Merck in partnership with UNESCO, African Union, Ethiopia Ministry of Health, University of Cambridge and Institute Pasteur International successfully held the second edition of UNESCO-Merck Africa Research Summit (UNESCO-MARS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The aim of the 2016 Summit was to empower Women in Research with the key focus on ‘Infectious Diseases and Women Health’.
During the Summit, nine winners under two categories, ‘Best Young African Researchers Award’ and ‘Best African Women Researchers Award’ were announced. This was the first time the ‘Best African Women Researchers Award’ was being launched.
“Merck’ support for women in research where they are currently under-represented will help bridge the gender gap in STEM in Africa. The five Best Women Researchers awardees from Kenya, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Uganda and Ethiopia were selected by the MARS Scientific Committee based on their high quality contribution to research in their respective fields of health sciences,” Dr Rasha Kelej explained.
The ‘Best African Women Researchers Awards’ with the aim of promoting women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) went to five women researchers from across Africa who were recognized for the quality of their research.
Out of these five winners at the fifth place Martha Zewdie from Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Ethiopia has been awarded ‘Best African Women Researchers Award’.
The award she gets was for her study on: “Ex-vivo Characterization of Regulatory T Cells in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients, Latently Infected Persons, and Healthy Endemic Controls”.
You can also find the details of her study at PubMed.
For further reading please follow this link. https://www.eu.merck-cap.com/apex/CAP_ArticleDetail?id=a1mw0000003Hq0ZAAS
