About us

Who we are

Cochrane Malaysia represents Cochrane in Malaysia and aims to make a major contribution to evidence-informed health care, particularly in Malaysia but also internationally.

We are based at RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC) and have four affiliate sites around the country:

  1. Manipal University College Malaysia (MUCM)
  2. National Institute of Health (NIH), Ministry of Health Malaysia
  3. University of Malaya (UM)
  4. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Background of Cochrane Malaysia

In 1998, Prof Jacqueline Ho published her first Cochrane review, which led to her involvement in SEA ORCHID, a Wellcome Trust-funded initiative aimed at expanding evidence-based maternal and neonatal care throughout Southeast Asia. In 2004, that initiative aimed to recruit 35 Malaysian Cochrane authors, and was far surpassed in 2009, with 60 Cochrane authors recruited. 

With the support from several institutions, Cochrane Malaysia was launched in 2014, with Prof Jackie as the founding director. 

Picture 1: Official launch for Cochrane Malaysia, 2014. From left: Dr Steve McDonald and Prof Sally Green, Co-Directors Cochrane Australia; Datuk Dr Shahnaz Murad, former Deputy DG for research and technical support; Mr Mark Wilson, former Cochrane CEO; Prof Jacqueline Ho, Founding Director Cochrane Malaysia.
Picture 1: Official launch for Cochrane Malaysia, 2014.      (From left: Dr Steve McDonald and Prof Sally Green, Co-Directors Cochrane Australia; Datuk Dr Shahnaz Murad, former Deputy DG for research and technical support; Mr Mark Wilson, former Cochrane CEO; Prof Jacqueline Ho, Founding Director Cochrane Malaysia)
Picture 2: Original Cochrane Malaysia Coordinating Group, from left: Prof Jackie Ho, RUMC; Prof Hans Van Rostenberghe, USM; Datuk Dr. Nor Asiah Mohamad (NIH); Prof Moy Foong Ming, UM; Prof Adi Negara Lufti, MUCM.
Picture 2: Original Cochrane Malaysia Coordinating Group. (From left: Prof Jackie Ho, RUMC; Prof Hans Van Rostenberghe, USM; Datuk Dr. Nor Asiah Mohamad, NIH; Prof Moy Foong Ming, UM; Prof Adi Negara Lufti, MUCM)
 

Cochrane Malaysia continued to grow and now has over 300 authors and close to 1000 members nationwide who have contributed to Cochrane either by review authoring or by other tasks. In 2020, through the Ministry of Health Malaysia, we obtained the national license for the Cochrane Library, allowing everyone in Malaysia to have access to Cochrane reviews free of charge. This has enhanced the availability of high-quality, trusted health information for clinical practice, research, and decision-making across the country. 

Our current coordinating group consists of: Prof Jackie Ho, RUMC; Assoc Prof Dr Tan May Loong, RUMC; Datuk Dr Nor Asiah Muhamad, NIH; Prof Moy Foong Ming, UM; Prof Adi Negara Lufti, MUCM; Assoc Prof Datin Dr Norhayati Mohd Noor, USM. 

Picture 3: Cochrane Malaysia 10th Anniversary celebration in 2024 with YB Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Deputy Minister of Health Malaysia. From left: Datuk Dr Nor Asiah, NIH; Dr Steve McDonald Cochrane Australia (partly concealed); Prof Jacqueline Ho Cochrane Malaysia; Her Excellency Orla Turney, Irish Ambassador to Malaysia; YB Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Deputy Minister of Health Malaysia; Assoc Prof Dr Tan May Loong; Prof Detty Nurdiati, Cochrane Indonesia; Prof Cindy Farquhar, Cochrane New Zealand; Dr Edwin Chang, Cochrane Singapore; Prof Victor Hoe, University Malaya; Prof Cliff Chen, Cochrane Taiwan.
Picture 3: Cochrane Malaysia 10th Anniversary celebration in 2024 with YB Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Deputy Minister of Health Malaysia. (From left: Datuk Dr Nor Asiah, NIH; Dr Steve McDonald, Cochrane Australia (partly concealed); Prof Jacqueline Ho, Cochrane Malaysia;         Her Excellency Orla Turney, Irish Ambassador to Malaysia; YB Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Deputy Minister of Health Malaysia; Assoc Prof Dr Tan May Loong, Cochrane Malaysia; Prof Detty Nurdiati, Cochrane Indonesia; Prof Cindy Farquhar, Cochrane New Zealand; Dr Edwin Chang, Cochrane Singapore; Prof Victor Hoe, University Malaya; Prof Cliff Chen, Cochrane Taiwan)
Work of Cochrane Malaysia

Review production

Cochrane Malaysia has supported many Cochrane authors by providing training and mentoring, which has led to a dramatic increase in authors over the years. 

Training

Since 2008 Cochrane Malaysia held a variety of training programmes for authors, translators, clinicians, patients and other users of the Cochrane Library. These include a 3-day author training workshop, a review completion workshop, workshops for journalists, for our volunteer translators, for users on how to use the Cochrane Library, and specialty seminars.   

90 Training events 
At 16 different institutions
More than 36 author training workshops
5 Specialty seminars

(Figures as of June 2025)

Translation of Plain Language Summaries

Cochrane Review’s Plain Language Summaries are translated into Bahasa Malaysia by volunteers, making the reviews more accessible to the local population. 

Learn more about volunteering on our volunteer page. 

Read plain language summaries in Bahasa Malaysia on this website.

Dissemination

Besides our Translation project, Cochrane Malaysia has conducted several media training sessions. We also disseminate Cochrane reviews through social media and to relevant parts of MOH through the MOH affiliate site. 

Visit Cochrane Malaysia’s Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn. 

About Cochrane

The Cochrane Collaboration, recently celebrated its 30th year, and has been described in The Lancet as an enterprise that rivals the Human Genome Project in its potential implications for modern medicine. Alberto Merchante-González, Chief of Public Health, Spanish Ministry of Health also stated, “Since its creation in 1993, Cochrane has become a global gold standard for evidence-based health due to its ability to provide rigorous information for professionals and health systems around the world”. It had a 5-year Impact Factor of 9.9 in 2023. 

Learn more about Cochrane here.