What if the trillions of bacteria in your gut could reveal secrets about how your body ages and fights diseases? 

Chua Ling Ling took a deep dive into this hidden world, studying how changes in gut microbes might speed up aging and inflammation—especially in people living with HIV.

Chua’s PhD at University of Malaya revealed how gut imbalance triggers chronic immune activation and early age-related diseases. She later studied how cancer treatments affect children’s gut health through a Malaysia-Singapore Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (MaSpore ALL) trial.

To sharpen her research skills, Chua trained at New York University Medical Center, bringing cutting-edge microbiota profiling techniques back to Malaysia—unlocking clues that could transform care for HIV and cancer survivors alike.

She received the Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment in 2015.