L’Oréal Names 22nd International For Women in Science Award Winners

The Fondation L’Oréal and UNESCO revealed the winners of the 22nd International For Women in Science Award.

Five exceptional women scientists are honored each year, from diverse regions around the world, for the excellence of their work in the field of Life Sciences. 

They will each receive €100,000 and will be recognized alongside 15 talented young women scientists from across the world, at a ceremony on March 12th at UNESCO House in Paris.

This year, the winners represent these fields of Life Sciences: biotechnology, ecology, epigenetics, epidemiology and infectiology.

The winners are below -- and shown in the photo above: 

• Professor Edith Heard Frs – Biological sciences. Representing Europe. (top row, far left)


• Professor Abla Mehio Sibai – Medicine and Health sciences. Representing Africa and the Arab States. 


• Dr. Firdausi Qadri – Biological sciences. Representing the Asia-Pacific. (top row, far right)


• Professor Edith Heard Frs – Biological sciences. Representing Europe. (bottom row, far right)


• Professor Esperanza Martinez-Romero – Ecology and Environmental sciences. Representing Latin America. (bottom row, far left)


• Professor Kristi Anseth – Biological sciences. Representing North America. (bottom row, middle)

Since the creation of the For Women in Science program in 1998, L’Oréal and UNESCO have honored and supported 112 laureates and more than 3,300 talented young women scientists, including doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers, in more than 118 countries.

Globally, women continue to represent only 29% of researchers. They are more numerous in certain disciplines, however, the glass ceiling remains a reality within research as a whole. Men occupy 89% of senior academic posts in Europe, and only 3% of Nobel Prizes for Science have ever been awarded to women.