Women scientists from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Gambia, Nepal and Palestine win 2019 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards

 The 2019 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards ceremony will take place on February 16, 2019 during the Minority and Women Scientists and Engineers Networking Breakfast from 7:00-9:00 AM in Washington, D.C. at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting.

Five researchers have been named winners of the 2019 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World for their research in the biological sciences. The winning scholars from Bangladesh, Bolivia, the Gambia, Nepal and Palestine are being recognized for their accomplishments in environmental microbiology, ethnobotany, clinical pediatrics and epidemiology. The prize also acknowledges the scientists’ commitment to leading and mentoring young scientists, and to improving lives and livelihoods in their communities and regions. 

“These scientists are performing ground-breaking international-level science, often in circumstances where the deck has been stacked against them,” said Jennifer Thomson, President of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). “They deserve to be honored and celebrated for their dedication not only to their research, but to creating a better world for people to live in.”

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The five researchers are:

Tabassum Mumtaz of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (Asia Pacific region); in environmental microbiology;

Uduak Okomo of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the Gambia (Africa region); in pediatrics and epidemiology;

Narel Paniagua-Zambrana of the National Herbarium of Bolivia and Universidad Mayor de San Andres (Latin America and the Caribbeanregion); in ethnobotany;

Tista Prasai Joshi of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (Asia Pacific region); in environmental microbiology; and

Amira Shaheen of An-Najah National University in Palestine (Arab region); in epidemiology.

First awarded in 2011, the awards are given in partnership by OWSD and the Elsevier Foundation. OWSD chairs a panel of distinguished scientists to select the winners, and the Elsevier Foundation supports a cash prize for each winner of USD $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to attend the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), this year in Washington, D.C., February 13-17, 2019. The five winners will be honored on February 16 at a special breakfast ceremony during the AAAS meeting.