In the midst of everything that is happening this year, let’s not allow any positive things to fly under the radar. Local Malaysian, Dr Chan Yoke Fun, was announced as the winner of the ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women 2020!
Dr Chan Yoke Fun, The Head of the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine and winner of the ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women 2020.
Dr Chan, who is also the Head of the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine, received a US$20,000 cash award along with the prize.
Her research focused on developing a vaccine to combat a virus that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease and brain infection diseases in children. She has also worked alongside local experts to raise awareness regarding the dangers and prevention of the virus in her community and beyond.
“This award is timely in demonstrating the active role of women in preventive healthcare. It is a recognition for work well done and signifies an opportunity for her team to do more. It has also empowered all ASEAN women scientists.”
“Passion, perseverance and positive thinking help us to achieve greater heights,” she said as reported by BERNAMA.
Dr Chan presented her research to a panel of judges through a head-to-head pitch competition held in a virtual judging session on Aug 13. She was also competing against Dr Shefaly Shorey from the National University of Singapore (NUS) who received an honourable mention.
The panel who did the judging consisted of the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI) members, representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Underwriters Laboratories.
From a pool of ten national finalists, two of them were selected and they represented the brightest women scientists working in the field of Preventive Healthcare. This was the theme for the 2020 ASEAN-US Science Prize.
This award was created to recognise promising, early- to mid-career female scientists for their academic and professional achievements. We would like to congratulate Dr Chan Yoke Fun on her outstanding achievement that has certainly made Malaysians proud.
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