The L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO have announced the names of the 30 winners of the 14th L’Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Award for Women in Science.

Fanta Sabina Adeline YADANG, post-doctoral researcher in neuroscience – “Research into medical solutions for neurodegenerative diseases”. Hadidjatou DAIROU, PhD student in Cellular Physiology – “Treatment of cardiovascular diseases using the power of indigenous plants”. Lydie MESSADO KAMGA, PhD student in Ecology – “Conservation of orchids in the tropical forests of Cameroon”.  These three Cameroonian projects are among the 30 winners of the 14th L’Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Award for Women in Science in Sub-Saharan Africa

Each year, the l’Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Award for Women in Science rewards and supports African women scientists for the quality of their scientific research. For this 14th edition, 25 PhD students and 5 post-doctoral researchers will be awarded at the annual ceremony on 9 November in Kasane, Botswana.

This year, as part of their commitment to gender equality in science, the l’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO are awarding prizes to 30 talented young women researchers, 10 more than in previous years. They were selected from 632 applications on the basis of the quality and scope of their scientific work by a 10-member jury chaired by Professor Aggrey Ambali, Director of Technical Cooperation and Programme Financing at the African Union Development Agency, AUDA-NEPAD. These women are all the pride of their 17 countries of origin, including Cabo Verde and Lesotho, which are represented for the first time.