Zilfalil Bin Alwi

Professor Zilfalil Bin Alwi is the UNESCO Chair on Human Genetics of Thalassemia. He is a senior consultant Pediatrician & Clinical Geneticist at the Human Genome Centre, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Kota Bharu, Malaysia. He received his specialist training in Pediatrics (Master of Medicine (Pediatrics)) from the same university and later went to study at University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (UK) where he obtained a MSc in Medical Genetics and then to University of Aston, UK where he obtained a PhD in Pharmacogenetics.

Prof Zilfalil is the founder and head of the Malaysian Node of the Human Variome Project (MyHVP). He is a member of the Board of Directors of Human Variome Project (HVP) International (now known as Global Variome) and is the joint chairman for Global Globin Network (GGN) -- a global project by HVP which involve the systematic collection and sharing of variation data to combat haemoglobinopathies (Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease). He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Gene/Disease Specific Database Advisory Council of Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) and the chair of the Genetic Counselling subcommittee of the HUGO Education Committee.

He has served as the Director of USM Human Genome Center from 2005 to 2009. Prof Zilfalil is the chief editor of the Malaysian Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (MJPCH), which is the official journal of Malaysian Paediatric Association and Malaysian Journal of Human Genetics (MJHG), which is the official journal of the Malaysian Society of Human Genetics. He is a council member of the College of Pediatrics, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia and fellow of this Academy. He is  the advisor for the Genetic Pathology Speciality Committee of the College of Pathologists, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia (CPathAMM). He is also the founding president of the Malaysian Society of Human Genetics.