Mystical Mushrooms: Connecting Indigenous Knowledge and Science

Mystical Mushrooms: Connecting the dots between indigenous knowledge and science

Indigenous community in Malaysia mastered the use of natural resources of the forests for food and their healthcare needs. The validation of traditional claims lead to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical or agricultural discoveries. In this talk, I will share the biodiversity of Malaysian wild mushrooms and the scientific investigations on wild medicinal mushroom to discover possible functional properties.

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Dr. Tan Yee Shin

Dr. Tan Yee Shin graduated with BSc in Biotechnology from Monash University Malaysia and then joined University of Malaya for her postgraduate study in Mycology. She is a trained taxonomist in identifying wild mushrooms in Malaysia. She works as Senior Lecturer in University of Malaya. Her research interest is on the biodiversity of wild mushrooms with primary focus on phylogenetic systematics. She diversified her research into breeding and cultivation of edible mushrooms to warrant food and nutrition security and validating the bioactivity of traditional used wild mushrooms from Malaysia.

Currently, she is appointed as Deputy Head for Mushroom Research Centre in University of Malaya and selected as affiliates of Young Scientist Network-Academy of Sciences Malaysia. She is also elected as Secretary for Malaysian Mushroom Research Association (MMRA) that she has opportunity to work with mushroom farmers since 2013. She is also engaged in the community-based activities on identification of poisonous mushrooms with emergency physicians and health officers under the UMCares programme.