30/11/2007

Despina Sanoudou, Maria Katsikini and Marilena Kampa were awarded the Greek L'OREAL-UNESCO 2007 Awards for Women in Science for their scientific work, in a ceremony held at the University of Athens on 22 November. The aim of the awards, organised in 2007 for the second year, is to recognise rising stars among women scientists who have carried out exemplary research in Greece in the field of life sciences and the physical sciences.

Dr Despina Sanoudou is a researcher at Athens Academy's Medical and Biological Research Institute. She wrote her doctoral thesis at the University of Cambridge and has worked as a lecturer at Harvard University Medical School in Boston. She is studying heredity and the molecular basis of cardiovascular disease and diseases of the muscular system. The objective of her research is to identify the molecular mechanisms involved in the appearance and development of these diseases and the development of new therapeutic treatments.

Dr Maria Katsikini is a lecturer at the Physics Department of Thessaloniki's Aristotle University (AUTH). She wrote her doctoral thesis at AUTH, in collaboration with the Hahn Meitner Institut of Berlin. She is studying materials with spectroscopic techniques based on the interaction of visible light and X-rays (synchrotron radiation) with the material. More specifically, she is studying the structure of materials at the atomic level and their changes in relation to developmental and working conditions. She has also studied deactivated industrial waste.

Dr Marilena Kampa holds a PhD from the Endocrinology Laboratory of the University of Crete's Medical School, where she still works. She is studying the biology of cancer at the cellular level and, specifically, the mechanisms in the action of hormones on hormone-sensitive neoplasms, such as breast and prostate cancers. Her research work also covers anti-oxidising substances (polyphenols) from plant-derived foods and their interaction with hormones.

The three women scientists were selected from among the 45 Greek women who submitted their applications to the national competition for the L'OREAL-UNESCO 2007 awards. The decision was reached by a jury of experts, chaired by Nikos Hatzikristidis, Professor of Biomechanical Chemistry. This prestigious honour is accompanied by a financial prize of EUR 10,000 each.

The Greek awards form part of the international L'OREAL-UNESCO programme for Women in Science. The programme was launched in 1998 and every year provides awards and fellowships to excellent women scientists. To date, 47 top women scientists and 105 fellows from 62 countries have been recognised.