Shiseido Co., Ltd. has selected 13 winners of the 10th "Female Researcher Science Grant" to support female researchers who will play a leading role in the next generation.
Currently, in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) domain, the issue is that there is generally a large gender gap.In Japan, the percentage of female researchers is 16.6% (according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications 2019 Science and Technology Research Survey), and although it has been on a gradual uptrend in recent years, it ranks 29th in the world and other countries (eg, 1st Iceland). It is still at a low level compared to 47.2% and 18% in the 33th place in the United States). (From the 4 Science and Technology Research Survey of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
Against this background, Shiseido established the "Female Researcher Science Grant" in 2007 to support female researchers who are motivated to take a leading position and are expected to contribute to the development of science and technology. ..Grant means "research grant".
The target research fields of the "Female Researcher Science Grant" are wide-ranging, targeting female researchers in all fields of the natural sciences.There is no age limit for application, and the 100 million yen research grant is from support costs for research activities during women's life events (childbirth and childcare) such as babysitter fees during business trips, to instructors such as student participation fees. It is also a feature that it can be widely used up to the activity cost as. Approximately 2019% of the 119 award-winning researchers up to 4 have set up their own laboratories after receiving the awards and are working hard on their research activities.
In addition, from 2020, we plan to hold an exchange meeting between female researchers using the WEB. By utilizing the WEB, it is possible to freely participate from a remote location, and share the issues faced by many female researchers, such as creating a flexible and diverse research network and making role models more familiar. , Support activities for resolution.
The 13th "Female Researcher Science Grant Winners" and research themes are as follows (honorific titles omitted).Winners from various fields such as plant embryology, oncology, space geochemistry, and biotechnology were selected.
1. Fumi Akimoto Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo "Controlling the adhesiveness of the hydrogel surface by surface-initiated precision polymerization (developing a jelly-like material that adheres to the skin and cells, aiming for medical application)"
2. Momoko Ikeuchi Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, Niigata University "Search for peptide hormones that bring out the regenerative ability of plants (search for peptide hormones that help plants heal and regenerate wounds, and lead to elucidation of their functions)"
3. Yuki Ishizawa Associate Professor, AWA Support Center, The University of Tokushima "Development of Acute Aortic Disease Prevention Strategy by New Method Combining Large-Scale Medical Information Database Analysis and Basic Research (Big Data Analysis + Preventing Sudden Death in Basic Medical Experiments)"
4. Miho Sekai Assistant Professor, Molecular Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University "Elucidation of" non-self (cancer cell) "recognition mechanism by epithelial cells and involvement of immune system (how epithelial cells recognize cancer cells) Clarify whether to eliminate) ”
5. Reiko Tajiri, Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Department of Advanced Life Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo (RPD) "Construction of a reconstruction system to explore the principles that create the diverse properties of insect cuticles (insect" shell " Understand the mechanism by which various properties are created by artificially creating
6. Michiko Horiguchi Lecturer, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceuticals, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science, Yamaguchi "Development of Cell and Organ Selective Nanodrug Delivery Formulations (Development of Nanotechnology to Deliver Drugs to Where the Body Needs)"
7. Yuki Hibiya Development of multi-element extraction method from micro solid materials for elucidation of early solar system evolution (from millimeter-sized materials from space) Take out the elements and approach the origin of the solar system) ”
8. Ritsuko Morita Researcher, External Environment Research Team, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Science and Technology "Understanding the cell-cell interactions that contribute to lineage priming of hair follicle epidermal stem cells (the mechanism by which hair follicle stem cells are produced during the fetal period) Research to understand) ”
9. Mari Yuasa, Assistant Professor, Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering, Institute of Biomaterials and Dentistry, Tokyo "Development of a new retinoid combination therapy focusing on the control of nuclear receptor degradation (focusing on intracellular proteins and controlling them so far Research to make more use of drugs) ”
10. Rii Wakabayashi Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University "Utilization of self-assembled peptides for the creation of high-performance emulsion formulations (formulations that deliver drugs stably by introducing the network formed by the peptides into the emulsion) Develop) ”
