Meet the winners of the 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award

The winners

Arab Region

Ghada Dushaq, PhD — Physics

Postdoctoral Associate, NYU Abu Dhabi

Dr Ghada Dushaq opens in new tab/window is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Photonics Research lab of NYU Abu Dhabi opens in new tab/window. As a researcher in applied physics, she investigates new and innovative materials, structures and process technologies to improve the performance of high-speed optoelectronics, nanoelectronics and photonics devices. Her research on the use of silicon, germanium, III-V compound semiconductors, and other 2D materials is intended to improve the efficiency of current technologies and address their limitations.

Ghada received her bachelor's degree in Physics and Mathematics from Birzeit University opens in new tab/window, Palestine, with distinction in 2009. She went on to graduate with an MSc in Physics from the University of Jordan opens in new tab/window in 2012, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). She then pursued a PhD in Microsystems Engineering at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Khalifa University, in Abu Dhabi under a cooperative program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opens in new tab/window, graduating in 2017.

Ghada has received several awards for her research, including the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Scientist Medal for 2018, the Post-Doctoral Conference and Travel Award from New York University Abu Dhabi in 2018, and the Falling Walls Lab prize in 2020, for her work on "Breaking the Wall of High-Speed Optical Communication," awarded at the World Science Summit in Berlin, 2020.

She has published over 35 papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings. She is also a reviewer for several scientific journals including Optics Express, Advanced Optical Materials, Scientific Reports, Applied Optics, Optical Materials Express, Journal of Applied Physics, Photovoltaic Specialist Conferences (IEEE PVSC) and the Journal of Materials Science.

Central and South Asia

Imalka Munaweera, PhD — Synthetic Chemistry

Senior Lecturer, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

Dr Imalka Munaweera opens in new tab/window is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura opens in new tab/window in Sri Lanka. Her research focuses on using synthetic chemistry techniques to produce nanoparticles and nanofibre composites that can be applied in a range of functions, from drug delivery to water filtration to minimizing post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables. She has made particular advances in using nanotechnology to produce environmentally-friendly and cost-effective crop fertilizers, and in developing chemoradiotherapeutic formulations and radiotherapeutic bandages for use in lung and skin cancer treatment.

Imalka first became interested in functional and applied materials as an undergraduate at the University of Peradeniya opens in new tab/window, Sri Lanka, where she worked on applications of iron oxide nanoparticles. As a master's student at the University of Moratuwa opens in new tab/window, Sri Lanka, she gravitated towards nanofertilizer research, for which she received the National Science and Technology Award in 2010 and holds two US patents. She went on to do a PhD at the University of Texas at Dallas opens in new tab/window, where she developed an innovative approach that could ultimately enable clinicians to target and aggressively reduce tumor burden in cancer patients. She also holds two US patents as well as a Sri Lankan patent and an international patent for this technology.

Following three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center opens in new tab/window, Imalka worked as an Assistant Professor at Prairie View A&M University opens in new tab/window in Texas before returning to Sri Lanka, where she has worked since 2019.

Imalka received a Sri Lankan National Research Council Private-Public Partnership opens in new tab/window grant in 2019 and a research grant from TWAS, the World Academy of Sciences opens in new tab/window, in 2020. She has won several awards and has published many papers in prestigious journals including Nature Scientific Reports opens in new tab/window, Biomaterials opens in new tab/window and ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces opens in new tab/window. In addition, she has more than 10 years of experience mentoring high school, undergraduate and graduate student

East and Southeast Asia & the Pacific

Khongorzul Dorjgotov, PhD — Mathematics

Senior Lecturer, National University of Mongolia

Dr Khongorzul Dorjgotov opens in new tab/window is a mathematician whose research focuses on fractional differential equations (FDEs), an emerging field in applied and theoretical mathematics with many applications in science and engineering. FDEs have been recognized as an excellent tool for describing complex systems and processes in many applied sciences, including physics, chemistry, biology and economics. The study of these types of equations is becoming increasingly popular as they can more accurately model a given physical system or process than conventional differential equations.

Khongorzul began studying applied mathematics as an undergraduate student at the National University of Mongolia (NUM) opens in new tab/window, where she won an award for best research in a student competition. She went on to do her master's degree in the same subject, before winning a MEXT scholarship opens in new tab/window from the Japanese government for doctoral study at Kyushu University opens in new tab/window in Japan. It was there that she first started her research on FDEs, focusing on Lie theory and the symmetry approach. During the final year of her PhD, she out-competed many international students  to win Best Poster at the Forum "Math-for-Industry" 2017 opens in new tab/window. After completing her PhD, she returned to Mongolia, becoming one of the few women with a mathematics PhD in the country. She began working as a lecturer at NUM in 2018.

Now, Khongorzul is working to establish the study of fractional calculus in Mongolia. In addition to serving as senior lecturer and supervising graduate students, she is working to increase collaboration between the industrial and academic sectors. To this end, she recently organized, with fellow researchers, the first Mongolian "Study Group" workshops, an internationally recognized method of technology and knowledge transfer between academic mathematicians and industrial sectors. Khongorzul hopes that not only the industrial representatives but other decision-makers will be able to apply the results of mathematical research to do their jobs more effectively.

Latin America & the Caribbean

María Eugenia Cabrera Catalán, PhD — Physics

Junior Professor, University of San Carlos of Guatemala

As a Junior Professor in the School of Physical Sciences and Mathematics at University of San Carlos of Guatemala opens in new tab/window (USAC), Dr María Eugenia Cabrera’s Catalán opens in new tab/window researches the phenomenology of physics. Her work opens in new tab/window builds on the discovery of the Higgs boson opens in new tab/window particle in 2012, expanding the knowledge of what we know about the Standard Model of particle physics and the fundamental forces of nature.

María studies dark matter, the most abundant component of matter in our universe, known only by its gravitational interactions and key to developing a more fundamental theory of nature. She focuses on the interaction between newly discovered particles such as the Higgs boson; understanding these dynamics can help scientists understand the interactions that could be expected between massive weakly coupled dark matter particles in particle collider experiments, or seen by underground detectors that attempt to measure how dark matter interacts with the Earth.

María first became interested in physics in secondary school, thanks to the inspiration of her physics teacher. She majored in physics at USAC, then received a scholarship to pursue a postgraduate diploma at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theo­retical Physics (ICTP) opens in new tab/window in Italy. There, she became fascinat­ed by high energy physics and made this the focus of her PhD research at the Institute for Theo­retical Physics opens in new tab/window in Madrid. She graduated Cum Laude in 2011 with the distinction of Doctor Europeus.

Following a postdoctoral position at the GRAPPA Institute at the University of Amsterdam opens in new tab/window, during a second postdoc at the Institute of Physics at the University of Sao Paolo opens in new tab/window in 2016, María learned that her alma mater USAC was opening permanent research positions in Physics and Mathematics for the first time, with 75 percent of the time available for research. Six months later she accepted one of these positions. Now, she is working to put her country and region on the world physics map, having helped to organize the first Central American Meeting of High Energy Physics, Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics in 2020, and dedicating much of her time to supervising and tutoring undergraduate students in particle physics.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Marian Asantewah Nkansah, PhD — Environmental Chemistry

Associate Professor, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Ghana

Dr Marian Asantewah Nkansah opens in new tab/window is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) opens in new tab/window in Kumasi, Ghana, where she teaches Practical Chemistry, Nuclear/Radiochemistry, Chemistry and Society, and Petroleum Chemistry. In her research, she focuses on identifying and characterizing the presence of both inorganic and organic contaminants in water, food, soil, the atmosphere and other environmental matrices, and on developing strategies for environmental remediation. By preparing and analyzing samples from different environments, she can determine the levels and effects of contaminants such as heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are generated by urbanization, industrial activities, artisanal activities and mining. She is striving to make the public aware of the risks of heavy metals, which she has found in unexpected places such as spices, lipstick, edible clay and classroom dust

Growing up as one of six children in Ghana during a period when the economy was in a state of collapse, Marian had a desire to help society from an early age. After completing her bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemistry at KNUST, she went to Norway to pursue her PhD in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Bergen opens in new tab/window. After completing it in 2012, she returned to KNUST where she worked as Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer before being promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, making her the youngest woman at the university to hold this position.

In addition to her research and teaching, Marian has undertaken training in science diplomacy. She is involved in advocacy and initiatives of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences opens in new tab/window, and she mentors school children and younger peers. Her many achievements have brought her international recognition, including the TWAS FM Al-Kharafi Prize opens in new tab/window in 2016, a feature in the book Women in Science: An Inspiring Story from Africa opens in new tab/window and a slot on the commemorative Periodic Table of Younger Chemists opens in new tab/window by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

Marian has 33 peer-reviewed articles and books chapters.

Selected research by the awardees

These are selections of the award winners' research papers published in Elsevier's journals.

Khongorzul Dorjgotov, PhD

• Lie symmetry analysis of a class of time fractional nonlinear evolution systems opens in new tab/window, Applied Mathematics and Computation (Jul 2018)

Ghada Dushaq, PhD

• An optimization technique for performance improvement of gap-changeable MEMS accelerometers opens in new tab/window, Mechatronics (Oct 2018)

• Low temperature deposition of germanium on silicon using Radio Frequency Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition opens in new tab/window, Thin Solid Films (Aug 2017)

• Tuning the optical properties of RF-PECVD grown μc-Si:H thin films using different hydrogen flow rate opens in new tab/window, Superlattices and Microstructures (Jul 2017)

• Distribution and coverage of 40nm gold nano-particles on aluminum and hafnium oxide using electrophoretic method and fabricated MOS structures opens in new tab/window, Materials Research Bulletin (Nov 2016)

Imalka Munaweera, PhD

• Urea–hydroxyapatite-montmorillonite nanohybrid composites as slow release nitrogen compositions opens in new tab/window, Applied Clay Science (Dec 2017)

• Radiotherapeutic bandage for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin opens in new tab/window, Nuclear Medicine and Biology (Jun 2016)

• Localized delivery of low-density lipoprotein docosahexaenoic acid nanoparticles to the rat brain using focused ultrasound opens in new tab/window, Biomaterials (Mar 2016)

• Nitric oxide- and cisplatin-releasing silica nanoparticles for use against non-small cell lung cancer opens in new tab/window, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry (Dec 2015)

Marian Asantewah Nkansah, PhD

• Chemical (C, N, S, black carbon, soot and char) and stable carbon isotope composition of street dusts from a major West African metropolis: Implications for source apportionment and exposure opens in new tab/window, Science of The Total Environment (2019)

• Heavy metal content and potential health risk of geophagic white clay from the Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana opens in new tab/window

  , Toxicology Reports (2016)

• Occurrence, distribution and health risk from polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs, oxygenated-PAHs and azaarenes) in street dust from a major West African Metropolis opens in new tab/window,Science of The Total Environment (2016)

• The use of lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) as sorbent for PAHs removal from water opens in new tab/window, Journal of Hazardous Materials (2012)

• The use of anthracene as a model compound in a comparative study of hydrous pyrolysis methods for industrial waste remediation opens in new tab/window,Chemosphere (2011)

In the media

We will continue to post articles about the awardees as they are published.

The award

• Globally diverse winners of the 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards announced opens in new tab/window, Great British Politics

• Gender Bias Against Women Career Scientists Upsets UNESCO opens in new tab/window, InDepthNews

• UNESCO research shows women career scientists still face gender bias opens in new tab/window, The Financial

María Eugenia Cabrera Catalán, PhD

• Científica guatemalteca recibe el premio OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award opens in new tab/window, El País de los Jóvenes)

• María Eugenia Cabrera, científica guatemalteca recibió el premio 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award, Guatemala.com

• Científica guatemalteca recibe premio 2021 OWSD- Elsevier opens in new tab/window, Prensa Libre

• Guatemala fue galardonada en el Premio 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award opens in new tab/window, Noticias USAC

Khongorzul Dorjgotov, PhD

• D.Khongorzul becomes winner of award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World opens in new tab/window, Montsame Mongolian News Agency (Feb 9, 2021)

Ghada Dushaq, PhD

• Dr. Ghada Dushaq, groundbreaking physics researcher, paves the way for women in science opens in new tab/window, Birzeit University (Feb 12, 2021)

Imalka Munaweera, PhD

• Dr. Imalka Munaweera awarded for research in nanotechnology, nation.lk (Feb 2021)

Marian Asentewah Nkansah, PhD

• A natural response to my curious mind and quest to know opens in new tab/window, Research Information (Feb 19, 2021)

• 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award — Prof Marian Asantewah Nkansah, Ghana Young Academy (Feb 8, 2021)

Information for this page was provided by OWSD opens in new tab/window and the Elsevier Foundation opens in new tab/window.