Dr. Syahidah Akmal Muhammad
	Email : syahidah.muhammad@usm.my
	Ext : 5987
	Expertise : Stable isotopes fingerprinting Chemical fingerprinting in environmental forensics Environmental monitoring of organic contaminant

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I have over 18 years’ experience of collaborative research in environmental chemistry research areas. During the past 16 years I have started to focus more on environmental forensics niche area applying various chemical fingerprinting analyses namely trace element and mass spectral profiling as well as stable isotope analysis to source-apportion environmental contaminants in the environment. In 2012, I was appointed as a senior lecturer to teach environmental chemistry courses at the School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia. In March 2014, while keeping my teaching position at the school, I joined the Doping Control Centre, now officially known as Analytical Biochemistry Research Centre (ABrC) to head their Stable Isotope Laboratory and Unit Perkhidmatan NMR (UPNMR), overseeing daily operations as well as providing analytical services to various researchers in Malaysia. Since 2016, I became involved in a collaborative research with Malaysian Nuclear Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and up until now, still working together with them to strengthen national technical capability in food traceability through application of nuclear and related technologies. So far, I have authored and co-authored more than 30 citation-indexed journals and was awarded numerous national, international and industry grants. I have also received an international fellowship, visiting scientist/expert positions, and most recently been appointed as an environmental forensic expert by a key industry player and stakeholder.

Related SDGs

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Teaching

1. IEA514/3, Applied Environmental Forensics                          

2. IEG301/3, Environmental Forensics            

3. IEK219/3, Treatment And Management Of Scheduled Waste

4. IUK107/4, Chemistry For Technologist                     

5. IEK309/3, Chemodynamics                   

6. IEK215/3, Environmental, Safety And Health Legislation   

7. IEK101/3, Chemical Process Calculations         

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RESEARCH INTEREST | RESEARCH PROJECT | SUPERVISION

RESEARCH INTEREST

1. Stable isotopes fingerprinting

2. Chemical fingerprinting in environmental forensics as well as other forensic applications

3. Environmental monitoring of organic contaminants

RESEARCH PROJECT | BACK TO TOP

1. Elucidating transformation pathway(s) of degraded chemical contaminants based on stable isotope fingerprints, FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH GRANT SCHEME (FRGS), RM128,000.00, 01/09/2022-31/08/2025

2. Implementation of Nuclear Techniques for Authentication of Foods with High-Value Labelling Claims (INTACT Food). A Joint Research Collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the Coordinated Research Project, CRP D52042, EUR 35,000.00, 2019-2024.

3. Field-deployable Analytical Methods to Assess the Authenticity, Safety and Quality of Food. A Joint Research Collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the Coordinated Research Project, CRP D52040, EUR30,000.00, 2017-2022.

4. Source Authentication Analyses of Gelatin-Based Pharmaceutical Capsules: Towards Halal Labelling Claim Verification, USM (RUI), RM64,000.00, 01/01/2020-31/12/2022.

5. Understanding the dietary habit of stingless bees: Towards better quality honey and sustainable apiculture practices, FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH GRANT SCHEME (FRGS), RM110,240.00, 15/08/2017-14/08/2019.

6. Is Organic Produce Really Organic? An Analytical Procedure to Verify Organic Labeling and Certification, USM (Bridging grant Khas), RM25,000.00, 15/08/2018-14/08/2019.

7. A study on the mechanisms of soil water uptake and nutrients cycling dynamics of oil palm trees: Significance in geographical origin determination. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH GRANT SCHEME (FRGS), RM100,000.00, 01/07/2014-31/12/2016.

8. Strengthening National Technical Capability in Food Traceability of Edible Birds Nest through Application of Nuclear and Related Technologies (IAEA TC MAL5030). A National Technical Cooperation Project with the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Malaysian Ministry of Health, Depatment of Chemistry, Malaysia, Department of Veterinary Services, Malaysia and USM, fully funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 2016-2017.

9. IAEA RAS 5062: 'Building Technological Capability for Food Traceability and Food Safety Control Systems Through the Use of Nuclear Analytical Techniques. A Regional Cooperative Project the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, fully funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 2013-2015. 

SUPERVISION  | BACK TO TOP

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JOURNALS & BOOKS | PROCEEDING | ORAL & POSTERS | PRESENTATIONS

JOURNAL & BOOKS | BACK TO TOP

1. Mohammad Qutob, Mohd Rafatullah, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Masoom Raza Siddiqui, Mahboob Alam (2024) A sustainable method for oxidizing phenanthrene in tropical soil using natural iron as a catalyst in a slurry phase reactor with persulfate assistance. Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts. 26, 1391.

2. Mohammad Qutob, Mohd Rafatullah, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Masoom Raza Siddiqui, Mahboob Alam (2024) Remediation of benzo[α]pyrene contaminated soil using iron naturally bearing in tropical soil: A new frontier in catalyst-free in soil remediation. Chemosphere. 364, 143291

3. Godswill Nathan Sambo, Adedapo Adeola, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad (2024) Oil palm waste‐derived adsorbents for the sequestration of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in contaminated aqueous medium. Applied Water Science, 14:113.

4. Mohammad Qutob, Mohd Rafatullah, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Masoom Raza Siddiqui, Mahboob Alam (2024) Advanced oxidation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in tropical soil: Self-catalytic utilization of natural iron contents in an oxygenation reactor supported with persulfate. Science of the Total Environment, Vol 926, 171843.

5. Ehsan Jolous Jamshidi, Yusri Yusup, Chee Wooi Hooy, Mohamad Anuar Kamaruddin, Hasnuri Mat Hassan, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd Shafri, Kek Hoe Then, Mohd Shahkhirat Norizan, Choon Chek Tan (2024) Predicting oil palm yield using a comprehensive agronomy dataset and 17 machine learning and deep learning models. Ecological Informatics 81, 102595.

6. Mohammad Qutob, Mohd Rafatullah, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Khalid A. Alamry, Mahmoud A. Hussein (2024) Tropical soil remediation from pyrene: Release the power of natural iron content in soil for the efficient oxidant's activation. Journal of Environmental Management. Vol 353, Issue 3, 120179.

7. Jing Sheng Ng, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Chin Hong Yong, Ainolsyakira Mohd Rodhi, Baharudin Ibrahim, Adenan, M.N.H., Moosa, S., Othman, Z., Abdullah, S.N.A., Sharif, Z., Ismail, F., Simon D. Kelly, Andrew Cannavan (2022) Adulteration Detection of Edible Bird’s Nests Using Rapid Spectroscopic Techniques Coupled with Multi-Class Discriminant Analysis. Foods. 11, 2401.

8. Yuhao Ang, Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd Shafri, Yang Ping Lee, Shahrul Azman Bakar, Haryati Abidin, Mohd Umar Ubaydah Mohd Junaidi, Shaiful Jahari Hashim, Nik Norasma Che’Ya, Mohd Roshdi Hassan, Hwee San Lim, Rosni Abdullah, Yusri Yusup, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Sin Yin Teh, Mohd Na’aim Samad (2022) Oil palm yield prediction across blocks from multi‑source data using machine learning and deep learning. Earth Science Informatics. 

9. Mohammad Qutob, Mohd Rafatullah, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Abeer M. Alosaimi, Hajer S. Alorfi, Mahmoud A. Hussein (2022) A Review of Pyrene Bioremediation Using Mycobacterium Strains in a Different Matrix. Fermentation. 8, 260.

10. Yong Chin Hong, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Widad Fadhullah, Hasnuri Mat Hassan, Ainolsyakira Mohd Rodhi, Mohd Zulklifi Mustafa, Simon D. Kelly (2022) Addressing the unfulfilled Codex Standard for honey for stingless bee honey through lyophilization process. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, Vol 58, No 2, 180-194.

11. Intan Amirah Restu, Nur Fatin Zahra Mohamad Zhahir, Shum Mun-Hoe, Yong Chin Hong, Ng Jing Sheng, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad (2022) Spectroscopic fingerprinting combined with chemometrics for pesticide residue screening on organic produce: A case study of chili. Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 26, No 1 (2022): 84 – 95.

12. Yong Chin Hong, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Fatimatuzzahra’ Abd Aziz, Jing-Sheng Ng, Fatin Ilyani Nasir, Eng-Keng Seow, Adenan, M.N.H., Moosa, S., Othman, Z., Abdullah, S.N.A., Sharif, Z., Ismail, F., Simon D. Kelly, Andrew Cannavan (2022) Detection of adulteration activities in edible bird’s nest using untargeted ¹H-NMR metabolomics with chemometrics. Food Control, 132, 108542.

13. Yong Chin Hong, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Fatimatuzzahra’ Abd Aziz, Eng-Keng Seow; Fatin Ilyani Nasir, Mohd Zulklifi Mustafa, Baharudin Ibrahim, Simon D. Kelly, Andrew Cannavan (2022) Detecting adulteration of stingless bee honey using untargeted ¹H-NMR metabolomics with chemometrics. Food Chemistry, 368, 130808.

14. Umi Salamah Ramli, Noor Idayu Tahir, Nurul Liyana Rozali, Abrizah Othman, Nor Hayati Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Azmil Haizam Ahmad Tarmizi, Norfadilah Hashim, Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi, Rajinder Singh, Mohamad Arif Abd Manaf, Ghulam Kadir Ahmad Parveez (2020) Sustainable palm oil – The role of screening and advanced analytical techniques for geographical traceability and authenticity verification. Molecules, 25, 2927.

15. Adenan, M.N.H., Moosa, S., Muhammad, S.A., Abrahim, A., Jandric, Z., Islam, M., Rodionova, O., Pomerantsev, A., Perston, B., Cannavan, A, Kelly, S.D., Othman, Z., Abdullah, S.N.A., Sharif, Z., Ismail, F. (2020) Screening Malaysian Edible Bird’s Nests for adulterants using mid-Infrared - Attenuated Total Reflectance (IR-ATR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric analysis by Data-Driven Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (DD-SIMCA). Forensic Chemistry, 17, 100197.

16. Widad Fadhullah, Nur Syahirah Yaccob, M. I. Syakir, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Fu-Jun Yue, Si-Liang Li (2020) Nitrate sources and processes in the surface water of a tropical reservoir by stable isotopes and mixing model. Science of the Total Environment, 700:134517.

17. Nur Anis Ahmad, Ali Salehabadi, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Mardiana Idayu Ahmad (2019) Potential risk and occupational exposure of pesticides among rice farmers of a village located in Northern Peninsular of Malaysia. Exposure and Health, 12, 735 – 749.

18. Ng Jing Sheng, Widad Fadhullah, AKM Omar, Ainolsyakira Mohd Rodhi, Noor Hana Hanif Abu Bakar, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad (2019). The authentication and evaluation of the quality of crude palm oil using FT-IR and FT-NIR combined with chemometric analysis. Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, 23 (5), 870 – 879.

19. Strashnov, Ilya; Gilmour, Jamie; Cannavan, Andrew; Chen, Gang; Dissanayake, Champa; Fernando, Biyagamage Ruchika; Kelly, Simon; Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal; Singh, Dileep; Smith, Gareth; Taous, Fouad; Webb, Carole; Williamson, David; Xu, Zhenzhen (2019) Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionisation (APCI) and Photoionisation (APPI) mass spectrometry for detection of unsaturated fatty acids. Analytical Methods, 11, 3819 – 3828.

20. Strashnov, Ilya; Izosimov, Igor; Gilmour, Jamie; Denecke, Melissa; Almirall, Jose; Cannavan, Andrew; Chen, Gang; Dissanayake, Champa; Doroshenko, Iryna; Elghali, Tibari; Enston, Emma; Fernando, Biyagamage Ruchika; Kasozi, Gabriel; Kelly, Simon; Maqsood, Mohammed; Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal; Muryn, Christopher; Pomerantsev, Alexey; Singh, Dileep; Smith, Gareth; Taous, Fouad; Webb, Carole; Williamson, David; Xu, Zhenzhen; Yang, Shuming; Zitek, Andreas (2019) A Laser Ablation Resonance Ionisation Mass Spectrometer (LA-RIMS) for detection of isotope ratios of uranium at ultra-trace concentrations from solid particles and solutions. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 34, 1630 – 1638.

21. Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal, E.K. Seow, AK Mohd Omar, Ainolsyakira Mohd Rodhi, Hasnuri Mat Hassan, Japareng Lalung, Sze-Chi Lee, Baharuddin Ibrahim (2018). Variations of δ2H, δ18O and δ13C in crude palm oil from different regions in Malaysia: Potential of stable isotope signatures as a key traceability parameter. Science and Justice, 58 (1): 59 – 66.

22. Sze-Chi Lee, Muhammad, S. A., Ibrahim, M. H., Mohamed Nor, N. M. I. (2018) Antifungal properties of Mimusops elengi seeds against paddy seed-borne fungi and selected pathogenic fungi. Malaysian Journal of Microbiology, 14 (2): 152 – 158.

23. Katheem Kiyasudeen, Mahamad Hakimi Bin Ibrahim, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Sultan Ahmed Ismail, Fadzil Noor Bin Gonawan, Mark Harris Zuknik (2018) Earthworms as plug flow reactors: A first-order kinetic study on the gut of the vermicomposting earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 25: 31062 – 31070.

24. Nur Syahirah Yaacob, Muhammad Izzuddin Syakir Bin Ishak, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Zarul Hazrin Bin Hashim, Azimah Binti Abd Rahman, Fu-Jun Yue, Si-Liang Li, Widad Binti Fadhullah (2018) Application of Nitrate Stable Isotopes, δ15N-NO3- and δ18O-NO3- in Bukit Merah Reservoir, Malaysia, Journal of Physical Science, 29(Supp. 3): 1 – 6.

25. Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal, AK Mohd Omar, Ainolsyakira Mohd Rodhi, Hasnuri Mat Hassan (2017). Variations of δ13C and δ15N in oil palm tree organs: An insight into C and N distribution. Journal of Oil Palm Research, 29 (2): 242 – 250.

26. Nur Zafirah Zulkifli, Ilham J, Roslanzairi Mostapa, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Shaiful Yusuff, Muhammad Izzuddin Syakir Ishak (2017). Isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) variations in tropical river sediments of Kelantan, Malaysia: A reconnaissance study of land use impact to the watershed. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 15(4):1101 – 1119.

27. Farah Mastura Rosli, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Widad Fadhullah (2017). Comparison of stable isotope signatures between tropical freshwater and estuarine food web model. Asian Journal of Microbiology Biotechnology Environmental Sciences, 19(4): 836 – 842.

28. E.K. Seow, Baharuddin Ibrahim, Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal, L.H.Lee, Japareng Lalung and L. H. Cheng (2016). Discrimination between cave and house-farmed edible bird's nests (EBN) based on major minerals profile. Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 39 (2): 181 – 195.

29. E.K. Seow, Baharuddin Ibrahim, Muhammad, Syahidah Akmal, L.H. Lee and L. H. Cheng (2016). Differentiation between house and cave edible bird's nests by chemometric analysis of amino acid composition data. LWT Food Science & Technology. 65: 428 – 435. 

30. Muhammad, S. A., Hayman, A. R., Van Hale, R., and Frew, R. D. (2015). Assessing carbon and hydrogen isotopic fractionation of diesel fuel n-alkanes during progressive evaporation. J. Forensic Sci. 60(Suppl. 1), S56 – S65.

31. Muhammad, S. A., Hayman, A. R., and Frew, R. D. (2015). Compound-specific isotope analysis of diesel fuels in a forensic investigation. Front. Chem. 3:12. doi: 10.3389/ fchem.2015.00012.

32. Mardiana Idayu Ahmad, Nur Anis Ahmad, Syahidah Akmal Muhammad, Norizan Esa (2014). A Survey on Use, Hazards and Potential Risks of Rice Farming Pesticides in Permatang Keriang, Pulau Pinang (Malaysia), International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 4, Issue 10, 1-11.

33. Muhammad, S. A., Frew, R. D. and Hayman, A. R. (2013). Forensic differentiation of diesel fuels using hydrocarbon isotope fingerprints. Centr. Euro. Geol. 56, 19–37.

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ORAL & POSTERS | BACK TO TOP

PRESENTATIONS | BACK TO TOP

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CONSULTANCY | COMMUNITY SERVICES | DOWNLOAD

CONSULTANCY | BACK TO TOP

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