L'Oréal Singapore Celebrates For Women in Science Fellowship 2021

This program celebrates female scientific excellence and spotlights the advancements made by the leading women scientists to inspire more young females to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.

“We are proud to share that we remain strong in our commitment in supporting and recognizing talented young female scientists in their professional achievements, even during this pandemic," shared Isabelle Lim, L’Oréal Corporate Affairs, Engagement, Sustainability, Consumer Advisory Director.

Dr Gloryn Chia Le Bin, the 2021 Life Sciences fellow, is the Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore. Her work focuses on development of next-generation personalized cancer vaccines that will be targeted to the tumour. She aims to develop more effective therapies for the treatment of refractory cancer with her research.

Dr Zhou Yan, the recipient of the 2021 Physical and Engineering Sciences award, is the Editor of Water Research, the top journal in environmental engineering, as well as an Associate Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National Technological University. Her research delves into converting organic waste to microbial proteins (single-cell proteins). Her goal is to alleviate the growing demand for protein-based food, providing food security in Singapore, and simultaneously developing a new roadmap for food waste utilization. Dr Gloryn Chia Le Bin and Dr Zhou Yan join the ranks of 275 and counting brilliant young women scientists awarded globally in 110 countries every year.

Both fellows were selected by an esteemed jury panel of six eminent members of the Singapore scientific community whose active participation in the program was crucial in ensuring scientific excellence at every step of the selection process. The jury members are:

Jury Members

Dr Christina Chai

Head of Department & Professor in the Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore (NUS)

Prof Leo Tan

Professor in the Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore

Prof Low Hong Yee

Associate Head of Pillar of Engineering Product Development (EPD); Associate Professor (EPD) & Director of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Centre (DManD), Singapore University of Technology and Design

Dr Tarun Chopra

Director of Advanced Research at L'Oréal Singapore; Joint Director of L'Oréal-SELSE Microbiome Lab at Nanyang Technology University

Prof Lam Yeng Ming

Chair of the School of Materials Science and Engineering; Director of the Facility for Analysis, Characterisation, Testing and Simulation (FACTS) Lab, Nanyang Technological University

Dr Lisa Ng

Executive Director, A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs; Executive Director, Biomedical Research Council, A*STAR

Runners Up

Runner Up: The 2021 Life Sciences Finalist

Researcher/Designation: Dr Dang Thuy Tram, Assistant Professor, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Research Summary: Fabricating a 3D printing device for implantation to deliver cellular therapeutics with enhanced cell survival for treatment of insulin dependent diabetes.

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Runner Up: The 2021 Physical & Engineering Sciences Finalist

Researcher/Designation: Dr Chew Jia Wei, Associate Professor, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Research Summary: Understanding membrane biofouling by biopharmaceuticals through both experiments and simulations to assess the dominant operating parameters and interfacial interactions. The results obtained from research can be extended to other biopharmaceuticals, chiral separation of small molecule pharmaceuticals, and to food processing.