{"id":7633,"date":"2016-02-11T09:52:07","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T09:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/?p=7633"},"modified":"2016-02-11T09:52:07","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T09:52:07","slug":"five-women-biologists-in-developing-countries-win-2016-elsevier-foundation-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/five-women-biologists-in-developing-countries-win-2016-elsevier-foundation-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Women Biologists in Developing Countries Win 2016 Elsevier Foundation Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Early-career researchers from Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, Uganda and Yemen honored for their life-enhancing work in health and nutrition<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured\"<\/a>Washington D.C. \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Five researchers have been named winners of the\u00a02016 Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World, in recognition of research that has strong potential health and economic benefits.\u00a0The winning scholars from Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, Uganda and Yemen are being honored for their accomplishments in nutrition, psychiatry, biotechnology, women\u2019s health, bioenvironmental sciences and epidemiology. They are also celebrated for mentoring young women scientists who are pursuing careers in agriculture, biology and medicine in their respective countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Elsevier Foundation awards are given in partnership with the\u00a0Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World\u00a0(OWSD<\/span><\/a>) and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS<\/span><\/a>) for the advancement of science in developing countries. The five winners will receive their awards on February 13th<\/sup>\u00a0during a ceremony at the Gender & Minorities Networking Breakfast at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.<\/span><\/p>\n

The recognition is intended to invigorate the winners’ careers by giving them new visibility and networking opportunities, allowing them to engage with colleagues and the public early in their careers. The winners also serve as a source of inspiration for other women in countries where more scientific expertise is a critical need.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The 2016 winners<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Fatmawati, PhD\u00a0\u00a0\u2014 East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Region<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Assistant Professor at Laboratory of Natural Product and Chemical Synthesis,\u00a0Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember<\/em>, Surabaya, Indonesia<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Sri-Fatmawati\"<\/a>Dr. Fatmawati is being recognized for her work analyzing the medical and pharmaceutical potential of plant and fungi extracts normally used in herbal medicine.<\/span>
\n She has also received the prestigious Pemenang Fellowship International L’Or\u00e9al-UNESCO for Women in Science for research analyzing substances from sponges that may lead to treatments for malaria, cancer and Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I don’t know what the future brings, but I know science is part of my soul. I hope more young generations will share their life with science for a better world.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Sushila Maharjan, PhD\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 Central and South Asia Region<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Research Director and founding member, Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology (RIBB) in Katmandhu, Nepal<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Sushila-Maharjan\"<\/a>Dr. Maharjan is being recognized for her work using soil microbes to develop medically useful chemicals. Microbes create a great number of the materials used in medicine, including antibiotics. Dr. Maharjan is currently researching bacterial strains from the high-altitude regions of Nepal to identify substances useful for development of new antibiotics, as well as other medically useful compounds.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The most rewarding part of my research is to find novel drugs and antibiotics from Streptomyces bacteria of Nepal that have great potential to combat the emerging drug and antibiotic resistant diseases worldwide.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
\n

\n

Magaly Blas, PhD\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 Latin America and the Caribbean Region<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Associate Professor of Public Health, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Magaly-Blas\"<\/a>Dr. Blas is being recognized for her work in epidemiology using information and communication technology to solve health problems, particularly sexually transmitted diseases in urban and rural Peru. She also leads the Mama River Programme, training community members to use smartphones to collect basic information from pregnant women and forward this information to a medical ship to schedule visits.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Female leadership in Latin America is growing. I feel proud to be part of this new generation of women scientists who are trying to make a difference in their country and in the world.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Etheldrera Nakimuli\u2010Mpungu, PhD\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 Sub-Saharan Africa Region<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Senior Lecturer and Psychiatric Epidemiologist at Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Kampala, Uganda<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Etheldreda-Nakimuli-Mpungu\"<\/a>Dr. Nakimuli-Mpungu is be recognized for her work using psychotherapy as treatment of depression and alcoholism in Ugandans with HIV. Depression is a serious problem for HIV patients throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, making it more likely that those patients will stop taking their HIV-antiretroviral medications.Dr. Nakimuli\u2010Mpungu is working with service providers to integrate depression screening with HIV-treatment, as well as to include local communities in discussions of depression to help destigmatize the illness.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

“A country needs human capital; individuals who are productive members of society,” said Dr. Nakimuli-Mpungu. “This innovative model helps people coping with HIV\/AIDS to regain their dignity, self-esteem and desire to fully participate and contribute to their communities.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Ghanya Naji Mohammed Al-Naqeb, PhD\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 Arab Region<\/strong><\/span>Assistant<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Sana\u2019a University, Yemen<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ghanya-Naji-Mohammed-Al-Naqeb\"<\/a>Dr. Al-Naqeb is being recognized for her research using chemicals isolated from Yemeni herbal plants for disease prevention. For example, a major focus of her work has been black cumin seeds, which are commonly used as a spice in Yemen, other Middle Eastern countries and India. Her research on these seeds has focused on their effects in protecting the heart from cardiovascular diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite all the difficulties we face in our country, Yemeni women have always worked hard to raise the name of Yemen. I am very pleased to represent my country with my scientific research.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Recipients were selected by a panel of eminent scientists. The prize includes USD $5,000 and all-expenses-paid attendance at the 2016 AAAS Annual Meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe determination, commitment and enthusiasm of these five women is an inspiration to us all but especially to other women undertaking scientific research in developing countries,\u201d said OWSD President Fang Xin. \u201cThis award celebrates their excellent science and demonstrates that their hard work has had an impact both regionally and internationally, despite the difficult local conditions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ylann-Schemm3\"<\/a>
Ylann Schemm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThese are exemplary researchers, and their work has enormous potential to improve people\u2019s health and support stronger communities,\u201d said TWAS Executive Director Romain Murenzi. \u201cTheir work will be widely appreciated for the benefits it can bring\u00a0to developing countries. Just as important, they will serve as models and as inspiration for young scientists \u2013 women and men \u2013 of a new generation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDavid Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation, said: \u201cE year we learn more about the incredible challenges faced by women researchers doing science in low-resource settings. We hope that our awards help shine a light on these emerging women leaders and the important work they are doing in their fields.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsevier Connect Contributor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ylann Schemm (<\/span>@ylannschemm<\/span><\/a>) serves as the\u00a0<\/span>Elsevier Foundation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Program Director which, provides partnership grants to advance global health, research and sustainability in developing countries and promote diversity in science. She is also the chair of the communications team for\u00a0<\/span>Research4Life<\/span><\/a>, a unique UN-pan publisher partnership to provide free or low cost access to researchers in the developing world. Ylann is based in Amsterdam.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The winning scholars from Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, Uganda and Yemen are being honored for their accomplishments in nutrition, psychiatry, biotechnology, women\u2019s health, bioenvironmental sciences and epidemiology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured-300x218.jpg",300,218,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",89,65,false],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",400,291,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",96,70,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Elsevier_Foundation_Winners_featured.jpg",150,109,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Amrita Tuladhar"]},"category_info":"Culture<\/a>","tag_info":"Culture","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}