The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) would like to congratulate Dr Stephanie Fanucchi on being recognised in the prestigious 2017 L’Oréal-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Rising Talents.

This award comes after Fanucchi received the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO Sub-Saharan Africa Award for her work involving the use of front-line microscopes and synthetic biology tools to understand how immune genes are regulated.

The International Rising Talents are chosen from a group of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers who have received fellowships as part of the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science’s national and regional programmes. The International Rising Talents programme selects 15 of the most promising female scientists among the 250 national and regional fellows of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science programme. The young women are recognised and honoured for embarking on science that has the power to change the world.

Fanucchi’s project has the potential to make a significant impact in the health industry. Titled Deciphering the roles of non-coding RNAs in immune gene regulation, the project seeks to shed more light on the complex mechanisms at play inside biological cells, which would help improve how we treat a number of diseases, including cancer, auto-immune diseases or sepsis.

“Such recognition makes me feel so excited. I have been working so hard and to finally see it paying off is really amazing. This is all so surreal for me; to be recognised as a young woman in science at such a high level is something one can never get over,” says Fanucchi.

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science initiative began 19 years ago. Since its inaugural year, the L’Oreal Foundation and UNESCO   have strived to support and recognise accomplished female researchers, to encourage more young women to enter the profession and to assist them once their careers are in progress.

Fanucchi was recognised at a gala dinner held for 14 other women in Paris, France on 21 March 2017, to celebrate her work in the On the road to imagining new medical treatments category.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Tendani Tsedu: Group Manager: CSIR Strategic and Stakeholder Communication
Tel: +2712 841 3417
Cell: +2782 945 1980
Email: mtsedu@csir.co.za

About the CSIR

The CSIR is one of the leading scientific and technology research, development and implementation organisations in Africa. Constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1945 as a science council, the CSIR undertakes directed and multidisciplinary research, technological innovation, as well as industrial and scientific development to improve the quality of life of all South Africans. For more information, visit www.csir.co.za.