Fellowships for four female researchers announced

The awards commemorate the involvement of Thai women in Science by L'Oreal Thailand, with the support of the Thai National Commission for Unesco. The fellowship programme was established in Thailand in 2002, offering four fellowships per year; two in Material Science and two in Life Science. Each is valued at Bt200,000.

This first fellowship in the Life Science category was awarded to Dr Natini Jinawath from the Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi hospital, Mahidol University, for her study in "Genemewide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array as a clinical diagnostic tool for unexplained developmental disabilities and congenital anomalies". The second went to Dr Saengchan Senapin, National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BTOTEC) whose research focuses on the "Study of shrimp molecular biology using yeast twohybrid technique." 

In the Material Science category, fellowships were granted to Dr. Uracha Ruktanonchai from the National Nanotechnology Centre (NANOTEC) for her contribution to "Development of Encapsulation technology based on lipid nano carries for bio applications" and to Assistant Professor Dr. Hathaikarn Manuspiya from the Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University, for her study on the "Development of Mesoporous Materials for entrapping heavy metals and gases in packaging for a better quality of food and water." 

Attending the presentation ceremony was Professor Dr Ada E. Yonath, who received the 2009 Nobel prize in Chemistry for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome and the Laureate of L'Oreal-Unesco Award for Women in Science in 2008.