Indian scientist nominated for Nature's 'Inspiring Women in Science' award
Maitreyee Wairagkar, an Indian-origin biomedical scientist, has been shortlisted under the scientific achievement category for the "Inspiring Women in Science" award by the prestigious scientific journal Nature in collaboration with Estée Lauder Companies. She is currently pursuing her postdoctoral research in translational neuroengineering at the University of California, Davis. Six women researchers from all over the world have been nominated for this award.
Wairagkar's work revolves around neurotechnology
Wairagkar's previous post doctoral research at Imperial College and UK Dementia Research Institute focused on delivering personalized interventions to patients with dementia. She has devised interactive neurorehabilitation tools to address brain and stroke injuries during her postgraduate research at the University of Reading. Her research has been successfully commercialized. She also holds a Ph.D. and Masters in Cybernetics and AI from University of Reading.
About the 'Inspiring Women in Science' award
There are two award categories: Science Outreach and Scientific Achievement. The latter seeks to honor and support the achievements of women in the scientific arena. The motive is to encourage young women to take up careers in natural sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.
List of other nominees for the award
Taylor Nye, a postdoctoral research scholar, works on antimicrobial resistant pathogens. Chiara Mingarelli, a gravitational-wave astrophysicist, concentrates on supermassive black holes. Kizzmekia Corbett, an assistant professor in immunology and infectious diseases, focuses on vaccines and antibody therapy development. Lia Medeiros, an astrophysics postdoctoral student, also deals with black holes. Maheshi Ramasamy, doctor and scientist, studies infectious diseases and works on COVID-19 vaccines.
Announcement of awards
Nature will announce the winner later this month. Last year, Kiana Aran, a biomedical entrepreneur, won this award under the Scientific Achievement category. She is the co-founder of Cardea Bio, Inc. The world's first DNA Search Engine was based on her company's CRISPR-chip invention. Her work focuses on fabricating novel biosensing systems and using two-dimensional nanomaterials for early disease diagnosis.
