KUALA LUMPUR, September 1 – Professor Dato Dr. Hj Jafri Malin Dato Hj Abdullah, a Neurosurgery expert from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), has been honored with the M Balasegaram Trainer Award for the fifth time. This recognition was bestowed upon him in conjunction with the Golden Jubilee celebration and the Annual Scientific Congress (ASC), held recently. Prof. Jafri Malin holds the position of Professor of Neurosurgery at the Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medical Sciences, USM/Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital. He also chairs the ‘Brain Behaviour’ research cluster at USM.
To date, he has successfully trained 121 neurosurgeons in Malaysia, and their achievements have been recognized globally, placing them on par with their counterparts from South Korea and surpassing those from the USA, Canada, and Japan. This year, two distinguished recipients were selected for the award: Jafri Malin and Dr. Clarence Lei (Urology). The award was presented by Professor Dr. Rosmawati Mohamed, Master of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia (AMM). The event was attended by Dr. Clarence Lei, who received the award alongside Jafri Malin, as well as Dr. Siow Sze Li, President of the College of Surgeons Malaysia.
Both awardees continue the tradition of excellence among medical/academic practitioners who are selected based on their contributions in their respective fields. Previous recipients of the award include Prof. Dato Dr. Kandasami (2017), Dato Dr. Prabir Ranjan Sengupta (2018), Professor Emerita Freda Meah (2019), and Dato Dr. Ragupathy Naidu and Dato Dr. K Somasundaram (2021). This award is presented to deserving individuals as a form of recognition, commemorating the late Dato’ Dr. M Balasegaram, a highly esteemed doctor in Malaysia. Better known as Dr. ‘Bala’, he was the first Asian to be honored by the Royal College of Surgeons of England with the ‘Hunterian Professorship’ award (1969) and the first Asian to receive the ‘Jacksonian Prize’ (1971), the highest accolade in the field of surgery.
He was also honored by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Scotland, through the ‘Abraham Colles Lecture’ and the ‘Chienne Memorial Lecture’. Dr. ‘Bala’ served as the Chief Surgeon at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in the 1960s and 1970s. He mentored many of the country’s leading surgeons and was particularly renowned for his pioneering work in liver surgery. He is remembered as a great teacher, an exemplary individual, and a doctor who made significant contributions to his profession and his country.
This award can be given to an individual of any nationality, across various surgical fields, including research. Simultaneously, the recipient must have contributed to the education and training of surgeons in Malaysia. At most, two awards can be granted each year. This event is organized by the College of Surgeons (CS), AMM. AMM is a professional and educational organization for doctors in Malaysia. Established in 1966, AMM, located in Kuala Lumpur, accepts membership from those with various specialties in medicine.
This program is organized by AMM in collaboration with the Malaysian Association of Pediatric Surgery, the Malaysian Society of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgeons, and the Malaysian Upper Gastrointestinal Surgical Society.
