REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 19, 2007—Prof. Ada Yonath of the Department of Structural Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is among five distinguished women researchers in the life sciences who will receive a L’OREAL-UNESCO Award For Women in Science. Prof. Yonath was recognized for “structural studies of the protein-synthesizing system and the mode of action of antibiotics.” She is the first Israeli to receive the prestigious prize.
Prof. Yonath has spent most of her scientific career working to unravel the structure of the ribosome, a complex of many components that functions as the cell’s “protein factory.” Her research has revealed how disease-causing bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics. Prof Yonath is the Martin S. and Helen Kimmel Professor of Structural Biology and Director of the Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly.
The international Awards Jury for 2008, which was presided over by Prof. Gunter Blobel, Nobel Prize in Medicine 1999, is made up of 18 eminent members of the scientific community. Prof. Christian de Duve, Nobel Prize in Medicine 1974, is the Founding President of the Award.
The 2008 Award Laureates in life sciences included Prof. Lihadh Al-Gazali, UAE University, United Arab Emirates; Assistant Prof. V. Narry Kim, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea; Prof. Ana Belen Elgoyhen, Institute for Genetic Engineering and Molecular Biology (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Prof. Elizabeth Blackburn, University of California, San Francisco, U.S.
The Awards will be presented at a ceremony on March 6, 2008 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris by Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of 2008 UNESCO, and Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, Chairman of L’Oréal.
Created in 1998, the L’OREAL-UNESCO Awards For Women in Science recognize five laureates annually, one from each of the five continents, who have contributed to the advancement of science. The candidates are proposed by an international network of more than 2,000 scientists. The Laureates serve as role models for future generations, encouraging young women around the world to follow in their footsteps. Each Laureate receives $100,000.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,600 scientists, students, technicians, and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials, and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.
