2018 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE AWARDS

THE 2018 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE AWARDS
Women are still under-represented in various fields, including Science, where the ceiling glass is still a reality. Nowadays, barely 28% of researchers are… women. In addition, all of the 9 Nobel Prizes in Science have been awarded to men in last October. Since the creation of the Nobel Prizes in Science, less than 3% have been awarded to women.
Yet, eminent women in science are numerous. For almost 20 years, the L’Oréal Foundation, in partnership with UNESCO, has celebrated each year 5 exceptional female researchers and has been committed to promote diversity between women and men in Science.

THE LAUREATES OF THE 2018 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE AWARDS
The 5 women scientists celebrated by the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards have been selected by an independent jury. This jury was comprised of ten high-profile members of the international science community, chaired this year by Professor Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Laureate of the 2008 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award and of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009.
Each Laureate will receive €100,000 in prize money for her outstanding contribution to advances in science. They will be celebrated in a ceremony that will be held on March 22nd 2018 in Paris, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme.

AFRICA AND ARAB STATES
Professor Heather ZAR, South Africa
Professor, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital
Director Medical Research Council Unit (MRC), University of Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Medicine and Health Sciences/Pediatrics
“For establishing a cutting-edge research program in pneumonia, tuberculosis and asthma, saving the lives of many children worldwide.”

ASIA / PACIFIC
Professor Meemann CHANG, China
Professor, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, CHINA
Biological Sciences/Paleontology
“For her pioneering work on fossil records leading to insights on how aquatic vertebrates adapted to live on land.”

EUROPE

Professor Caroline DEAN, United Kingdom
Professor, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, UK
Biological Sciences/Molecular biology
“For her groundbreaking research on how plants adapt to their surroundings and climate change, leading to new ways for crop improvement.”

LATIN AMERICA
Professor Amy T. AUSTIN, Argentina
Professor, Agricultural Plant Physiology and Ecology Research Institute (IFEVA) – CONICET, School of Agriculture, University of Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Ecology and Environmental sciences “For her remarkable contributions to understanding terrestrial ecosystem ecology in natural and human-modified landscapes.”

NORTH AMERICA
Professor Janet ROSSANT, Canada
Senior Scientist, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, CANADA
University Professor, University of Toronto, CANADA
President, Gairdner Foundation, CANADA
Biological Sciences/Developmental biology
“For her outstanding research that helped us to better understand how tissues and organs are formed in the developing embryo.”