Nada Abdel Aziz wins L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Egypt Award

The Division of Immunology’s Dr Nada Abdel Aziz was awarded the 2019 L’Oréal United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) For Women in Science Egypt award for her outstanding contribution to science on 11 November 2019.

L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Egypt winners - Dr Nada Abdel Aziz middle

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Egypt fellowships program aims to promote the young female scientists from Egypt. This program identifies and rewards talented women scientists in the field of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences for their excellence in research.

Nada accepted the award in Cairo, Egypt where she was honoured with two other Egyptian female scientists. The exclusive ceremony was attended by high-ranking Egyptian government officials as Minister of International Cooperation, the President of the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, UNESCO and L’Oréal representatives and the media.

Nada hails from Cairo University originally and moved to Cape Town to complete her PhD at the Division of Immunology (DOI), University of Cape Town. She is now a Post-doctoral Researcher at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). Nada research involves working on developing a host directed therapy and a vaccine against helminth infections. The helminth-induced alteration of gut microbiota and its possible impact on brain cognitive functions have prompted Nada to launch a new project to investigate the role of the gut-microbiome on affective and cognitive behaviour.

Nada’s success has been a focus of the Egyptian media with articles in newspapers such as The Daily News Egypt, a press release from the Egyptian Cabinet and two television interviews (below). A big congratulations goes to Nada from the DOI, well done!

Article by Bonamy Holtak