Ian is a third-year Malaysian medical student at St George, University of London. Acclaimed by the Telegraph for his efforts combatting misinformation in the 2020 good news round-up, he also no stranger to the BBC, Aljazeera, South China Morning Post and other media outlets. With a belief that young people can be a strong and important voice in the pandemic, Ian helped establish More Viral Than The Virus, an independent global COVID youth movement with no funding whatsoever. In just 10 days at the start of the first lockdown, Ian and other medical students united and established a network of young people from over 100 different countries to combat misinformation, providing translations in more than 50 different languages. His work mainly surrounds infodemic management, tackling mental health, bridging the gap between the World Health Organization, leaders and young people. Having spearheaded and sustained the movement since 22 March 2020, he implores leaders and stakeholders to realise the essential role of young people and their meaningful engagement. As for his peers, he hopes to call upon more conversations about mental health, collaboration and solidarity for vaccine equity. Photo credit: Klaus Tan / Chuttersnap
