[Wigsat-l] UNESCO HONOURS FIVE EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN SCIENTISTS

[Sophia Huyer]

UNESCO HONOURS FIVE EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN SCIENTISTS
New York, Oct 15 2009 12:05PM
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization  
(UNESCO) and cosmetics giant L’Oréal today announced the names of five  
exceptional women scientists, selected by a panel headed by a Nobel  
Prize-winning scientist, who will receive major awards.

The five women were chosen to receive the 2010 L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards  
in the Life Sciences out of nearly 1,000 nominated scientists by a  
jury – headed by the 1999 recipient of the Nobel Prize in medicine,  
Günter Blobel – of 18 eminent members of the scientific community.

The awards ceremony will take place next March at UNESCO headquarters  
in Paris, with each of the five laureates receiving a $100,000 prize  
for their contributions to advancing science.

Rashika El Ridi of Cairo University in Egypt was selected for her work  
towards developing a vaccine against the tropical disease  
schistosomiasis/bilharzia, while Lourdes J. Cruz of the Marine Science  
Institute at the University of the Philippines Diliman is being  
honoured for the discovery of marine snail toxins that can assist in  
the study of brain function.

For her part, Elaine Fuchs of the Rockefeller University in the United  
States was recognized for her contributions to knowledge of skin  
biology and skin stem cells. Anne Dejean-Assémat of the Pasteur  
Institute in France was chosen for her contributions to understanding  
of leukaemia and liver cancers and Alejandra Bravo of the Institute of  
Molecular Microbiology of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico  
was honoured for her work on a bacterial toxin which acts as a power  
insecticide.

L’Oréal and UNESCO, who joined forces 12 years ago to support the  
cause of women in science, stressed the world’s need for science more  
than ever in the face of the current economic crisis.

The winners of the L’Oréal-UNESCO awards “are among the world’s best  
scientific talents and well serve as role models for the future of  
science,” said Professor Blobel, adding that two 2008 laureates were  
awarded Nobel Prizes this year.
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