L'Oréal-UNESCO International Prize for Women in Science 2024: winners revealed and a French woman rewarded

The L'Oréal Foundation and UNESCO reveal the five winners of the International Prize for Women in Science 2024. On 28 May, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, these researchers will be rewarded for their pioneering work. Among them is a famous French scientist who received this prestigious recognition.

Even today, only one in three researchers in the world is a woman according to a UNESCO report (33%). The glass ceiling remains a reality: only a quarter of senior scientific positions are held by women in Europe. Since the Nobel Prizes in Science were established in 1901, only 25 women have won these awards. for 26 years,UNESCO And the L'Oreal Foundation Working together to promote women in science through the International Prize for Women in Science.

This prestigious award is given each year to an outstanding female scientist from each of the following five regions: Africa and the Arab States, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. In this 26th edition, the winners were selected from more than 350 nominees around the world, by an independent international jury headed by Professor Brigitte L. Kiefer, Director of Research at Inserm, member of the Academy of Sciences and previous winner of the award.

• there Professor Rose Lakein the field of immunology, wins an award Africa and Arab countries region. The laureate's national, regional and global influence has had a profound impact on public health in her country of origin – Cameroon – and throughout Africa. She was rewarded for her innovative research and efforts to improve the study of malaria in pregnant women, support polio eradication and enable better vaccination in Africa, as well as for her mobilization to advance the careers of young scientists.

• there Professor Alicia Kowaltowskiin the field of biochemistry, won an award Latin America and the Caribbean region. This Brazilian academic was rewarded for her fundamental contribution to the biology of mitochondria, which are “the main source of energy for cells, from which they form batteries.” His work has been essential to understanding the role of energy metabolism in chronic diseases, particularly obesity and diabetes, as well as in aging.

• there Canadian professor Nada Jabadoin the field of human genetics, wins an award North America region. This pioneer revolutionized our understanding of the genetic defects responsible for the aggressiveness of childhood cancers. His discovery of the first histone mutations in human disease, called oncohistones, transformed cancer research.

• there Professor Ning Yanin the field of structural biology, wins an award Asia-Pacific region. The director of the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory in China has been honored for discovering the atomic structure of multiple membrane proteins that ensure the flow of ions and sugars across the cell membrane, revealing the principles that govern membrane transport. His research has shed light on many disorders such as epilepsy and arrhythmia and has guided the treatment of chronic pain syndrome.

• Rooster in Doodle Doo! there Professor Genevieve Al-MouzaniIn the field of molecular biology, he won an award Europe region. The research director of the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique and the Marie Curie Institute has been honored for her crucial contributions to understanding the cellular mechanisms responsible for cancer, starting with the integration of DNA into the cell. His pioneering work in the field of epigenetics has enabled significant advances in disease detection and thus improved biodiagnostics. The first woman to head the Curie Institute after Irène Joliot-Curie and a mentor committed to passing it on to the next generation of scientists, Professor Al-Mouzani is an inspiration to female scientists around the world.

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