By
Caleb Kuleke, GNA
Ho, Dec. 10, GNA –
Madam Regina Esinam Abotsi, Assistant Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, University
of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), has received the 2019 Young Talent Award
for Sub-Sahara Africa from the L’Oreal Foundation.
She was among 20
young women researchers selected for scientific excellence out of nearly 400
applications.
The Assistant
Lecturer received the Award at a ceremony in Dakar, as part of the 10th edition
of L’Oreal’s regional program For Women in Science.
Madam Abotsi who is
currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Cape Town, was
recognised for her work on, “Determining antibiotic resistance in potentially
pathogenic bacteria present in the respiratory tract of HIV-infected children.”
The 20 women who
came from 15 Sub-Sahara African countries, are made of computer scientists,
engineers or biologists, and “prove the
diversity and crucial role of women’s scientific research on the continent.”
They received
financial support for their scientific work, with allocations of €10,000 for
doctoral students and €15,000 for post-doctoral students and also benefited
from a four-day training programme designed to give them more resources to pursue
their careers.
The four-day
training course, given by international experts selected by the L’Oréal
Foundation, covered different dimensions-leadership, management, negotiation,
public speaking, media training and personal branding.
Alexandra Palt, Executive
Director of the L’Oréal Foundation said, “The number of women in Science is not
yet significant: only 2.4 per cent[1] of the world’s researchers are African
scientists, of whom 30 per cent are women.
“Through the
Young Talent Award for Sub-Saharan Africa, we promote and support the
continent’s remarkable female researchers. They play a key role to develop
inclusive research in Africa, for Africa and conducted by Africans.”
The Foundation,
which was established in 1998 and in partnership with UNESCO, aims at promoting
women in the field of scientific research, where the glass ceiling remains a
reality, and has over the past 21 years honoured 3,400 women researchers from
118 countries.
The Foundation and
UNESCO have also supported 129 doctoral and post-doctoral students, who are
contributing through their work to building the continent’s future through the
regional Young Talents Sub-Saharan Africa programme.
It works for the
benefit of women around the world, supporting them and enabling them to achieve
their goals in two major areas that sit at the heart of the Group’s culture:
scientific research and inclusive beauty.
The Foundation also
provides access to beauty and wellbeing services in medical and social settings
to help people suffering from physical, mental or social issues, and for
patients who have undergone reconstructive surgery.
GNA
