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Sandy Hwei San Loh

Associate Professor, Faculty of Science

Contact

  • workRoom BA46 Block B
    Malaysia Campus
    Jalan Broga
    43500 Semenyih
    Selangor Darul Ehsan
    Malaysia
  • work+6 (03) 8924 8215
  • fax+6 (03) 8924 8018

Biography

Dr Sandy Loh, a virologist and molecular biologist, graduated her bachelor's and PhD's degrees from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). After her PhD graduation, she worked as a post-doctoral research fellow in the Institute of Bioscience, UPM for one year, then, she joined the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) in 2006 and has been working until present. She is an associate professor of the university and has been lecturing in the molecular biology and biotechnology areas for more than five years. Since October 2010, she has been appointed as the UNMC Director of Biotechnology Research Centre which facilitates different areas of molecular research. She is the leader of Plant Vaccine Research Group and member of the Rainforest Plants Research Group at UNMC. Her research interests include application of molecular pharming approach in developing plant-based vaccine candidates for controlling poultry viral diseases and investigation on medicinal plant metabolites from primary rainforest (tropical) plant species as new therapeutic agents. She had received a few research awards such as Pfizer's prize and new researcher award from UPM and Nottingham University and Makna award from National Cancer Council, Malaysia.

Teaching Summary

My teaching interests cover mainly in molecular biology and its related areas. I have been coordinating and teaching "Genetics and Cell Biology", "Genetics with Specialist Options", "Molecular… read more

Research Summary

I am a project leader of the "Plant Vaccine Research Group" and member of the "Rainforest Plants Research Unit" at the Faculty of Science, UNMC. My research interests cover (i) molecular pharming in… read more

Selected Publications

My teaching interests cover mainly in molecular biology and its related areas. I have been coordinating and teaching "Genetics and Cell Biology", "Genetics with Specialist Options", "Molecular Pharming", "Molecular Biology of the Cell" and "Sex, Flowers and Biotechnology" modules under the BSc Plant Biotechnology and Biotechnology programmes. I have also been contributing teaching in "Plant Biotechnology", "The Dynamic Cell", "Introductory Plant Pathology", and "Molecular Plant Pathology" under the BSc Plant Biotechnology and Biotechnology programmes and "Plant Genetic Manipulation Practical Techniques" module under the MSc Crop Biotechnology programme. I have a number of years of experience in supervising PhD students in my areas of expertise.

Current Research

I am a project leader of the "Plant Vaccine Research Group" and member of the "Rainforest Plants Research Unit" at the Faculty of Science, UNMC. My research interests cover (i) molecular pharming in the area of vaccine development for poultry diseases as control strategies using plant systems; (ii) natural product in the aspect of biological investigations particularly on antibacterial and anticancer properties; and (iii) epigenetic study in oil palm mantling phenomenon. These research activities have been funded by different ranges of grants especially in my capacity as a project leader/principle investigator from MOSTI, MOA, MAKNA, NRF, AAR and Davos. Interdisciplinary research collaborations have been established in these areas with different schools in UNMC; Sutton Bonington and University Park campuses; local and international research institutes and universities as well as private commercial companies.

  • OTHMAN, M., LOH, H.S., WIART, C., KHOO, T.J., LIM, K.H. and TING, K.N., 2011. Optimal methods for evaluating antimicrobial activities from plant extracts. Journal of Microbiological Methods. 84(2), 161-166
  • WIJAYA, S, TING, K.N, KHOO, T.J, LIM, K.H, LOH, H.S. and WIART, C., 2011. Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn. (Asteraceae). Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine. 8(1), 13
  • LIM, S.W., TING, K.N., ZEENATHUL N.A. and LOH, H.S., 2011. Plant secondary metabolites enhance anticancer activity of vitamin E isomers In: Palm International Nutra-Cosmeceutical Conference. Kuala Lumpur.
  • PUA, T.L, MASSAWE, F, TAN, C.S, OMAR, A.R. and LOH, H.S., 2011. Plant-based transient expression of neuraminidase of Malaysian avian influenza In: Plant-Based Vaccines and Antibodies (PBVA) 2011. Porto, Portugal.
  • WONG, Q.N, LIM, S.W. and LOH, H.S., 2011. Investigation of anticancer effects of Acalypha wilkesiana on human liver cancer cell. In: The 22nd Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar, UKM. Selangor.
  • MOHD-IBRAHIM, I. and LOH, H.S., 2011. Recent development of plant-based vaccine could be an alternative to control poultry viral diseases In: The 22nd Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar, UKM. Selangor.
  • LIM, S.W., TING, K.N., BRADSHAW, T.D., ZEENATHUL N.A., WIART, C., KHOO, T.J., LIM, K.H. and LOH, H.S., 2011. Acalypha wilkesiana extracts induce apoptosis by causing single strand and double strand DNA breaks Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 138, 616-623
  • CHEE, J.Y, WANG, E.S, FRAY, R. and LOH, H.S., 2011. Construction of a subunit vaccine against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in planta via particle bombardment In: The 22nd Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar, UKM. Selangor.
  • OTHMAN, M, GENAPATHYA, S, LIEW, P.S, CH’NG, Q.T, LOH, H.S, KHOO, T.J, WIART, C. and TING, K.N., 2011. Search for antibacterial agents from Malaysian rainforest and tropical plants Natural Product Research. 1-8
  • SANTIAGO, C., OTHMAN, M., LOH, H.S., LIM, K.H., WIART, C., KHOO, T.J. and TING, K.N., 2011. Anti-Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activity of ethyl acetate extract from Acalypha wilkesiana In: Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society–Pharmacy Scientific Conference (MPS-PSC) 2011. Kuala Lumpur.
  • SANTIAGO, C., LOH, H.S., LIM, K.H., WIART, C., KHOO, T.J. and TING, K.N., 2011. Anti-methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activity of combination of antibiotic and ethyl acetate extract from Acalypha wilkesiana In: International Conference of Natural Products (ICNP) 2011. Putrajaya.
  • YAP, V.A., LIM, K.H., LOH, H.S. and TING, K.N., 2011. Comparison of anti-cancer activity between parent and hybrid species of Artocarpus heterophyllus and Artocarpus integer against breast and cervical cancer cell lines In: International Conference of Natural Products (ICNP) 2011. Putrajaya.
  • LIM, S.W., TING, K.N., BRADSHAW, T.D., ZEENATHUL N.A., WIART, C., KHOO, T.J., LIM, K.H. and LOH, H.S., 2011. Combinatorial application of Acalypha wilkesiana extracts and vitamin e isomers as an alternative cancer treatment In: International Conference of Natural Products (ICNP) 2011. Putrajaya.
  • CAMALXAMAN, S.N., ZEENATHUL, N.A., QUAH, Y.W., LOH, H.S., ZURIDAH, H., SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R. and MOHD-AZMI, M.L., 2011. Cross-reactivity of Malaysian rat cytomegalovirus strains with its human counterpart Tropical Biomedicine. 28(3), 661–667
  • TING, K.N., OTHMAN, M., TELFORD, G., CLARKE, G., BRADSHAW, T.D., KHOO, T.J., LOH, H.S., WIART, C., PRITCHARD, D. and FRY, J.R., 2011. Antioxidant, cytoprotective, growth inhibitory and immunomodulatory activities of extracts of Dysoxylum cauliflorum Hiern., a Malaysian Meliaceae Journal of Medicinal Plants Research. 5(24), 5867-5872
  • WANG, E.S, LOH, H.S, PUA, T.L. and ALDERSON, P.G., 2010. Construction of a candidate vaccine against avian influenza, strain H5N1 via biolistics mediation In: 21st Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar. UCSI University. Selangor.
  • SOON, S.L, LOH, H.S, TAN, B.C, WONG, W.C. and ALDERSON, P.G., 2010. Protein profiles involving oil palm mantling phenomenon In: 21st Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar. UCSI University. Selangor.
  • KHOO, T.J, WONG, P.C, TING, K.N, WIART, C and LOH, H.S., 2010. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors from secondary metabolites of Malaysia rainforest plants In: The 21st International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry. Brussels, Belgium.
  • CHAN, X.Y., LOH, H.S., PUA, T.L., HASMAH, M.S. and ALDERSON, P.G., 2010. In-vitro single nucleotide modification improves a strategy used in development of plant-based vaccine In: 21st Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar. UCSI University. Selangor.
  • CHU, J, LIM, S.W, LOH, H.S, KHOO, T.J, TING, K.N, WIART, C. and BRADSHAW, T.D., 2010. In vitro anticancer activity of Acalypha wilkesiana extracts In: UK-Malaysia Symposium on Drug Discovery and Development for Cancer. Selangor.
  • LOONG, B.J, LOH, H.S, PUA, T.L. and ALDERSON, P.G., 2010. Development of quantitative real-time RT-PCR for kinetic analysis of haemagglutinin (HA) expression in a plant system In: 21st Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar. UCSI University. Selangor.
  • LOH, H.S, HASMAH, M.S, PUA, T.L, CHAN, X.Y, OMAR, A.R, MASSAWE, F. and TAN, C.S., 2010. Development of a candidate vaccine for highly virulent infectious bursal disease virus (hvIBDV) by epitope display in plant viral capsid protein In: National Biotechnology Seminar. Selangor.
  • LOH, H.S, PUA, T.L, HASMAH, M.S, TAN, C.S, OMAR, A.R, MASSAWE, F. and ALDERSON, P.G., 2009. Plant viral-based strategies for development of vaccine candidates in planta In: National Conference on New Crops and Bioresources. 141-151
  • OTHMAN, M, FRY, J.R, TELFORD, G, BRADSHAW, T.D, WIART, C, KHOO, T.J, LOH, H.S. and TING, K.N., 2009. Bioactivities of an unstudied Malaysian rainforest plant from the Meliaceae family. In: ELRIG Drug Discovery '09. Liverpool, UK.
  • TING, K.N, WIART, C, KHOO, T.J, LOH, H.S, FRY, J.R, BRADSHAW, T.D, TELFORD, G, PRITCHARD, D.I, ZEENATHUL, N.A, OTHMAN, M, SARMIDI, M.R. and KUMARESAN, S., 2009. Strategic drug discovery research on rainforest (tropical) plants In: Biomedical Asia 2009. Singapore.
  • MASSAWE, F, MAYES, S, LOH, H.S, ALDERSON, P.G. and AZAM-ALI, S., 2009. Research and development of underutilised crops - towards a common methodology In: National Conference on New Crops and Bioresources. 29-40
  • OTHMAN, M, LOH, H.S, WIART, C, KHOO, T.J. and TING, K.N., 2009. Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of a plant species from the Annoaceae family In: 23rd MSPPSM. Kuala Lumpur.
  • PUA, T.L, MASSAWE, F, TAN, C.S, OMAR, A.R. and LOH, H.S., 2009. Towards development of bird flu vaccine in planta In: UNMC Graduate School‘s Conference.
  • HASMAH, M.S, CHAN, X.Y, MASSAWE, F, OMAR, A.R. and LOH, H.S., 2009. Towards development of a plant-based vaccine for highly virulent infectious bursal disease virus (hvIBDV) In: UNMC Graduate School‘s Conference.
  • LOH, H.S, HASMAH, M.S, PUA, T.L, MASSAWE, F, OMAR, A.R. and TAN, C.S., 2009. Plant viral-based ap-proach for the development of vaccine candidates for poultry viral diseases In: Plant-Based Vaccines and Antibodies (PBVA) 2009. Verona, Italy.
  • HASMAH, M.S, LOH, H.S, MASSAWE, F. and OMAR, A.R., 2009. Application of plant viral-based delivery strategy in developing a vaccine candidate for highly virulent Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (hvIBDV) In: 21st VAM Congress. N. Sembilan. 87-89
  • LIM, S.W, TING, K.N, BRADSHAW, T.D, ZEENATHUL N.A. and LOH, H.S., 2009. Application of plant bioactive compounds as an alternative cancer treatment In: UNMC Graduate School‘s Conference.
  • PUA, T.L, TAN, C.S, OMAR, A.R, MASSAWE, F. and LOH, H.S., 2009. Development of plant-based vaccine candidates for Malaysian isolate of avian influenza virus (H5N1) In: Plant-Based Vaccines and Antibodies (PBVA) 2009. Verona, Italy.
  • OTHMAN, M, LOH, H.S, WIART, C, KHOO, T.J. and TING, K.N., 2009. Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Pseuduvaria macrophylla In: UNMC Graduate School‘s Conference.
  • LOH, H.S, OTHMAN, M, BRADSHAW, T.D, FRY, J.R, WIART, C, KHOO, T.J. and TING, K.N., 2009. Pharmacological characterization of bioactive compounds from rainforest (tropical) plants for the development of therapeutic agents In: Biomedical Asia 2009. Singapore.
  • HASMAH, M.S, LOH H.S, MASSAWE, F. and OMAR, A.R., 2008. Construction of a vaccine candidate for highly virulent infectious bursal disease virus using plant virus-based vector In: 33rd MSBMB. Kuala Lumpur. 136
  • OTHMAN, M, LOH, H.S, WIART, C, KHOO, T.J. and TING, K.N., 2008. Bioactive activities of crude extracts from two tropical plants In: 8th MPS Pharmacy Scientific Conference. Pahang. 73
  • OTHMAN, M, LOH, H.S, WIART, C, KHOO, T.J. and TING, K.N., 2008. Antibacterial activities of Duabanga grandiflora In: 33rd MSBMB. Kuala Lumpur. 163
  • ZEENATHUL, N.A, CHAN, P.S., LOH, H.S., NAZRINA, C., NORAINI, A.S., CHIEW, L.S., TAN, S.S., TAN, C.G. and MOHD-AZMI, M.L., 2008. Cytomegalovirus infection in wild rat In: 20th VAM Congress.
  • PUA, T.L, LOH, H.S, MASSAWE, F, TAN, C.S and OMAR, A.R., 2008. Construction of a plant-based vaccine delivery vector for candidate genes of avian influenza virus, strain H5N1 In: 33rd MSBMB. Kuala Lumpur. 117
  • LOH, H.S, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R, ZAMRI-SAAD, M. and TAM, Y.J., 2007. Pathogenesis and antibody response to a cytomegalovirus infection in newborn rats Acta Virologica. 51(1), 27-33
  • LOH, H.S, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R and ZAMRI-SAAD, M. AND ZEENATHUL, N.A., 2007. Molecular characterization and identification of the immediate-early (IE) genes of rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) J. Vet. M’sia. 19(1), 21-32
  • LOH, H.S, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R. and KIEW, L.J., 2006. Pathogenicity and vertical transmission of a transplacental rat cytomegalovirus Virology Journal. 3, 42
  • LIM, S.N, ZEENATHUL, N.A, MOHD AZMI, M.L, LAI, K.Y. and LOH, H.S., 2006. In vitro expression of truncated VP3 protein of chicken anaemia virus In: 18th VAM Congress. 195-197
  • LIM, S.N, ZEENATHUL, N.A, MOHD AZMI, M.L, LAI, K.Y. and LOH, H.S., 2006. Mismatching of Apoptin/VP3 nuclear localization signal and tumorigenic selective site In: 9th A-IMBN Conference and 16th MSMBB Scientific Meeting. 47
  • LOH, H.S, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, ZAMRI-SAAD, M. and SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R., 2005. Kinetic quantification of in vitro transcription levels of immediate-early genes of rat cytomegalovirus In: Colloquium on Viruses of Veterinary and Public Health Importance. Selangor. 139-141
  • MOHD-AZMI, M.L, LOH, H.S, SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R. and ZAMRI-SAAD, M., 2003. A novel rat model facilitates vaccine development and intervention studies for the prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus infection in human In: UPM Invention/Innovation and R&D Exhibition.
  • LOH, H.S, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, LAI, K.Y, SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R. and ZAMRI-SAAD, M., 2003. Characterization of a novel rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) infecting placenta-uterus of Rattus rattus diardii Archives of Virology. 148, 2353-2367
  • LOH, H.S, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, ZAMRI-SAAD, M. and SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R., 2003. Transcripts of immediate-early genes of rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV). In: 14th National Biotechnology Seminar. Penang. 96
  • LOH, H.S, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R. and ZAMRI-SAAD, M., 2002. Detection of maternal-foetal involvement in the pathogenesis of rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) infection In: MSTC. Sarawak. 26
  • LOH, H.S, LAI, K.Y, MOHD-AZMI, M.L, SHEIKH-OMAR, A.R. and ZAMRI-SAAD, M., 2001. A new rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) isolate of house rats (Rattus rattus diardii). In: 2nd International Congress/13th VAM Congress and CVA-Australasia/Oceania Regional Symposium. 244-245

School of Biosciences

University of Nottingham
Sutton Bonington Campus
Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD

telephone: +44 (0)115 9516400
fax: +44 (0) 115 951 6020
email: biosciences-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk