Professor Boo Nem Yun, the Deputy Dean for Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) was conferred the prestigious award of Emeritus Professor (Profesor Emerita) by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) during the university's 40th Convocation from 20 to 23 October 2012.
Prof Boo graduated from the University of Malaya in 1975 and obtained the MRCP (UK) in 1978. She joined the Department of Paediatrics of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) as a lecturer in 1982, teaching both undergraduates and postgraduate doctors in neonatology and general paediatrics. She was appointed the Professor of Neonatology (the first of its kind in Malaysia) in 1993 until her retirement in the year 2005. She served as an examiner for the Paediatric Master Program until her retirement from UKM. She is an examiner for the United Kingdom Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health clinical examination since 2001.
She set up the modern Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Hospital UKM in 1997 where newborns are nursed in their individual cubicles with individual lighting and support systems, providing a friendlier environment for these high risk infants and their families. She has started the neonatal ultrasonography training for paediatric postgraduate doctors working in the NICUs since the 1980s. She plays an active role in the promotion and teaching of Neonatal Resuscitation Program in UKM and the whole of Malaysia since 1996. She chaired the Malaysian Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) for 15 years since its inception in 1996 until 2012. During this period, the Malaysian NRP has trained more than 18,000 medical and nursing personnel in Malaysia. During her tenure with UKM, the NICU of Hospital UKM became the first member in Malaysia to participate in the Vermont Oxford Network, an international body with more than 700 member neonatal intensive care units with the aims to continue improving the standard of care of sick newborns.
Over the last 30 years, she has been an active clinical researcher in her specialty, including undertaking collaborative research with international partners. She has published more than 130 articles in both local and international journals on various neonatal and paediatric issues and contributed chapters to two paediatric and neonatal textbooks.
Prof Boo is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Malaysian National Neonatal Network. In 1992 she won the Tun Razak Research Award of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, The Academy of Medicine of Singapore, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Childhealth (UK), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. In 2008 she became the first paediatrician to be elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences of Malaysia. She was the founding President of the Perinatal Society of Malaysia and the past President of the College of Paediatrics of the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia for six years. Her current research interests include G6PD deficiency in Malaysian infants and quality improvement in infection control and safety in the neonatal care units. She is also a reviewer for numerous local and international journals.
Upon her retirement from government service for more than 30 years, she was appointed as the Professor of Paediatrics at the International Medical University Malaysia (IMU), a private university before joining UTAR FMHS in April 2010 as the Senior Professor and Head of the Department of Clinical Sciences.
Prof Boo (left) receiving the award from UKM Pro-Chancellor Tunku Laxamana Tunku Naquiyuddin Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Jaafar
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