Karla Shepard Rubinger
Executive Director
Rosalind Franklin Society
www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org

Announcing the 2024 Rita Allen Foundation Scholars.

The Rita Allen Foundation has named its 2024 class of Rita Allen Foundation Scholars, celebrating seven early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptional promise for revealing new pathways to advance human health. The Rita Allen Foundation has been an important funder of our annual RFS awards in Science. Read more. (Image via Rita Allen Foundation)

Apply today for BII & Science Translational Medicine Prize for Innovations in Women's Health.
The prize seeks to recognize researchers who have developed innovative advances with translational potential to impact women’s health. Researchers who have advanced development of new solutions that can be readily deployed in low- and middle-income countries are encouraged to apply. Read more.

‘She was right, and they were wrong’: the female astronomers hidden by science’s male elite.
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin showed stars were primarily made of hydrogen and helium, contradicting the scientific orthodoxy of the 1920s, which held that they were made of an array of elements. Read more.

Embracing Risk to Accelerate Better Health Outcomes for Everyone.

ARPA-H Director Dr. Renee Wegrzyn explains how ARPA-H makes pivotal investments in high-risk, high-reward ideas that cannot be achieved through traditional research or investment. Read more. Watch her RFS presentation here: Room at the Top: Leadership at the Federal Level. (Image via ARPA-H)

The 2025 Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) Meeting Program Committee invites proposals for Scientific Symposia and Individual Talks.
The Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) is a unique scientific organization that seeks to enhance knowledge of sex/gender differences by facilitating interdisciplinary communication and collaboration among scientists and clinicians of diverse backgrounds. Read more.

2024 Joanna Fowler Award Winners Announced.

The Chemistry Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Brookhaven Women in Science (BWIS) have named Paris Watson of Johns Hopkins University, Michele Myong of Brookhaven Lab, and Edelmy Marin Bernardez of Stony Brook University as the recipients of the 2024 Joanna Fowler Award in the Chemical and Biochemical Sciences. (Image: Paris Watson, Michele Myong, and Edelmy Marin Bernardez). Read more.

Crafting tales of science with Theanne Griffith.
Theanne Griffith can’t help thinking in stories. After having her first child, Griffith decided to push her love of storytelling further by writing a children’s book. Seven years later, she has published 15 books as part of two series: a nonfiction chapter book series, “Ada Twist, Scientist: The Why Files,” and her own fiction series called “The Magnificent Makers. Read more.

SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn mission will set altitude record for female astronauts.
Two women astronauts will set a spaceflight record next week, if all goes according to plan. Polaris Dawn's four-person crew includes female mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both of whom are SpaceX engineers, as well as male pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet. Read more.

Dr. Geri Donenberg was named NIH Associate Director for AIDS Research.

Dr. Geri Donenberg was among the first to establish the role of mental health in adolescent HIV risk taking and to design and implement HIV prevention interventions for youth with mental health distress. She will join NIH this October to lead the advancement and coordination of HIV/AIDS research at NIH, working closely with NIH Institutes and Centers. Read more.

For men only? Lack of women winners for million-euro science prize draws protests.
At a June ceremony in the scenic Swiss village of Villars, three scientists each collected a huge new prize: 1 million Swiss francs ($1.1 million) to invest in their research to safeguard the planet against various environmental tipping points. All the winners of this year’s Frontiers Planet Prize (FPP), with a cash award bigger than the Nobel Prize, were men, just as they were last year. Read more.

Because of Her Story Interns Uplifted Women’s History Across Smithsonian.
This paid, eight-week internship program offered students or recent graduates the opportunity to be involved in programs across the Smithsonian—from the National Zoo to the National Postal Museum—to support projects that amplify women’s voices and contributions throughout history to tell a more complete American story. Read more.

Apply for the 2024 Paula Kantor Award.

Nominations are now open for the 2024 Paula Kantor Award for excellence in research. Nominate exceptional women researchers under the age of 40 who are citizens of countries located in a low- or middle-income country. Read more.

The American Public Health Association announces 2024 awards for excellence in public health.
“We’re excited to present these prestigious awards to those working tirelessly to improve public health across the country and around the globe. Their innovation, leadership and advocacy demonstrate a deep commitment to public health and health equity,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of APHA. Read more.

How a little-known 17th-century female scientist changed our understanding of insects.
Maria Sibylla Merian’s beautiful and disturbing illustrations, which shaped how we look at the natural world, will be on show at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. Read more.

Fatima Cody Stanford Receives the 2024 Meritorious Award.

“I am so thankful to the National Medical Association for selecting me as the 2024 Meritorious Award Recipient. This award is given for noted national and international achievement and prominence. In my work in obesity, nutrition, and fitness, I help reduce bias and stigma, which are particularly prominent for those with excess adipose and particularly those of African descent,” says Fatima Cody Stanford. Read more. Image via  Harvard Medical School.

FASEB’s Excellence in Science Awards honor outstanding women scientists.
Do you know an outstanding woman scientist who is committed to the professional development of others, her scientific society, and the broader biological and biomedical science community? Nominate them for the 2025 FASEB Science Excellence Awards. Read more.