboratory, Institute of Social Science Studies (IPSAS), Universiti Putra Malaysia. He is active and experienced in conducting youth development studies especially from the perspective of policy formation, well-being, program evaluation, entrepreneurship and others. During his 13 years of service, he has led a total of 3 research projects as well as co-researchers in 37 research projects from various sponsors. To date, a total of 45 journal articles, 8 book chapter articles, 29 seminar papers, 18 newspaper articles have been successfully published by him. At this point, he has 58 quotes with 5 H-index publications of the Scopus indexed journal as well as a total of 235 quotes with 9 H-indexes on the publication database (Google Scholar).

Widad Emir binti Mohamad Arrif Emir is a Research Officer at the Institute for Social Science Studies (IPSAS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) since December 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UPM (2020), and a Master of Science in Bioinformatics from the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya (2022). Before joining IPSAS, she served at the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) as an administrative officer, where she was involved in managing public service operations. She also gained exposure to foresight training through a programme organised by the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), which focused on future-oriented policy planning and strategic scenario analysis. At IPSAS UPM, she has participated in several research projects funded by the Axiata Foundation Grant, UPM Grant, and ISM Grant, focusing on community wellbeing and health-related behaviours. She has contributed to academic publications addressing issues such as vaccine hesitancy and eating behaviour among youth, integrating perspectives from both the life sciences and social sciences. Currently, she is actively working to expand her publication record in high-impact journals and is in the process of developing a specialised research niche through interdisciplinary studies that are relevant to policy development and societal progress.

Updated:: 11/03/2026 [alyarahim]