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Australian born scientist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn was among five women honoured this year in international awards for science.
The recipients of the 10th Annual were L’OREAL UNESCO Awards for Women in Science were announced in Paris on November 9, 2007. These awards recognize five laureates annually who have contributed to the advancement of science.
Candidates for the awards are proposed by an international network of 2,000 scientists and winners are chosen by a jury of 18 eminent members of the scientific community. The 2007 jury was presided over by Professor Gunter Blobel, Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine 1999.
Australian born scientist, Professor Elizabeth Blackburn was named Laureate for North America: “For the discovery of the nature and maintenance of chromosome ends and their roles in cancer and aging”. Professor Blackburn is currently investigating the role of telomerase in cancer cells at the University of California in San Francisco.
Laureate for Latin America: Professor Ana Belen Elgoyhen based at the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Molecular Biology in Buenos Aires, Argentina, “For her contribution to the understanding of the molecular basis of hearing”.
Laureate for Europe: Professor Ada Yonath based at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, “For structural studies of the protein-synthesizing system and the mode of action of antibiotics”.
Laureate for Africa & the Arab States: Professor Lihadh Al-Gazali based at UAE University in the United Arab Emirates, “For the characterization of new hereditary diseases”.
Laureate for Asia-Pacific: Assistant Professor V. Narry Kim based at Seoul National University in the Republic of Korea, “For elucidating several key steps in the formation of a new class of gene-regulating RNA molecules”
In addition to the honour of winning such a pretigious award, the five Laureate’s will each receive a cheque for US$100,000 in recognition for research work in the life sciences.
The awards will be presented at an official ceremony at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on March 6, 2008. Presenting the awards in Paris will be Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO and L’Oréal Chairman, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones.
The Women in Science Awards are a joint partnership between the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the L’OREAL Corporate Foundation.