2008 L'Oreal USA Fellowships For Women in Science Awarded to Five Groundbreaking Researchers

    NEW YORK, May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Laurent Attal, President and
 CEO, L'Oreal USA, and Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone, President, National Academy of
 Sciences, honored the 2008 recipients of the esteemed L'Oreal USA
 Fellowships For Women in Science at the American Museum of Natural History
 in New York City. These women were recognized for conducting innovative and
 breakthrough research across a range of disciplines, including
 neuroscience, oceanography, and aerospace engineering. Dr. Shirley Ann
 Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was also honored
 with the L'Oreal USA For Women in Science Role Model Award, for raising
 awareness of the critical role that women play in the sciences.
 
     The prestigious L'Oreal USA Fellowships For Women in Science, now in
 their fifth year, provide support to postdoctoral women scientists who are
 undertaking cutting-edge research with practical applications in today's
 society. By researching such current pressing issues as Parkinson's disease
 and the reduction of fuel consumption, these Fellows represent the next
 generation of women scientific role models, following in the footsteps of
 chemist and physicist Marie Curie, and Elizabeth Blackwell, who, in 1849,
 became the first woman to graduate from medical school. Awardees each
 receive $40,000 to be used toward independent scientific research. In
 addition, recognizing that funding is just one of several components
 necessary to help women build successful careers in the sciences, the
 L'Oreal USA Fellowships For Women in Science also offer professional
 development workshops for awardees, and help these Fellows build networks
 with accomplished women leaders in corporate, academic, governmental and
 scientific fields.
 
     "Women scientists are making amazing progress, forging ahead and
 overcoming obstacles as they dispel the gender stereotype that women are
 not equipped to excel in the sciences," said Laurent Attal. "L'Oreal USA is
 proud to help foster and recognize the success of women scientists at all
 levels. We believe the world needs science, and science needs women."
 
 
    The 2008 L'Oreal USA Fellows are:
 
     -- Dr. Sara Aton -- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
        -- neuroscientist, researching how the sleeping brain consolidates
        learning and memory. Dr. Aton studies a key component in learning and
        memory: synaptic plasticity, which is the ability of a connection, or
        synapse, between two neurons to change in strength. She is performing
        the first study attempting such a large-scale recording of neurons
        within a synaptically-integrated network during plastic remodeling. Her
        findings will be a foundation for further research into understanding
        human development and how sleep affects cognition.
 
     -- Dr. Ania Bleszynski-Jayich -- Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
        -- physicist, investigating the persistent current principle of quantum
        mechanics which, though predicted years ago in theory, has been
        challenging for scientists to test. Dr. Bleszynski-Jayich has developed
        an approach using new techniques: creating the extreme conditions
        necessary to accurately test the persistent current. She will conduct
        experiments testing the persistent current in normal rings using
        sensitive cantilevers for detection. The cantilevers sense the magnetic
        moment produced by the current, and Dr. Bleszynski-Jayich will both
        work to improve the sensitivity of the cantilever-based detector, and
        use it to perform systematic measurements of the persistent current.
 
     -- Dr. Laura Lapham -- Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida --
        chemical oceanographer, conducting research that may lead to new
        discoveries around the use of methane hydrates as a potential energy
        source. Dr. Lapham is working to determine how much methane is
        entrained as a hydrate, how stable these reservoirs are and how to
        harvest these deposits for fuel. The primary focus of her research is
        the development of instrumentation to regularly measure methane that
        has dissolved in sediments around the hydrates over time, which will
        allow researchers to better understand the role of hydrates in an
        abrupt climate change situation.
 
     -- Dr. Sridevi Vedula Sarma -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
        Cambridge, Massachusetts -- computational neuroscientist, using
        technology to improve the deep brain stimulation (DBS) technique to
        treat Parkinson's disease. Dr. Sarma is employing engineering
        principles to automate the post-operative calibration process of DBS.
        Creating such an automated system would relieve patients of frequent
        physician visits, significantly cut medical costs and allow
        neurologists to treat more DBS patients. Concurrently, Dr. Sarma is
        developing a new dynamic feedback stimulation paradigm that will allow
        for low-powered DBS signals to be administered, eliminating the need
        for frequent battery replacement surgeries for patients.
 
     -- Dr. Sandra Ugrina -- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland --
        aerospace engineer, developing innovative techniques that help to
        improve the aerodynamic efficiency of materials and reduce fuel
        consumption. Dr. Ugrina studies active flow control, which involves the
        application of techniques to improve fluid quality control over an
        aerodynamic surface, such as an airplane wing. She is working to design
        smart material actuators that respond dynamically to external
        conditions and extend regions of laminar flow, or undisturbed fluid
        flow, over aerodynamic surfaces. Dr. Ugrina will implement control
        schemes using a fully integrated system design, helping to reduce drag
        and energy consumption, while increasing aerodynamic efficiency and
        reducing noise.
 
     The Fellows were selected from a competitive pool of candidates by a
 jury of nine eminent scientists presided over by Dr. Cicerone. These
 Fellows have earned some of the highest honors in their fields and have
 been published in respected peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of
 Neuroscience; Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems; and the AIAA Journal.
 
     "The L'Oreal USA Fellowships For Women in Science program is vital for
 supporting women scientists at the postdoctoral level, and for retaining
 women in the sciences," said Dr. Cicerone. "We must engage the many
 intelligent young minds in our field. A diverse scientific community
 produces more cutting-edge research, which is essential to solving some of
 the world's most complex problems."
 
     The awards ceremony was preceded by a panel discussion, which included
 Dr. Jackson; Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology
 and Physiology, University of California, San Francisco and 2008
 L'OREAL-UNESCO For Women in Science North American Laureate; Helen Greiner,
 Co-Founder and Chairman, iRobot Corporation; Danica McKellar, accomplished
 actress, mathematician and author; and Isha Himani Jain, 2008 Siemens
 Competition in Math, Science and Technology individual award winner. The
 panel was moderated by Dr. Emily Senay, Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai
 School of Medicine. The panel focused on dispelling the gender myths that
 undermine women's potential in the sciences. Panelists discussed how they
 overcame challenges to achieve successful careers in their fields.
 
     ABOUT THE L'OREAL USA FELLOWSHIPS FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE
 
     The L'Oreal USA Fellowships For Women in Science program is designed to
 recognize, reward and advance the role of women in scientific research.
 Each year, this annual awards program honors five American women at the
 beginning of their scientific careers. Recipients receive $40,000 each
 toward independent scientific research. Launched in 2003 as the U.S.
 component of the UNESCO-L'OREAL International Fellowships program, the
 program aims to raise awareness of the contribution of women to the
 sciences, and to identify exceptional female researchers to serve as role
 models for young women and girls.
 
     Since the L'OREAL-UNESCO For Women in Science international program's
 inception in 1998, 52 Laureates and 120 International Fellows have been
 recognized from around the world. National Fellowship programs have also
 been established in 35 countries and have awarded fellowship grants to more
 than 340 young women researchers.
 
     ABOUT L'OREAL
 
     L'Oreal is a worldwide leader in the cosmetics industry, developing
 innovative products to meet the diverse needs of customers in 130 countries
 worldwide. Over 3,000 people work in the Group's 16 research centers,
 located on three continents. Their findings are responsible for the
 registration of hundreds of patents annually. L'Oreal also devotes over 3%
 of sales annually to research and development -- an investment unmatched
 anywhere else in the industry. Women represent 55% of L'Oreal's research
 and development workforce. For more information, please visit:
 http://www.loreal.com
 
 
 

SOURCE L'Oreal USA