AsianScientist (Mar. 8, 2019) – Here at Asian Scientist Magazine, we are committed to raising the profile of scientists living and working in Asia—regardless of their gender. The fact remains, however, that women remain under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, particularly at the leadership levels.

To mark International Women’s Day, we highlight 26 outstanding female scientists featured on our annual Asian Scientist 100 list. These women are breaking new ground across every scientific discipline and making the world a better place one research study at a time.

1. Tamal Lata Aditya



Aditya received the 2018 Senadhira Rice Research Award for her contribution to rice genetics in Bangladesh.

2. Amitha Bentota



Bentota received the 2018 Senadhira Rice Research Award for her contribution to rice genetics in Sri Lanka.

3. Chanchao Lorthongpanich



Lorthongpanich won the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for her work on using stem cells to produce donor-independent platelets.

4. Varisa Pongrakhananon



Pongrakhananon was recognized for her research on lung cancer with the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship.

5. Wan Yue



In 2018, Wan was named a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in the Molecular Architecture of Life program. The program funds and supports researchers within five years of their first academic position by helping them build research networks and develop essential skills needed to become leaders in global research. Wan was recognized for her work on the role of RNA structures in human health and infectious diseases. Previously, Wan was elected as an EMBO Young Investigator in 2017 and received the L’Oréal Singapore for Women in Science National Fellowship in 2016.

6. Witri Wahyu Lestari



Lestari, who was previously featured on the AS100 2017 list, makes a second appearance for winning the 2018 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World.

7. Rosalinda Torres



For her research on the larvicidal ability of Philippine medicinal plants, Torres received the 2018 Gregorio Zara Award for Basic Science Research.

8. Chularat Wattanakit



Wattanakit won the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for her work on the synthesis of chiral molecules.

9. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay



Bandyopadhyay received the 2018 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Engineering Sciences. Bandyopadhyay, the first woman director of the Indian Statistical Institute, previously appeared on the AS100 list in 2018.

10. Surapa Thiemjarus



Thiemjarus received the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for her research on Internet of Things (IoT) technology for the elderly.

11. Gay Jane Perez



Perez is the first Filipino to win the ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women, an award to encourage promising female scientists working in Southeast Asia. She was recognized for her research using satellite data to improve agriculture for precision farming. Perez, who did her postdoctoral studies at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, was responsible for leading the Department of Science and Technology’s microsatellite program that successfully sent the Philippines’ first microsatellite—Diwata-1—into space in 2016.

12. Kusala Rajendran



Rajendran received the inaugural National Award for Women Scientists from the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences for her work on understanding earthquakes in India.

13. Toshiko Terakawa



Terakawa received the 38th Saruhashi Prize for developing a new method to rationally estimate the pattern of stress fields that cause earthquakes.