Last month, six young South African women scientists were awarded research grants by the L’Oréal-Unesco For Women in Science partnership. French group L’Oréal is reportedly the world’s biggest cosmetics company and Unesco is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Although the partnership (which is led by the Fondation L’Oréal) was founded in 1998, these six awards were made under the For Women in Science South African National Young Talents Programme, which was inaugurated last year. 

“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to have wide spread impact globally and we all had to adjust to the ‘new normal’,” observed L’Oréal South Africa Country Manager Gilles Antoine. “Ultimately, science will provide solutions for many of the unprecedented challenges that the world is currently facing. This is why L’Oréal and Unesco have been empowering young female scientists for 22 years, more than 3 400 researchers from 118 countries have been supported and recognised.”

The six scientists are composed of three PhD students and three post-doctoral researchers. They hail from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Stellenbosch University (SU), the University of Pretoria (UP), and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

In alphabetical order (by surname) the post-doctoral researchers are SU’s Dr Charissa Naidoo (clinical mycobacteriology and epidemiology, focused on innovative diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis), the SAMRC’s Dr Vundli Ramokolo (research into factors that make some children more vulnerable to poor health) and Wits’ Dr Simone Richardson (antibody research to help protect HIV-infected people from Covid-19). Each of the three scientists will receive a research grant of R160 000.

The PhD candidates are UP’s Bianca Gevers (research into the use of sunlight to split water to produce hydrogen and oxygen, known as photocatalytic water-splitting), the CSIR’s Sibongile Tshabalala (research into liver models representative of sub-Saharan African populations, for pre-clinical research) and, again from Wits, Kimberleigh Tommy (research into human vulnerability to knee injuries, pain and osteoarthritis). Each of them will receive a research grant of R80 000. 

In addition, UP researcher LaToya Seoke was awarded a one-off grant of €10 000. Seoke is a virologist who has, for the past decade, been specialising in the diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease at the Botswana Vaccine Institute.

“Women in science have the power to change the world provided they are given the means and support,” highlighted Antoine. “[A]s we honour six emerging women scientists from across South Africa, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting young women scientists, who are at the helm of very important research projects.”