L’Oréal Australia 2011 Fellows Announced

A scientist from the University of Melbourne was one of three female scientists named the L’Oréal Australia 2011 Fellows at a special ceremony in Melbourne on Tuesday 23 August.

The fifth L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships, each worth $20,000, were awarded to:

• Tracy Ainsworth from James Cook University, Townsville is changing our understanding of the life of the tiny coral animals that built Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef is now threatened by a warming ocean and by bleaching.
• Georgina Such from the University of Melbourne is inventing a smarter way to deliver drugs via a tiny capsule, like a babushka doll, that sneaks through the blood stream to target cancer cells and nothing else.
• Eve McDonald-Madden from the University of Queensland and CSIRO is using mathematics and artificial intelligence to develop systems that allow us to make tough conservation decisions with limited information.

According to Johan Berg, Managing Director of L’Oréal Australia, “These three young women are excellent examples of (their) L’Oréal For Women in Science program. They are researchers building their careers in fields which are so important to society – maintaining biodiversity in the face of climate change and developing more efficient and effective therapies for disease”.

The L’Oréal Fellowships highlight a worldwide challenge of maintaining women in science, and operate in parallel with the efforts of other influential bodies, such as UN Women Australia, the Australian Academy of Science and the CSIRO.

The Fellows were chosen from 110 applicants by a panel of eminent scientists.

The Fellowship funds are intended to further their research and may be used for any expenses they incur, including childcare.

The program is part of L’Oréal’s global support for women in science.

Read updates about the 14 previous recipients of the Fellowships.