An active citizen on all fronts
Today, this internationally recognized expert in marine toxicology sees herself above all as an active citizen in her home country, the Philippines.
“After devoting all my time to a relatively productive scientific career, I asked myself what I had really done to help my country and my Fellow citizens.” Alarmed by the high levels of poverty in rural areas of the Philippines, in 2001 she launched the Rural Livelihood Incubator (Rural Linc), an association that strives to create jobs and fight poverty and socio-political instability in rural areas.

Lourdes Cruz plans to use the money from the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award to buy land: “We will install a fruit processing plant for farmers, where local tribes can sell their products locally”, she explains. This active citizen uses science to fight poverty as she strives to create a better world.

Watch her portrait!

Each year nearly 8 million people die from cancer worldwide. To counter this plague, Professor Anne Dejean-Assémat has devoted her research to the study of the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the development of human cancers. She has made considerable progress in understanding cancer and has opened doors to the development of new medical procedures. For these considerable advances, this internationally renowned scientist was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 2004 and named Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur in 2007.

An accomplished scientist
Anne Dejean-Assémat is well aware of the enormous pressures of her profession. Not only do scientists put a lot of pressure on themselves, she says, but they are also constantly evaluated by their peers, when publishing articles, seeking funding and creating or maintaining research facilities. Faced with the permanent challenge of international competition, Anne Dejean-Assémat claims “at some point, you must be able to say that your competitors do not necessarily know more than you do, and to keep on giving it all you’ve got!”
Yet these constraints failed to discourage this impassioned scientist, who is still persuaded that the future of the world depends on knowledge: “The future of a country lies in unprogrammed, unchannelled fundamental research, and scientists are part of a nation’s wealth that must not be squandered or disdained.” 

Watch her portrait!

A green researcher
“Green solutions for a sustainable world” is the motto of the Mexican scientist Alejandra Bravo. This internationally renowned biologist is working to show how toxins produced by certain bacteria called Bt can be used as biopesticides, an ecological way to control insect pests, unlike chemical products. Her research required a lot of determination because as a young researcher she had to start from scratch in her home country. Until then, no research had been conducted on Bt toxins at her university in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
She spent a year in Belgium at a company on the leading edge of this field, and on returning to Mexico, used this experience to create a specialised laboratory within her university. Today, she continues to play an active role in the development of biotechnologies in agriculture throughout Latin America. 

Vital research to face the current scientific challenges
Yet the combat of this avid supporter of scientific progress did not stop there. Alejandra is convinced that rapid technological advances must be harnessed to prevent diseases and combat future afflictions. “It took 13 years to sequence the human genome, but today we could do the work in a matter of months or even weeks! Genome mapping and other types of technology have changed our way of doing research.”

This is especially true since global warming will require even greater vigilance: “There will be changes in the populations of insect pests and new bacterial and viral epidemics,” she predicts. “It is vital that we continue to make scientific progress to solve these problems because they will affect food production and health.” 

Watch her portrait!

A staunch supporter of gender equality
Yet Elaine Fuchs is also fighting for another cause: to give women in science the place they deserve. She was encouraged to pursue a career in chemistry by the devoted women in her life, including her mother and her aunt, a biologist, who supported Elaine in her career choice. Her fight for gender equality began very early on when she discovered that her salary at the University of Chicago was lower than the starting salary of a male assistant professor in the same department. “I immediately felt an urgent need to remedy this situation”, she explains. Today she still deplores that women are less well represented in positions of responsibility, which means that fewer women are recognized for their scientific talent. Consequently, Elaine Fuchs is relentlessly fighting on two fronts, for gender equality and scientific progress. 

Watch her portrait !

Towards a vaccine against schistosomiasis
She has devoted a large part of her research to the development of a vaccine against schistosomiasis. Also known as bilharzia or “snail fever”, this tropical parasitic disease affects over 200 million people, making it one of the most devastating epidemics in the world, second only to malaria. A pioneer in understanding the biology of this parasite, Rashika El Ridi has high hopes that a vaccine will be developed within the next five years.

An independent researcher
While showing unfaltering resolve in her research, this Egyptian scientist has preserved her independence, which she says is vital. This independence can be seen in her determination to help advance science. “I have a hard time with the fact that we are on the verge of reaching the planet Mars, but we are incapable of developing effective vaccines against malaria, schistosomiasis or tuberculosis!”

A role model for all
She also treasures her independence on a more personal level: a renowned scientist with an exemplary career, she has never neglected her private life and her life as a woman. “Balancing the two roles is the price that must be paid for perfect personal satisfaction; a secure, well-respected job; financial independence; happiness and peace of mind.”
Thanks to her high-profile research, Rashika El Ridi was able to create immunology laboratories for her university. She has also worked relentlessly to find the financial resources to fund the research of dozens of students in Egypt.

Her constant devotion, her humanistic, proactive vision of science and her pioneering fight against a devastating disease are all qualities that make this woman a true role model for all scientists. 

Watch her portrait !

Those Fellowships give a boost to promising research and help the beneficiaries to build networks in the international community and acquire experience that they can later share when they return home.  

This year, the fellows have carried out their research in varied fields, at the forefront of the current scientific challenges and their projects fall under 4 main topics:

 1^st topic: Environmental protection and preservation of natural resources
- María Gabriela GEI from Costa Rica is a PhD student in Plant Ecology. She is working on the effects of the functional diversity of plants on the tropical forest ecosystem. Her Host institution is the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota in the USA.
- Djoudi ROUKIA from the Comoros is a PhD student in Phytochemistry. She is working on Marine biomolecules of biological interest in the Comoros archipelago. Her Host institution is the Laboratory of Biomolecular and Environmental Chemistry at the University of Perpignan in France.
- Maria-Teresa GUARDIOLA-CLARAMONTE from Spain is a PhD student in Hydrology and Water resources. She is working on the Public Health and environmental implications of water recycling. Her Host institution is the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas in Aleppo, Syria, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK.
- Nawal BOUAYNAYNE from Morocco is a PhD student in Chemistry of natural substances. She is working on antiparasitic and cytotoxic activity of benthic seawood extracts from the Nador laggon (Morocco). Her Host institution is theFaculty of Pharmacy at the Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France.

 2^nd topic: New ideas in therapeutic treatments
- Elisabeth LENDOYE from Gabon is a PhD student in Physiology. She is developing a new pharmacological approach against type 2 diabetes. Her Host institution is the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France.
- Antima GUPTA from India  is a PhD student in Bacteriology. She is working on the development of an ex vivo model of resistance for testing new tuberculosis inhibitors. Her Host institution is the Department of Biological Sciences at the Birkbeck College, University of London, in the UK.
- Yifen TAN from Malaysia is a PhD student in Molecular Genetics. She is studying the functioning of small no-coding RNA in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (an opportunistic pathogen). Her Host institution is the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the Harvard Medical School in the USA.
- Marissa TEO from Singapore is a PhD student in Tumour Immunology. She is working on therapy using T cells for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (throat cancer) associated with Epstein Barr virus. Her Host institution is the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in the USA.

 3^rd topic : Understanding biological mechanisms
- Marietta Solange SOUPI NKEUTCHA from Cameroon is a PhD student in Plant Biotechnology. She is working on the role of Arabinogalactan proteins in Theobroma Cacao I. embryo development, genetic and molecular characterization. Her Host institution is the Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural Substances at the University of Limoges in France.
- Diana Marcela BOLANOS RODRIGUEZ from Colombia is a PhD student in Marine Biology. She is working on the implications of the regeneration models and processes of polyclad flatworms. Her Host institution is the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the USA.
- Ghalia BOUBAKER from Tunisia is a PhD student in Molecular Biology. She is working on the molecular characterization of gene coding for the protein P-29 in the Echinocuccus granulosus and study of the intra- and interspecific polymorphism of the gene. Her Host institution is the Institute of Parasitology at the University of Bern in Switzerland.
- Svitlana YABLONSKA from Ukraine is a PhD student in Biochemistry. She is working on the role of micro-RNAs in cancers associated with human papillomavirus.  Her Host institution is the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh in the USA.

 4^th topic : Technology in the service of medicine
- Hadeer EL – DAKHAKHNI from Egypt is a PhD student in Biomaterials. She is working on the covering of phosphate components of Ca and titanium on metallic implants. Her Host institutions are the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Materials in Strasbourg, France, and the National Research Centre, Biomaterials Department in Cairo, Egypt.
- Irène MARGIOLAKI from Greece is a PhD student in Structural Biology. She is working on deciphering the structure of viral proteins for the creation of antiviral drugs. Her Host institution is the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France.
- Margoth Mitchela MORENO VIGO from Peru is a PhD student in Proteomics. She is working on 2^nd generation techniques for analyzing the proteome. Her Host institution is the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Centre, Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain.

These 15 young women scientists will receive their fellowships at the UNESCO (Paris) on March 3rd, 2010. 

More news to come…!

Insecticides are vital but noxious for agriculture
Insects can be noxious both in agriculture and in spreading human diseases.  If insects are not controlled in agriculture, farmers can lose 20 to 30% of their crops due to insect attack. In the case of mosquitoes, related infections have increased in recent years due to the increased resistance of mosquitoes to chemical controls. The high amounts of chemical insecticides used in agricultural have resulted in the selection of insect populations with high tolerance or resistance to these pesticides. The final result is that farmers need to increase the amount of chemical insecticides used to control the pesticides that every year attack their crops.
Most chemical pesticides are polluting the soil and water of the planet. Chemical pesticides are responsible for some diseases in humans and for the death of many people that could be avoided by the use of non-toxic methods.

Prof. Bravo’s work for greener pesticides
Since insects can become resistant to certain toxins, Alejandra Bravo’s work provides ways to improve activity of the current toxins that are actually being used, providing a more efficient use of these toxins.  She is providing novel and interesting strategies to counter the appearance of insect populations resistant to these toxins, assuring a longer use of this environmentally friendly technology.

Therefore, ensuring the replacement of highly pollutant chemical insecticides with sustainable and environmentally friendly methodologies that are effective in the control of insect pesticides will have clear and important consequences in the protection of the environment for future generations.

Nature as a great source of inspiration
Prof. Nyokong’s work has involved the use of a blue-jean (aniline) dye that was activated by light. Then she proved that the molecules inside the dye could be used to detect pollution in water, and could, in certain circumstances, even detect cancer.  To conduct this work, she took her inspiration from nature. The same molecular base in nature is used for chlorophyll in plants (containing magnesium) and for heme (contained in iron) in blood, both complexes are only slightly structurally different.

Her research is centered on the ability of molecules to absorb light and to release it when needed. Those molecules can be used in the treatment of certain cancers through the use of photodynamic therapy.
Also, because the molecules can absorb light, they can also be used for degrading pollutants. Some pollutants may be treated with light (without the dye), but this means using UV light, and can result in degradation products that are more harmful that the original pollutants. The molecules she uses absorb red light which they then pass on to the pollutants to degrade them, resulting in less toxic products.

A useful work for South Africa’s development
Her work also has applications in the preservation of water, which is a scarce resource in South Africa. The South African Government aims to achieve equitable access to water, and sustainable use of water – in other words, efficient and effective water use for optimum social and economic benefit. By being able to re-cycle water, as her research proposes, the above aims may be achieved, and hence preserve water for future generations.

As an International Fellow I’m both honored and delighted to be present at the new Agora blog launch!

Since 2005, when I got the National Fellowship, I “live” in the For Women in Science world, that I like to describe as a great family who believes in me, supports me and shares with me my professional (and personal) results.
The Fellowships are, of course, reason of priceless satisfaction and a strong incentive to pursue in the research activity; what is more, they represent both a very prestigious opportunity to promote new scientific exchanges and collaborations and a special window for introducing themselves and the own research.

I wish the Agora blog becomes an extremely important platform for debating, exchanging views and engaging in discussion on issues that are significant to women in science. Therefore I invite everyone to participate in our brainstorming!

…. Then you’re part of the problem.

This claim was part of the American For Women in Science campaign three years ago. Some of you may wonder:  What’s the point after all? That “Science” could be a “male” discipline? That this could still be considered valid in 2010? Or do you also picture a man?

And if all this is still true, why should we care? Well, guess what, it is true, truer than ever and we care a great deal.

You can’t blame it on Albert Einstein…

… but his crazy look and funny hair shaped our vision of scientists. And if you’re not an “Albert” fan, then you easily picture tall, strict and silent figures with perfectly greased hair with big eyes behind thick glasses – and they are all male.  You can’t really rely on Marie Curie and her sad face to come to the rescue. Unfortunately, women are not linked to modern science in the popular imagination and even less to a happy and balanced life as scientists.

Do the math: less than 1/3 is not enough

Behind these mental pictures, what is the status of women in science today?
According to a survey published by UNESCO recently, there are 7 million researchers around the world, including 2.7 million in the developing countries. Women represent 29% but with great variations between the different regions of the world.  In Latin America, women attain 46% while they’re 18% in South Asia. Did you know that among the 540 Nobel Prize awardees in science to date, there have been just 16 women — 2,96%?

The challenge of maintaining the balance: science vs family

Many reasons could explain these figures: politics, economics, traditional mindsets… and above all, education. In any case, many scientific women explain that their career was stopped or slowed down because when they founded a family.  It seems obvious that combining any career with a family life is a challenge for most women scientists. Having a family “condemns” female scientists to make unfair choices, sometimes to give up on their career. But is there any other way?

In “Family vs Science”, Edyta Zielinska wrote, “Association for Women in Science president Phoebe Leboy explored some of the reasons why women, who enter most scientific fields in equal numbers to men, only occupy some 30% of the highest echelons in academia. Leboy suggested that universities weren’t doing enough to promote their female researchers” (see full article here).

Adaptation and flexibility, too much to ask?

A point of view shared by the two 2009 Nobel Prize awardees in Medicine, Prof Elizabeth Blackburn and Prof. Carol Greider, who urge institutions to even-out the gender gap in top science posts. They say that the career structure is still very much geared toward men — and that promising female researchers fall away from the work not because they can’t do it, but because it isn’t compatible with having a family. Elizabeth Blackburn, 2008 For Women in Science Award laureate (see her portrait here), said a more flexible approach to part-time research and career breaks would help women continue to advance their careers during their childbearing years. “I’m not talking about doing second-rate science, far from it,” she said. “You can do really good, quality research when you are doing it part-time.” Greider added that she especially wants to see measures to get more women onto committees and into decision-making positions.

What about adapting the way research is traditionally organized in a lab to allow the best talents in the world to pursue a career in Science? Too much to ask?….

To ask of whom?… that’s another story.

Still a long way to go. Small steps achieved every day.

An “online community” for women in Science? what for?

Because being a woman in science today is still a big challenge, Agora will be the meeting place for all those who are looking for support, concrete ideas, worldwide best practices and a community of vocation and passion. This blog is an energy spot, a place for you to find strength — through the mutual exchange of reading and writing posts — and the understanding that you are part of something important, that you and your work are building a better future, that you are part of a large and global family that strongly believes the World needs Science and that Science needs Women….

This blog is open to all those who share this vision, who believe in a modern and progressive Science. Who believe that education for young girls in developing countries is essential, who believe that no social, economic or political barriers should prevent a woman from pursuing her vocation and professional “call”.
Who believe that women have a great role to play in the future of science.

Who think, in the end, that equity and fairness are essential to sustain progress.

To all of you, Welcome to Agora!

Anne – L’Oréal corporate Foundation