Assoc Prof Dr Mahenderan Appukutty is a lecturer at Faculty of Sports Science & Recreation, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam. He holds a PhD in Nutritional Sciences focusing on nutrition, immunity and exercise performance from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MSc in Sports Science from Universiti Sains Malaysia and BSc (Hons) in Nutrition and Community Health from Universiti Putra Malaysia. At present, he is the Vice President of Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) and he receives the Fellow of NSM (FNSM) in 2016. He also serves as Vice President of Malaysian Association of Sports Medicine (MASM), Vice President of and Malaysian Society of Body Composition (MSBC). He was also elected to the Federation of Asian Nutrition Societies (FANS) as Executive Council Member 2019-2023.  In 2021, he has been elected as the Scientific Advisor of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Southeast East Asia Region. He also serves on the Clinical Care Committee for World Obesity (WO) Federation. His research interests and focus are on functional food and exercise science. He chairs the Malaysian Vegetarian Dietary Guidelines (MoH) and contributed as a key writer for the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines. He has worked closely in the capacity building of Nutritionists in the region (Southeast Asia Nutrition Leadership Program, SEAMEO-RECFON, Indonesia and also serve as Chairperson of the Malaysian Nutrition Leadership Program (MyNLP) and South East Asia Public Health Nutrition Leadership Programme (SEAPHN LP).