Beauty and Brains: L'Oreal Awards Research Grants to 5 Female Scientists
L’Oreal’s Women in Science Fellowship program has awarded this year’s grants to five female researchers and scientists: Cara Brook, Wendy Brown, Kayla Nguyen, Nancy Padilla-Coreano, and Silvania da Silva Teixeira. Each recipient has received $60,000.00 to advance their respective studies:
● Cara Brook of the University of California Berkeley is studying wild bats and their involvement in mammalian disease and aging, specifically the coronavirus.
● Wendy Brown of the University of California Irvine is studying how to grow cartilage from cells into anatomical shapes for surgical implantation, which is helpful to individuals with facial deformities as a result of birth complications or traumatic life experiences.
● Kayla Nguyen of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is developing photos of the atom with an electron microscope to advance technology’s speed and understanding of results.
● Nancy Padilla-Coreano of the Salk Institute of Biological Studies is studying how the human brain encodes social information and behaviors to advance therapeutic treatments.
● Silvania da Silva Teixeria of the University of Colorado is studying ways to shift Type 2 Diabetes insulin injections to a daily pill to improve the day-to-day routines of those who have the disease.
Originating in 2003, this is the program’s 17th year with L’Oreal awarding over $4 million dollars in total to the progression of scientific research in neurobiology, metabolic diseases, physics, integrative biology, and biomedical engineering. L’Oreal’s Women in Science Fellowship program has sponsored 85 postdoctoral researchers since its beginning.
“The 2020 For Women in Science fellowship candidates were evaluated based on their intellectual merit, research potential, scientific excellence, and their commitment to supporting women and girls in science. The L'Oréal USA Fellowship program includes a requirement to ensure recipients are committed to serving as role models for younger generations,” says the L’Oreal website.
L’Oreal and its program goals are critical to staying away from the stereotypes women face in regard to beauty in their careers. Especially since the 1930s, women have been able to gain equal opportunity in the corporate world, but not without a gender-specific set of challenges: maternity leaves being synonymous with resignations, stereotypical career fields like teachers and secretaries, sexual harassment issues, and the ever-present wage gap between genders and races. While these issues are largely being addressed, there is still a lot of improvement to be done with the societal expectations of women.
The concept that women can be beautiful, hold powerful positions, and have strong careers is not a new one. However, not many companies within the beauty and entertainment industries are making tangible strides to support the variety of aspirations women have. L’Oreal stands out against other beauty companies because of its Women in Science fellowship program, which diversifies its funding and employee demographics.
For more information on the program and this year’s recipients, click here.
Strike Out,
Writer: Tatum Swanson
Editor: Joey Flanagan
Graphics: Sophia Villiers
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