Associate Professor Dr Ooi Pei Boon

Dr Ooi Pei Boon

Associate Professor Dr Ooi Pei Boon

  • Associate Professor
Department of Medical Sciences

Biography

Dr Ooi Pei Boon obtained her PhD in Guidance and Counselling from Universiti Putra Malaysia. Believing passion and integrity to be the keys of success, she focuses on healthcare development, research and leadership programmes locally, regionally and globally. She is trained in using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in her private practice as a counsellor. Dr Ooi is registered and practiticing counsellor with the Board of Counsellors, Malaysia, have equipped her with the essential skills and tools to make this strategic move into holistic healing a reality.

Dr Ooi is often sought to be a speaker for various talks and workshops in the community, having conducted talks and seminars for both schools and companies such as Robert Bosch (M) Penang, Petronas Caligali, Malaysia Board of Counsellor TV, schools and higher education institutions. She is also actively involved in the organising committee of conferences. Her passion has always been about making a difference in an individual’s life. Her previous position as Senior Director of a higher learning institution provided her with an excellent opportunity to assist in impacting on the individual who comes through to her office. She has also served as Chief Operating Officer for the branch campus of this institution, providing strategic directions to a team of 70 staff members to enrich and enhance the students’ experience.

She is also the master trainer licensed to train others in cyberbullying intervention programme in which she has obtained various grants to support this initiative in the Malaysia context.  Dr Ooi was appointed the local organising Chairperson for the Cambridge-Oxford-Sunway Biomedical Symposiums series and the Royal College of Physician London-Cambridge-Sunway Medical Seminars. She acts as the secretariat for the Southeast Asia Leadership Programme (since 2016) and the Leadership in Medicine Programme (since 2019).

Dr Ooi is the principal investigator of the Malaysia Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), whose focus is on cyberbullying incidents among visually impaired youths in Malaysia and has recently been awarded industrial grants to develop COVID-19 vaccination intervention programmes in Malaysia, focusing on the underserved community (elderly and B40 groups in Malaysia). She also serves as the academic editor for the PLOS One journal.  

Academic & Professional Qualifications

  • PhD, Guidance & Counselling, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia (2016)
  • Master Guidance & Counselling, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia (2005)
  • Bachelor of Education, Guidance & Counselling, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia (2001)
  • Anggota, Lembaga Kaunselor, Malaysia (2023-2025)
  • Registered Counsellor and Practitioner (Lembaga Kaunselor, Malaysia)
  • Panel Counsellor for the Malaysia Bar Council

Research Interests

  • Cyberbullying
  • Mental health
  • Public health
  • Virtual Counselling & Artificial Intelligence
  • Counsellor professional development and self-efficacy
  • Ethics in Counselling

Notable Publications

  1. Ooi, P. B.*, Ho, M. C., Voon, S. P., Lee, K. W., Siang Ang, A. C., Teng, H. J., Pang, K.Y., & Ching, S. M. (2024). Mental health and co-existence with COVID-19: quality of life, fear, anxiety and burnout in the early endemic phase in Malaysia. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2024.2366859
  2. Ooi, P. B.*, & Wilkinson, G. (2024). Enhancing ethical codes with artificial intelligence governance – a growing necessity for the adoption of generative AI in counselling. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2024.2373180
  3. Eng Hui, E., Ooi, P. B*., Chow, S. K., Hwang, J. S., Peh, S. C., Teh, J. K. L., Wan Ghazali, W. S., & Ching, S. M. (2024). A survey exploring the nexus of psychological traits, nature connection, and quality of life among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2024.2377716
  4. Chan, N. N., Ooi, P. B.*, Ku, W. L., & Ong, K. W. (2024). Protective shielding, potential harm: a hermeneutic phenomenological study of the cyberbullying experiences of youth with visual impairment. Behaviour & Information Technology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2024.2374893
  5. Khong Yun Pang, Wen Li Ku, Jaclyn Hui Jie Teng, Philip Oon Hun Ling & Pei Boon Ooi* (2023) The Prevalence and Association of Cyberbullying and Depression in the Malaysian Adolescent Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 18:3, 346-358,  10.1080/17450128.2022.2159599
  6. Chan Nee Nee, Nadia Samsudin, Ho Meng Chuan, Mohd Ikhram Bin Mohd Ridzuan, Ooi Pei Boon, Ani Munirah Binti Mohamad & Herbert Scheithauer (2023). The digital defense against cyberbullying: A systematic review of tech-based approaches, Cogent Education, 10:2, 2288492, DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2023.2288492
  7. Ooi, P.B.*, Khor, K.S., Tan, C.C. and Ong, D.L.T. (2022) Depression, anxiety, stress, and satisfaction with life: Moderating role of interpersonal needs among university students. Front. Public Health 10:958884. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.958884
    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.958884/full
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35669207/
  8. Lee, K.W., Gew, L.T., Siau, C.S., Peh, S.C., Chia, Y. C., Yacob S, Chan, N. N., Seow, V.K, Ooi, P. B.* (2022). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its associated factors in Malaysia. PLoS ONE 17(9): e0266925. 10.1371/journal.pone.0266925  
  9. Chan, N.N., Ong, K.W., Siau, C.S., Lee, K. W., Peh, S. C., Yacob, S., Chia, Y. C., Seow, V. K., & Ooi, P. B.* (2022). The lived experiences of a COVID-19 immunization programme: vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal. BMC Public Health 22, 296. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12632-z
  10. Lee, K. W., Ang, C. S., Lim, S. H., Siau, C. S., Ong, L. T. D., Ching, S. M., & Ooi, P. B.* (2022). Prevalence of mental health conditions among people living with HIV during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A rapid systematic review and meta‐analysis, HIV Medicine, 23(9), https://doi.org/10.1111/hiv.13299 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/hiv.13299
  11. Ang, C. S., Lee, K. W., Voon, S. P., Ho, M. C., Tan, C. E., Ching, S. M., & Ooi, P. B.* (2022). Validation of Malay version of the COVID-19 Burnout Scale, Oman Medical Journal, DOI 10.5001/omj.2023.20 https://www.omjournal.org/OMJ_Issue.aspx?isOf=1
  12. Ang, C. S., Lee, K. W., Ho, M. C., Voon, S. P., Ching, S. M., Tan, C. E., Hoo, F. K., & Ooi, P. B.* (2022). Validation of the Malay Version of the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale in Malaysia. The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, MJMS, 29(3), 122–132. https://doi.org/10.21315/mjms2022.29.3.12 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35846496/
  13. Ooi, P. B.*, Ong, D. L. T., Peh, S. C., Ismail, S. F., Paramanathan, S, A. M., Lee, A. S. H., Soon, L. K. & Chan, N. N. (2021) Active aging, psychological well-being and quality of life of elderly and pre-elderly Malaysians during movement control periods, Educational Gerontology, 47:8, 353-368, 
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2021.1983295  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03601277.2021.1983295