13 November 2024
Dr. Irene Vercellino has been awarded the "For Women in Science" prize. The structural biologist from Forschungszentrum Jülich is one of four young female researchers to receive the award, which is endowed with 25,000 euros by L'Oréal, the German UNESCO Commission and the German Humboldt Network.
Dr. Irene Vercellino heads a research group at the Structural Biology division of the Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons in Jülich on "Mitochondrial Membrane Folding". The aim of her research is to investigate the atomic structure of protein complexes in the membrane of mitochondria. Mitochondria are the power plants of biological cells that produce ATP - a small molecule that drives most chemical reactions in cells.
There is a lot of evidence to indicate that the shape and structure of the membranes in mitochondria is crucial for their function. Dr. Vercellino's research could therefore help to find new approaches to the treatment of metabolic disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
The biologist, who studied at the University of Turin and came to Forschungszentrum Jülich after completing her doctorate at ETH Zurich and a four-year postdoc period at the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology Austrie (ISTA), uses state-of-the-art methods and infrastructure of cryo-electron microscopy at the Ernst-Ruska Centre and supercomputers at Forschungszentrum Jülich to visualize membrane proteins in their natural environment down to the atomic level.
Award for excellent research
Themed "The world needs science - and science needs women", the renowned prizes were awarded yesterday at a festive evening event in Berlin with guests from the fields of culture, science, politics, business and society.
"For Women in Science" is part of a renowned global program that was launched in 1998 by the L'Oréal Foundation and UNESCO and has also been established in Germany since 2007. More than 4,400 female scientists worldwide have already been honored with the award, including seven future Nobel Prize winners.
