SNU Professor Wins LOreal-UNESCO Award
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A Korean female scientist has won an international award in recognition of her exceptional performance in the field of biotechnology.
Kim V. Narry (Kim Bitnaeri), 38, a professor at Seoul National University's school of biological science, was named as a recipient of the 10th annual L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for women in science, Dec. 12.
The L'Oreal-UNESCO Award is regarded as one of the most prestigious prizes awarded to female scientists.
The jury made up of 18 members of the scientific community designated Kim as a laureate for her contribution to elucidating several key steps in the formation of a new class of gene-regulating RNA molecules.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony on March 6, 2008, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. Each laureate receives $100,000.
Created in 1998, the award recognizes five laureates annually, one from each of the five regions ― Africa & Arab States, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America ― who has contributed to the advancement of science.
An international network of more than 2,000 scientists nominates the candidates.
Including Kim, a total of five scientists were named for the award. The other four include Prof. Lihadh Al-Gazali at UAE University in United Arab Emirates; Prof. Ada Yonath at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel; Prof. Ana Belen Elgoyhen at the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Molecular Biology (CONICET) in Argentina and Prof. Elizabeth Blackburn at the University of California in the U.S.