2023 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Women Scientists

We are pleased to welcome the following seven winners of the 2023 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World as chairs for selected conference sessions.

These seven talent women scientists were awarded last year this prize for their contributions to research that is helping meet the challenge of food security and advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, which focuses on agricultural productivity and sustainable food production.

The winners’ research explores a wide range of ways to combat food insecurity, from crop disease resilience to improved child nutrition, and indigenous plant use to increase productivity. The prize also acknowledges the scientists’ commitment to leadership, mentoring and engagement within their communities, including the use of innovative technologies in their research.

Renuka Attanayake, of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka: plant and molecular biology; crop disease identification and management

Carla Fabiana Crespo Melgar, of the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, Bolivia: biotechnology and microbiology; increasing agricultural productivity

Haneen Dwaib, of the Palestine Ahliya University, Palestine: nutrition and dietetics; obesity and dietary interventions

Eugenie Kayitesi, of the University of Pretoria, South Africa: food science and technology; improved use of indigenous plant-based foods

Gabriela Montenegro-Bethancourt, of the Maya Health Alliance, Guatemala: life sciences and nutrition; maternal mortality and child malnutrition

Munkhjargal Tserendorj, of the Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Mongolia: veterinary medicine, animal and food hygiene; diagnosis and treatment of animal diseases

Yeyinou Laura Estelle Loko,Université Nationale des Sciences, Technologies, Ingénierie et Mathématiques, Benin: entomology, plant genetic resources and crop protection; insect pests and resistant crops

First awarded in 2013, the award is given in partnership by the Organization of Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and the Elsevier Foundation. OWSD chairs a panel of distinguished scientists to select the winners, and the Foundation awards a cash prize for each winner of $5,000 as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to attend as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to attend the 2024 5th Global Food Security conference to provide them with vital networking opportunities.

You can find out more the winners and their work here.

Pictured above: Winners of the 2023 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World (clockwise from left): Eugenie Kayitesi, PhD (Rwanda/South Africa); Yeyinou Laura Estelle Loko, PhD (Benin); Renuka Attanayake, PhD (Sri Lanka); Carla Fabiana Crespo Melgar, PhD (Bolivia); Haneen Dwaib, PhD (Palestine); Munkhjargal Tserendorj, PhD (Mongolia); and Gabriela Montenegro-Bethancourt (Guatemala).