Turkish scientist honored with L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science award

Mesude Erşan – PARIS

Turkish scientist Duygu Sağ has been honored with the “L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Rising Talents” 2018 award in France.

At a ceremony held at the UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris on March 22, the 37-year-old female scientist was honored for her works on “triggering the immune system to fight cancer,” the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said. 

“With the knowledge we have right now, it is not possible to beat cancer tomorrow. But we can tomorrow discover something that can change everything; this is why I have hope. We can discover something tomorrow, and completely different doors can open. My dream is a world without cancer, and I believe that this will happen one day,” Sağ said during the ceremony. 

“Actually, in our bodies, we have an army with a very powerful strategic side and can fight against cancer, but the weapons of our soldiers have been taken. With immunotherapy, we give our immune cells, i.e. our army’s soldiers, their weapons back. I have personally lived through the pain of cancer,” Sağ added, who lost her father to lymphoma and grandmother and aunt to ovarian cancer. 

Now in its 20th year, the L’Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talents program is a component of the global L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science program.  

It is dedicated to both honoring distinguished women scientists and supporting promising young women researchers through a 15,000 euros grant, mentorship support and international exposure. 

Each year, among the national and regional fellows, the fifteen most promising young researchers are honored as “International Rising Talents.”