(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) NEW YORK, NY – September 20, 2011 – Five of America’s most promising post-doctoral female scientists received the L’Oréal USA Fellowships For Women In Science Awards on September 15, 2011. This national awards program was created in 2003 to support the advancement of women in science and rewards the most promising post-doctoral female scientists from across the country. This year’s awards presentation ceremony was held at the Kennedy Caucus Room in Washington, D.C. The program featured speeches from key congressional supporters of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). These include, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ). The 2011 Fellowship recipients are working on breakthrough scientific research, which address critical global challenges that could aid millions around the world. Their research fields include stroke rehabilitation, therapeutic prevention for Alzheimer’s, robotics that will improve prosthetic fittings and function, LEDs and colored light creation, and the spread of influenza and other viruses. Each Fellow will receive up to $60,000 to continue their post-doctoral research. Additionally, the L’Oréal USA Fellowships For Women in Science offers professional development workshops for awardees and helps these Fellows build networks with accomplished female leaders in corporate, academic, governmental and scientific fields. The program is facilitated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). L’Oréal USA’s passion and commitment to science was validated by a nationwide survey conducted earlier this month. The results of this survey show that Americans support the program’s goal of encouraging women to pursue careers in scientific fields. The survey asked about the public’s overall interest in the field of science and specifically their thoughts on the presence of women, and contributions from women, to science. Survey respondents included male and females over 18 years of age and revealed: · ‘Science’ is the field that most people (42%) want to see women take a more dominant role in, even more so than ‘Finance’ (25%) or ‘Law’ (22%). · ‘Inventor’ is the top dream job (25%), followed by ‘Stay-at-home Parent’ (20%) · ‘Scientist’ (17%) and ‘Doctor’ (15%) came in third and fourth respectively for dream job. · ‘Reality TV Star’ came in last for dream job (3%). Despite seeing how reality television megastars of today seem to be universally adored, people would rather have the job of the American President (4%), one of the most stressful jobs in the world, over that of a reality TV star. · Most people are concerned with inventing something to combat ‘Disease’ (25%) over other issues. · ‘None of the above’ came in second highest (28%) when given a list of items and asked to choose which were invented by women. Half of the listed items provided were invented by women including the dishwasher, disposable diaper, refrigerator and circular saw. This year’s fellowship grant recipients embody the survey’s findings, including a desire for more women in the sciences. Although the future of women contributing to science seems to be expanding, the history of the many contributions already made by women to science must be shared and taught; women in science is far from new, it is just now growing at a pace unseen before. The 2011 L’Oréal USA Fellowship grants will support the following female scientists and their work: Dr. Trisha Andrew, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA – organic chemist in the field of organic electronics. During college, Dr. Andrew realized that she loved Organic Chemistry, both for the everyday routine of a synthetic organic chemist and for the ability to logically explain natural phenomena based on the chemical reactivity of molecules. The L’Oréal USA Fellowships For Women In Science award will help Dr. Andrew investigate the interaction of organic chromophores with interesting optoelectronic materials known as “quantum dots” and fabricate unique light-emitting diodes and solar cells from these composite materials. Dr. Karlin Bark, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA – mechanical engineer in the field of haptics. The L’Oréal USA Fellowships For Women In Science award will allow Dr. Bark to study the potential use of haptic feedback in stroke rehabilitation. She will work alongside clinical specialists at the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute to develop, refine, and test an affordable upper-limb rehabilitation system that can be used in clinics and homes to assist stroke survivors in retraining the motor pathways needed to complete everyday tasks. Additionally, athletic coaches, dance trainers, and motor skill education specialists could adopt this technology to help teach pr

• published: 27 Sep 2011
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