Biomedical Science

Byrana Nagappa Suresh

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
India

Suresh was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for his contributions to technologies that advance space exploration as well as his leadership promoting peaceful uses of outer space. (Photo: Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology)

Wing-Huen Ip

National Central University
Taiwan

Ip was co-awarded the 2022 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) award for Earth Astronomy and Space Sciences for researching dynamic models of orbital migration of outer planets during the formation of a solar system. He was also recognized for his work with cometary ionospheres and satellite-magnetosphere interaction. (Photo: Asia-Pacific Conference on Giftedness)

Zhusheng Liu

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology
China

Liu was one of the recipients of the 2022 IAF Hall of Fame award for his pioneering work in the field of space technology, especially in enhancing the reliability and safety of China manned rockets. Liu was the chief designer on the first manned space mission in China. (Photo: International Astronautical Federation)

Nissim Kanekar

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Kanekar was awarded the 2022 Infosys Prize in Physical Sciences for his study of galaxies in the “high noon” era when stars were being formed at a maximum rate. His careful astronomical investigations have placed the strongest limit on possible secular variation of the fine structure constant and the electron-to-proton mass ratio. (Photo: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)

Riffat Shamshad

Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission
Pakistan

Shamshad was confer red the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz civil award for her work advancing satellite technology. (Photo: National Center of Excellence in Geology)

Mahalingam Govindaraj

Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research
India

Govindaraj won the Norman Borlaug Field Award in 2022. The award was given by the World Food Prize Foundation for his consistent research on biofortified crops, especially iron-rich pearl millet, which have helped improve the health of rural communities and small holder farmers. (Photo: HarvestPlus)

Parveen Chhuneja

Punjab Agricultural University
India

Chhuneja won the 2022 Mentor Award by Borlaug Global Rust Initiative for mentoring more than 30 young women researchers in India, and for her research on identification and introgression of novel genetic variation from wild wheat species into cultivated wheat leading to wheat gene pool enrichment. (Photo: Borlaug Global Rust Initiative)

Phung Le Thi Kim

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
Vietnam

Phung received the Best Innovation Award at the Hitachi Global Foundation Asia Innovation Awards for her project that harnesses agricultural waste for water treatment. (Photo: Ho Chi Minh City University)

Roel R. Suralta

Philippine Rice Research Institute
Philippines

Suralta was one of the recipients of the Achievement Award at the 2021 National Research Council of the Philippines’ (NCRP) awards for his significant contributions to understanding root science leading to robust high-value crops in the face of climate change. (Photo: Philippine Rice Research Institute)

Umara Sahara Rana

University of Agriculture
Pakistan

Rana received the 2022 Early Career Winners Award by The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) for her research on identifying genes resistant to fusarium head blight, and for developing and characterizing wheat germplasm for durable rust resistance and reduced fungicide use. (Photo: Borlaug Global Rust Initiative)

Daoxin Xie

Tsinghua University
China

Xie was conferred the 2022 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) award in agricultural science for his contributions in plant hormone signaling. He notably contributed to unlocking important signaling mechanisms involving two plant hormones, jasmonate, and strigolactone. (Photo: Tsinghua University)

Adeeba Kamarulzaman

University of Malaya
Malaysia

Adeeba received the 2022 Merdeka Award for Health, Science and Technology for her impact on the prevention, treatment and research of infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS. In addition to heading Malaysia’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Adeeba has consistently pushed for harm reduction and HIV prevention programs for people who use drugs. In 2005, she drove a Needle Syringe Exchange Program that dropped the rate of new HIV/AIDS infections by 50 percent over 10 years. Over a 30-year career, she has established herself as a leader and committee member of various prestigious regional and international organizations. (Photo: International AIDS Society)

Beverly Lorraine Ho

Department of Health
Philippines

Ho was named one of the 2022 Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service awardees for her work in public health. Her research has contributed to policies like the sugar- sweetened beverage tax, universal health care and the implementation of health technology assessment processes. (Photo: Department of Health)

Chathuranga Ranasinghe

University of Colombo
Sri Lanka

Ranasinghe received the 7th Sheikh Fahad Hiroshima-Asia Sports Medicine and Science Award in 2022. This award is given once in four years to a medical expert from Asia for their contribution to sports medicine. (Photo: University of Colombo)

Gagandeep Kang

Christian Medical College
India

Kang was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2022 for her outstanding contributions to improve child health through her research in enteric infectious diseases and vaccinology benefiting children in low- and middle-income countries, and more recently to vaccine science, vaccination policy, and communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: International Congress on Infectious Diseases)

Tadashi Hattori

Asia-Pacific Prevention of Blindness Association
Japan

Hattori, an ophthalmologist, won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2022. He divides his time between Japan and Vietnam treating patients living with eye disorders. Hattori has trained more than thirty doctors in Vietnam who can now do sophisticated eye surgeries. His team has treated over 20,000 patients in the country. Hattori has even donated medical equipment to remote and under-resourced hospitals in Vietnam. In 2005, Hattori founded the Asia-Pacific Prevention of Blindness Association to train doctors and conduct free treatment and surgeries. In 2014, with the help of investors and colleagues, he founded the Japan International Eye Hospital in Hanoi. The funds earned through this hospital are used for free outreach programs. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation was touched by Hattori’s “simple humanity and extraordinary generosity. (Photo: Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation)

Wanjin Hong

Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Singapore

Hong was awarded the President’s Science and Technology Medal for his work on building up the biomedical sciences research ecosystem in Singapore. Over the course of his career, he has fostered partnerships between the public, academic and clinical research sectors as well as nurtured scientific talent and encouraged innovation. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Hailan Hu

Zhejiang University
China

Hu was selected as one of the 2022 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards for elucidating the biochemical mechanism of depression. (Photo: L'Oréal For Women in Science)

Kaori Sugihara

University of Tokyo
Japan

Sugihara received the Japan Science and Technology (JST) President Award for excellence in science by female researchers for her work on lipids in cell membranes and biosensors. (Photo: The University of Tokyo, Institute of Industrial Sciences)

Haruo Kasai

International Research Center for Neurointelligence
Japan

Kasai received the Imperial Prize and Japan Academy Prize in 2022 for discovering the principles of structural plasticity in brain spine synapses. (Photo: The University of Tokyo)

Jeong Min Lee

Seoul National University
South Korea

Lee won the 2022 Asan Award in Clinical Medicine for his contributions to Image-based diagnosis and prognosis prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma, and validation of therapeutic effect of “No-Touch” radiofrequency ablation for small hepatocellular carcinoma. (Photo: Seoul National University College of Medicine)

Muhammad Iqbal Choudhury

University of Karachi
Pakistan

Choudhury won the 2022 Mustafa Prize International, which is awarded to the top researchers of the Islamic world. He received the honor for his contributions in the field of natural product chemistry, and for discovering anti-epileptic and anti-leishmanial compounds from indigenous medicinal plants, which are in various stages of clinical trials. (Photo: Pride of Pakistan)

Pia Bagamasbad

University of the Philippines-Diliman
Philippines

Bagamasbad has been recognized as one of the 2022 Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service awardees for spearheading an RT-PCR training program for the detection of SARS- CoV-2, to support the Department of Health’s COVID-19 response. (Photo: University of Philippines Diliman)

Ritu Trivedi

Central Drug Research Institute
India

Trivedi won the National Tech Excellence Award for Women-2022 given by India’s Department of Science and Technology. Trivedi received this award for her research on metabolic bone disorders, specifically post-menopausal osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Her work has led to a pipeline of potential products including Reunion which helps in rapid fracture healing. (Photo: Central Drug Research Institute)

Eui-Cheol Shin

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Shin received the 2022 Asan Award in Basic Medicine for his research on characterization of human immune responses against hepatitis viruses and corona viruses. (Photo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

Erwei Song

Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences
China

Song was co-awarded the 2022 TWAS award in Medical Sciences for his research on the influence of non-coding RNAs in regulating tumor plasticity. (Photo: Tidetron R&D)

Uzma Batool

Shaafi International Hospital
Pakistan

Batool was conferred the 2022 Tamgha-e-Imtiaz civilian award for medicine recognizing her contributions to the field of gastroenterology. (Photo: Oladoc)

Yasuka Toda

Meiji University
Japan

Toda won the 2022 Japan Science and Technology (JST) Prize for excellence in science by female researchers. She received the award for her research on the evolution in taste receptors of birds and primates. (Photo: Meiji University)

Chunying Chen

National Center for Nanoscience and Technology
China

Chen was the co-recipient of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) award in 2020 for her work exploring the interactions between nanoparticles and biological systems. Her work has implications for potentially designing new systems for biomedical applications. (Photo: National Center for Nanoscience and Technology China)

David P. Penaloza, Jr.

De La Salle University
Philippines

Penaloza, Jr. was named the Achievement Awardee for the NRCP Division of Chemical Sciences for his notable contributions in polymer chemistry research. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav

Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai
India

Yadav was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for his work advancing research, innovation and education in green chemistry, catalysis, nanotechnology and chemical engineering. (Photo: Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai)

Ho Thi Thanh Van

Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Resources and Environment
Vietnam

Ho was awarded the L’Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talent Award in 2022 for her developing new materials for the production of green hydrogen. (Photo: Ho Thi Thanh Van)

Joseph Auresenia

De La Salle University
Philippines

Auresenia was awarded the Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (KSBB) Research Exchange Award for his contributions and supporting role to further the collaboration among Asian researchers in the field of biotechnology research. (Photo: De La Salle University)

Ming Joo Koh

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Koh is a recipient of the Young Scientist Award as part of the President’s Science and Technology Awards. He was recognized for his breakthroughs in sustainable base metal catalysis and radical-based chemical technologies. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Sukbok Chang

Institute for Basic Science
South Korea

Chang won the 2022 HO-AM Prize in Chemistry and Life Sciences for his contributions in the field of transition metal catalysis for organic transformations and for developing a range of new and impactful C-H bond functionalization reactions. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Ashani Savinda Ranathunga

University of Moratuwa
Sri Lanka

Ranathunga is the recipient of 2022 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for turning industrial and agricultural waste into value-added products and using them as raw materials for eco-friendly construction and development projects. (Photo: Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World)

Athanasia Amanda Septevani

National Research and Innovation Agency
Indonesia

Septevani was awarded the Merck Award for Young Indonesian Scientists for her research on lignin derived from biomass black liquor sludge as an eco-friendly flame retardant. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Renzhe Bi

Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Singapore

Bi is a recipient of the Young Scientist Award for developing and translating bio-optical technologies and medical innovations. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Bui Xuan Thanh

Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam

Bui was awarded the Outstanding Innovation Award at the Hitachi Global Foundation Asia Innovation Awards for the development of a wetland roof system for domestic wastewater treatment and sustainable cities. (Photo: Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research)

Erika Fille Legara

Asian Institute of Management
Philippines

Legara was named one of the 2022 Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service awardees in recognition of her work advancing the field of data science in the Philippines. She is the program director of the country’s pioneering graduate data science program. (Photo: Erika Fille Legara)

Daining Fang

Beijing Institute of Technology
China

Fang was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an inter national member for his contributions to the understanding of the mechanics of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials as well as light weight multifunctional structures under extreme conditions. (Photo: Beijing Institute of Technology)

Gurumoorthy Bhuvaneswari

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
India

Bhuvaneswari was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for her work advancing power converters to improve power quality and her leadership in using advanced technologies for education. (Photo: National Academy of Engineering)

Keisha Alena Mayuga

Life Cycles
Philippines

Mayuga was named one of the 2022 Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service awardees for her work on transport planning and improving mobility in Manila. (Photo: LinkedIn)

Wook Hyun Kwon

Seoul National University
South Korea

Kwon was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to the development and commercialization of model-predictive controls. (Photo: The World Academy of Sciences)

Ravindra Kulkarni

Elkay Chemicals Private Limited
India

Kulkarni was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for his innovation-centric business and technology development as an engineer, entrepreneur and environmentalist. (Photo: National Academy of Engineering)

Rinlee Butch M. Cervera

University of the Philippines-Diliman
Philippines

Cervera received the David M. Consunji Award for Engineering Research from the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology for advancing research on energy storage and conversion devices, waste to energy applications and green materials. (Photo: The World Academy of Sciences)

Sang Kyun Cha

Seoul National University
South Korea

Cha won the 2022 HO-AM prize in engineering for his innovative research in the database industry. Cha has developed the first commercial in-memory database engine, SAP HANA, that can store large scale data in DRAM memory. (Photo: Seoul National University)

Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay

Indian Statistical Institute
India

Bandyopadhyay received the Padma Shri award in the science and engineering category for her continued research on data mining, pattern recognition and biological data analysis, which has led to important discoveries such as genetic markers for breast cancer. (Photo: Infosys Prize)

Siriwan Suebnukarn

Thammasat University
Thailand

Suebnukarn received an honorable mention in the 2022 Underwriters Laboratories- ASEAN-U.S. Science Prize for Women, which recognized of her research that uses AI technology for early detection of oral cancer and other jaw tumors. (Photo: Thammasat University)

Ching Cheong Sok

Digital Health Research Unit of Cancer Research
Malaysia

Sok is one of two winners of the 2022 Underwriters Laboratories- ASEAN-U.S. Science Prize for Women for her research that advances early detection of oral cancer using AI. (Photo: Ching Cheong Sok)

Supiya Charoensiriwath

National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre Thailand
Thailand

Charoensiriwath won the 2022 Underwriters Laboratories-ASEAN-U.S. Science Prize for Women for her extensive work in developing mobile applications on national digital platforms to promote nutritional health in children. (Photo: The ASEAN)

Tessy Thomas

Defense Research and Development Organization
India

Thomas was awarded the APJ Abdul Kalam award for her pioneering work developing indigenous missile systems. (Photo: Fortune India)

Keh-Chyuan Tsai

National Taiwan University
Taiwan

Tsai was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for his global leadership and research that advanced earthquake engineering and steel structure design. Tsai is a prolific researcher in the fields of design, testing and analysis of seismic building structures. Throughout his career, he has developed several seismic- protective technologies like metallic energy dissipating elements and buckling restrained braces.As an educator and leader, he has supervised over 150 Masters and Doctoral students from Taiwan and abroad. More recently, his work investigates the relationship between stiffness and cracking in order to keep structures stable and people safe in the event of an earthquake. (Photo: National Academy of Engineering)

Hsiao-Wen Zan

National University of Yang Ming Chiao
Taiwan

Zan was co-awarded the 2022 Franco-Taiwanese prize for her work with French researcher, Dr. Olivier Soppera, advancing laser materials and processes for the development of metal-oxide-based sensors used for health applications. (Photo: National University Yang Ming Chiao)

Ayako Abe-Ouchi

The University of Tokyo
Japan

Abe-Ouchi was one of the recipients of the Japan Academy Prize for her research contributions to understanding the mechanism of the 100,000 year period glacial cycle. (Photo: European Geosciences Union)

Aletta Yñiguez

University of the Philippines
Philippines

Yñiguez was named one of the 2022 Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service awardees for her contributions to marine science research. Yñiguez works with local communities to advocate sustainable fishing practices and has most recently collaborated with the local fishing and agricultural bureau to propose the use of artificial intelligence as an early-warning system for harmful algal blooms. Interestingly, her systems make use of accessible and inexpensive components like underwater cameras, lasers, depth sensors and global positioning devices to gather and process data. Yñiguez believes it is important to educate local fisherfolk and provide the infrastructure and support necessary to enable sustainable fishing. (Photo: Daily Guardian)

Allan Gil S. Fernando

University of the Philippines
Philippines

Fernando was awarded the 2022 National Research Council of the Philippines’ Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to earth and space sciences. (Photo: University of the Philippines/a>)

Anna Oposa

Save Philippine Seas
Philippines

Oposa is a recipient of the 2022 TOWNS Award for her work in marine ecology conservation. Through SPS, she has organized the Save Sharks Network Philippines to lobby a roadmap for shark and ray protection in the Philippines. (Photo: De La Salle Santiago Zobel School)

Kasturi Devi Kanniah

University of Technology Malaysia
Malaysia

Kanniah was listed as one of the World’s Top 2 percent Scientists in the field of Environment and Surveying by Stanford University. She received the accolade for the impact of her work that examines changes in terrestrial carbon stock and low-carbon cities. (Photo: University of Technology, Malaysia)

Mario Juan A. Aurelio

University of the Philippines
Philippines

Aurelio was conferred the Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Basic Research by the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST) for his contributions to structural geology and geodynamics education. Aurelio is also a prolific researcher in the field of tectonics. (Photo: University of the Philippines)

Naohiko Ohkouchi

Research Institute for Marine Resources Utilization
Japan

Ohkouchi received the Duke of Edinburgh Prize in 2022 from the Japan Academy for his research on development and application of a method for analyzing changes in the biological world using advanced analysis of compound-specific isotope ratios. (Photo: Progress in Earth and Planetary Science)

P.S. Biju

Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
India

Biju was awarded the Best Atmospheric Scientist Award in 2022 by India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences for developing weather forecasting instruments at the nation’s airports and observational instruments for cyclonic winds at coastal observatories. (Photo: The Hindu)

Suk-ju Kang

Sogang University
South Korea

Kang was awarded the Merck Young Scientist Award in South Korea for his contributions to research on image and video enhancement systems as well as AI-based architectural design. (Photo: Sogang University)

Suman Chakraborty

Indian Institute of Technology
India

Chakraborty won the 2022 Infosys Prize in Engineering and Computer Science for his pioneering work in elucidating the interaction of fluid mechanics, interfacial phenomena, and electromechanics at the micro- and nanoscale. He has used his research to help advance healthcare in resource limited settings through the invention of novel low-cost medical devices for sensing, diagnostics and therapeutics. (Photo: Infosys Prize)

Hongjiang Zhang

The Carlyle Group
China

Zhang was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for his work and leadership in the field of multimedia computing. (Photo: Source Code Capital)

Asako Noguchi

The University of Tokyo
Japan

Noguchi was one of the recipients of the 2022 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Japan Fellowship for explaining the mechanism that amplifies the diversity of neural activity, contributing to the understanding of the nervous system. (Photo: L’Oréal Group)

Asha DeVos

Oceanswell
Sri Lanka

DeVos is a marine biologist, educator and a leader in the field of blue whale research. She is the first Sri Lankan to receive a PhD in marine mammal research and the first National Geographic explorer from the country. For her contributions in the field and for mentoring young scientists in Sri Lanka, DeVos has received numerous awards including the Maxwell-Hanrahan Award in Field Biology, Vanithabhimana Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Global Teacher Prize. De Vos, who is also a TED Fellow, founded Oceanswell, Sri Lanka’s first marine conservation research and education organization. (Photo: The Ismaili)

Lanfen Chen

Xiamen University
China

Chen was one of the recipients of the For Women In Science (FWIS) International Awards for advancing the understanding of the pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases. (Photo: Xiamen University)

Ruey-Hwa Chen

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Chen was awarded The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) 2022 Award for Biology for her contributions to the understanding of how cell signalling and protein post-translational modifications control cancer progression, cell death and autophagy. (Photo: Academia Sinica)

Dennis Lo

The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Lo was awarded the 2022 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for his discovery of fetal DNA in maternal blood that led to non- invasive prenatal testing for Down Syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. (Photo: Hong Kong Genome Centre)

Edwin Atabay

Philippine Carabao Centre
Philippines

Atabay was conferred the National Research Council of the Phillippines (NRCP) Achievement Award in the field of veterinary medicine. He oversaw the implementation of Intensified Reproductive Management Program, which promotes technological advancements to improve the reproductive efficiency of livestock. (Photo: Philippine Carabao Centre)

Haruka Sasaki

Tohoku University
Japan

Sasaki was one of the recipients of the 2022 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Japan Fellowship for uncovering the mechanisms behind melatonin’s involvement in asthma pathogenesis, thus helping to establish a drug discovery platform for new therapies. (Photo: LinkedIn)

Hsueh Yen-Ping

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Hsueh received the Taiwan Outstanding Women in Science (TOWIS) 2022 Most Promising Young Scientist Award. Her research explores the molecular interactions and coevolution between C. elegans and the nematophagous fungi. (Photo: Academia Sinica)

Hsou-min Li

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Li received the 2022 Taiwan Outstanding Women in Science Award. Her work aims to shed light on how proteins are imported into plant plastids. (Photo: Academia Sinica)

Wenhui Li

National Institute of Biological Sciences
China

Li was the recipient of the 2022 Future Science Prize in the Life Sciences, awarded for establishing sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP) as the receptor of hepatitis B and D in humans. This breakthrough discovery has positive implications for the future of designing therapeutics for these viral diseases. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Moti Lal Madan

Indian Council of Agricultural Research
India

Madan was one of the recipients of Padma Shri award, which recognized his three-decade-long contributions in the field of livestock reproduction in India. Madan’s team had carried out the world’s first in vitro fertilization of a buffalo calf in 1990. (Photo: wikimedia)

Rohan Pethiyagoda

-
Sri Lanka

Pethiyagoda won the 2022 Linnean Medal in zoology, and became the first Sri Lankan to receive the medal. He was recognized for his consistent research, writing and advocacy in biodiversity conservation in Sri Lanka. (Photo: LMD Sri Lanka)

Senjuti Saha

Child Health Research Foundation
Bangladesh

Saha is one of the leading young female scientists in Bangladesh who has been championing the cause of equity in global health research. Saha’s team was the first to sequence the genome of SARS-CoV-2 in Bangladesh, and the first in the world to show that the chikungunya virus could cross the blood-brain barrier and cause meningitis in Bangladeshi children. (Photo: University of Toronto)

Subbanna Ayyappan

Karnataka Science and Technology Academy
India

Ayyappan is one of the recipients of Padma Shri award for playing a key role in leading India’s Blue Revolution. (Photo: Karnataka Science and Technology Academy)

Vidita Vaidya

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Vaidya won the 2022 Infosys Prize in Life Sciences for her seminal contributions to understanding brain mechanisms that underlie mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, including signals engaged by the neurotransmitter serotonin in causing persistent changes in behavior induced by early life stress and the role of serotonin in energy regulation in brain cells. Vaidya is also a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and Indian Academy of Sciences. She received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 2015, and a Nature award for excellence in mentoring in 2019. (Photo: The Print)

Ai Kohata

The University of Tokyo
Japan

Kohata was one of the recipients of the 2022 L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Award for her research on the practical application and expansion of the scope of using nucleic acid drugs, which are said to be effective in treating intractable diseases. (Photo: The University of Tokyo)

Haruna Katayama


Japan

Katayama was one of the recipients of the 2022 L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Award for proposing a novel “black hole laser” design to observe Hawking radiation, a type of particle emitted outside of black holes. When applied to quantum computers, her work can further the realization of next- generation information processing and communications. (Photo: Hiroshima University)

Bin Liu

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Liu was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for her research that brought organic electronic materials into aqueous media—opening new avenues for biomedicine, environmental monitoring, sensors and electronic devices. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Yong-Young Noh

Postech
South Korea

Noh was awarded the 2022 Merck Award for his research on semiconducting materials. He developed the first high- performance p-type thin-film transistor (TFT) by harnessing tin-based metal halide perovskites and copper iodine-based metal halide transparent semiconductors. (Photo: Postech)

Mahesh Kakde

Indian Institute of Science
India

Kakde won the 2022 Infosys Prize in Mathematics for his contributions to algebraic number theory. His research on the non-commutative Iwasawa main conjecture, Gross-Stark conjecture and the Brumer-Stark conjecture resolves outstanding conjectures at the core of modern number theory. (Photo: Infosys Prize)

Ngaiming Mok

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Mok was awarded the 2022 Future Science Prize in Mathematics and Computer Science for his work in varieties of minimal rational tangents in algebraic geometry as well as his proof of Ax-Schanuel’s conjecture for Shimura varieties. He is renowned in the mathematical community for his global perspective in Pure Mathematics and for his work unravelling significant conjectures and problems with a variety of analytic, algebraic and geometric methods. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Sohail Nadeem

Quaid-i-Azam University
Pakistan

Nadeem won the 2022 Obada Prize in the distinguished scientist category for his continued contributions in the field of applied mathematics and for his excellent teaching proficiency. Nadeem has supervised over 100 graduate students and researchers. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Mayuko Yamashita

Research Institute of Mathematical Science, Kyoto University
Japan

Yamashita won the Grand Marie Sklodowska Curie Award for her work on non-commutative geometry. The award recognized her strong contributions not only in mathematics but also in physics field theory. (Photo: European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad)

Yong-Guen Oh

Institute for Basic Science
South Korea

Oh won the HO-AM Prize in Physics and Mathematics in 2022. He is a leading mathematician in the field of symplectic geometry and topology. Oh set up the theoretical foundation of Floer homology theory and developed important methodologies of applying the theory to various problems in symplectic topology. Oh is one of the first few Koreans who were invited as a speaker in the International Congress of Mathematicians. He is a member of Korean Mathematical Society and National Academy of Science of the Republic of Korea. (Photo: wikimedia)

Chandana Jayaratne

University of Colombo
Sri Lanka

Jayaratne was confer red the National Apex Award 2022 by the Sri Lankan President for his consistent professional excellence in the field of science and technology in the country. (Photo: University of Colombo)

Kimiko Sekiguchi

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Sekiguchi received the 2022 Saruhashi Prize, which is given to female researchers who have made remarkable achievements in the field of natural sciences. Sekiguchi was rewarded for her work on “three- body nuclear force” among the nucleons inside atoms. (Photo: Saruhashi Award)

Xueming Yang

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Yang was named the 2022 Future Science Prize in Physical Sciences for the development of new-generation molecular beam instruments that can be used to further the understanding of chemical reactions’ dynamics. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Chhim Sotheara

Transcultural Psychosocial Organization
Cambodia

Sotheara is a recipient of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his work driving public mental health facilities, programs and services. In the mid-1970s, Sotheara spent his childhood living in the midst of a war and genocidal rule. After Phnom Penh was liberated, he was among the first Cambodian psychiatrists to graduate from Phnom Penh’s University of Health Sciences. In the wake of years of war, roughly 40 percent of Cambodians were suffering from mental health problems. Sotheara took on a leading role and became the executive director of Cambodia’s Transcultural Psychosocial Organization in 2002. In the last 20 years, he has continued to drive community-based, psychosocial, capability-building and integrative mental health support. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Gary Bencheghib

Sungei Watch
Indonesia

Bencheghib is a recipient of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his contributions to the fight against marine plastic pollution. (Photo: Sant Eshwer Foundation)

Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury

University of Dhaka
Bangladesh

Chowdhury won the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award in 2022 for her contributions in conserving aquatic ecosystems and vulnerable species in Bangladesh. Chowdhury focuses on risk of plastic pollution in the country’s waterways. She is also empowering women from poor and marginalized communities to turn discarded fishing nets into products such as carpets to help create alternative sources of income for women while protecting the aquatic habitats. She is a member of the Zoological Society of Bangladesh and has been the co-chair of the South Asian Invertebrate Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (Photo: Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World)

Glenn Banaguas

Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute
Philippines

Banaguas received the United Nations’ (UN) Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction Award in 2022 for his work with Climate Smart Philippines, a centralised, multi-stakeholder platform that supplies data for an evidence-based approach to reduce disaster risk. (Photo: Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute)

Ka Yi Ling

Shiok Meats
Singapore

Ling and Sriram were co-recipients of the Nikkei Asia Award for their work developing stem-cell based alternative seafood with their company Shiok Meats. Founded in 2018, the company also addresses overfishing and environmental damage caused by fish farm construction. Formerly scientists at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research, both Sriram and Ling hope to use their technology to offer sustainable, environment-friendly, cruelty-free healthy food to people all over the world. So far, the team has been able to raise about S$30 million in investments from across Asia. The company hopes to scale up and reduce the cost of its products to provide accessible alternative meat. (Photo: Shiok Meats)

Sandhya Sriram

Shiok Meats
Singapore

Ling and Sriram were co-recipients of the Nikkei Asia Award for their work developing stem-cell based alternative seafood with their company Shiok Meats. Founded in 2018, the company also addresses overfishing and environmental damage caused by fish farm construction. Formerly scientists at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research, both Sriram and Ling hope to use their technology to offer sustainable, environment-friendly, cruelty-free healthy food to people all over the world. So far, the team has been able to raise about S$30 million in investments from across Asia. The company hopes to scale up and reduce the cost of its products to provide accessible alternative meat. (Photo: Shiok Meats)

Yong-Guan Zhu

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Environmental geologist Zhu was conferred the 2022 International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) Von Liebig Award in recognition of his contributions to soil science research. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Rong Wang

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Singapore

Wang was awarded the President’s Technology Award for her work in the field of membrane science and technology, in pursuit of sustainable energy-efficient liquid purification and desalination. (Photo: Rong Wang)

Nur Adlyka Binti Ainul Annuar

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Malaysia

Adlyka was selected as one of Southeast Asia’s Women of the Future (Science, Technology and Digital) 2021 for helping discover a hidden supermassive black hole in a nearby galaxy. (Photo: The Star)

Gu Songfen

Aviation Industry Corporation of China
China

Gu received the 2020 Preeminent Science and Technology Award, the nation’s top scientific award, for his significant contributions to aviation science and technology in China. Notably, Gu established the country’s aerodynamic aircraft design system, leading the design of three generations of local aircraft. He was also the chief designer of China’s first high-speed, high-altitude interceptor fighter jets and carried out strategic research to bolster national aviation efforts. For his leadership, Gu was inducted into both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. (Photo: CGTN)

Kanak Saha

Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics
India

Saha received the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Physical Sciences) for his breakthrough discovery of a faint galaxy at high redshift, which was made possible through observations at AstroSat—India’s first space observatory. (Photo: News by Careers360)

Shen Yanan

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Shen was elected as an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his efforts to understand Earth’s history, from its earliest moments to the present day. (Photo: American Academy of Arts and Sciences)

Lucille V. Abad

Philippine Nuclear Research Institute
Philippines

Abad won the 2021 Ceferino Follosco Award for Product and Process Innovation for developing the environmentally friendly carrageenan plant growth promoter, which has improved the productivity of farmlands across the Philippines. (Photo: Department of Science and Technology)

Sahadev Sharma

Universiti Malaya
Malaysia

Sharma was awarded the 15th Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers for his research into mangrove forests as an effective nature-based solution for mitigating climate change in Asia. (Photo: IntechOpen)

Adrian Ybañez

Cebu Technological University
Philippines

Ybañez received the 2021 Leads Agri Award for Agricultural Research for advancing animal parasitology and the study of vector-borne diseases in animals in the Philippines. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Suwussa Bamrungsap

National Science and Technology Development Agency
Thailand

Bamrungsap is a recipient of the 2020 L’Oréal Thailand For Women In Science Fellowship for her work exploring nanoparticle development for medical diagnosis. (Photo: Asian Institute of Technology)

Cheong Sok Ching

Cancer Research Malaysia
Malaysia

Cheong is one of the recipients of the 2022 TWAS medal for her contributions to cancer research in Malaysia. (Photo: TWAS)

Nina G. Gloriani

University of the Philippines Manila
Philippines

Gloriani received the 2021 Paulo Campos Award for Health Research for her national leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as for her pioneering research on epidemiology, diagnosis and vaccine development for infectious diseases ranging from Hantaan virus infection to leptospirosis. (Photo: University of the Philippines)

Sir Peter Gluckman

Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Singapore

Gluckman and Ng were co-awarded the 2021 President’s Science and Technology Medal for their collective efforts to advance Singapore’s research landscape and mentor the next generation of young scientists. With a distinguished career in early life research, Gluckman is the scientific architect behind groundbreaking birth cohort studies in the Republic. These studies have shed a much-needed light on how conditions in pregnancy and early childhood influence the health and development of mothers and their children, positively impacting local healthcare policy. Today, he continues to nurture scientific talent and lead research in health and human potential as the Chief Scientific Officer of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS). Meanwhile, Ng played a pivotal role in transforming SingHealth, the country’s largest public healthcare cluster, into a leading academic medical center. Her leadership has helped expand the research and education talent pool in academic medicine, ensuring that Singapore has the right infrastructure and talent in place to pursue innovation in biomedical research and healthcare delivery. (Photo: The University of Auckland)

Ivy Ng

SingHealth
Singapore

Gluckman and Ng were co-awarded the 2021 President’s Science and Technology Medal for their collective efforts to advance Singapore’s research landscape and mentor the next generation of young scientists. With a distinguished career in early life research, Gluckman is the scientific architect behind groundbreaking birth cohort studies in the Republic. These studies have shed a much-needed light on how conditions in pregnancy and early childhood influence the health and development of mothers and their children, positively impacting local healthcare policy. Today, he continues to nurture scientific talent and lead research in health and human potential as the Chief Scientific Officer of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS). Meanwhile, Ng played a pivotal role in transforming SingHealth, the country’s largest public healthcare cluster, into a leading academic medical center. Her leadership has helped expand the research and education talent pool in academic medicine, ensuring that Singapore has the right infrastructure and talent in place to pursue innovation in biomedical research and healthcare delivery. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Toshiaki Hisada

University of Tokyo
Japan

Hisada and Sugiura were co- awarded the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for their work on the multi- scale multi-physics simulation of the human heart. (Photo: UT-Heart Research Institute)

Seiryo Suguira

University of Tokyo
Japan

Hisada and Sugiura were co-awarded the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for their work on the multi-scale multi-physics simulation of the human heart. (Photo: Loop)

Hu Hailan

Zhejiang University
China

Hu received the 2022 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science International Award for her research on the underlying neurobiology of mental health disorders like depression. (Photo: Zhejiang University)

Truong Thanh Huong

Hanoi Medical University
Vietnam

Huong was awarded the 2020 Kovalevskaia Prize for leading cardiovascular disease research and management in Vietnam. (Photo: VTC News)

Hidenori Ichijo

University of Tokyo
Japan

Ichijo received the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for elucidating the stress response mechanism driven by the apoptosis signal-regulating kinase catalyst. (Photo: Japan Academy Prize)

Kazuhiro Iwai

Kyoto University
Japan

Iwai received the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for his discovery of linear ubiquitin chains and analyzing their role in the inflammatory response. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Kim Jin-Hong

Seoul National University
South Korea

Kim was co-awarded the 2021 Asan Award for Young Medical Scientists for his efforts to develop regenerative strategies for osteoporosis treatment. (Photo: Asan Foundation)

V. Narry Kim

Seoul National University
South Korea

Kim was elected as the one of two foreign members of the UK’s Royal Society from South Korea for her pioneering contributions to elucidating microRNA biogenesis. (Photo: Royal Society)

Koo Bon-Kwon

Seoul National University
South Korea

Koo received the 2021 Asan Award in Clinical Medicine for developing novel machine learning and computer simulation tools to assess coronary heart disease. (Photo: Asan Foundation)

Lydia R. Leonardo

University of the Philippines Manila
Philippines

Leonardo won the 2021 Lourdes Campos Award for Public Health for her contributions to parasitology, notably her work on the control and treatment of schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic flatworms. (Photo: University of the East)

Jeemon Panniyammakal

Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology
India

Panniyammakal was co-awarded the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Medical Sciences) for his public health contributions in improving the primary care, prevention and control of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in India. (Photo: ACROSS Global Health Network)

Firdausi Qadri

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research
Bangladesh

Qadri was awarded the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award for her key role in developing affordable vaccines that combat cholera and typhoid. (Photo: Ramon Magsaysay Award)

Juthamas Ratanavaraporn

Chulalongkorn University
Thailand

Ratanavaraporn is a recipient of the 2020 L’Oréal Thailand For Women In Science Fellowship for leveraging Thai silk cocoons for biomedical applications like drug delivery systems and scaffolds for tissue repair. (Photo: TheReporter.Asia)

Too Heng-Phon

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Too received the 2021 President’s Technology Award for helping pioneer the development of a method for early disease detection using microRNA biomarkers. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Yoo Changhoon

Asan Medical Center
South Korea

Yoo was co-awarded the 2021 Asan Award for Young Medical Scientists for developing new drugs against hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers. (Photo: Asan Medical Center)

Bai Chunli

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

The former president of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bai was awarded the 2022 TWAS- Abdus Salam Medal for his contributions to promoting science in developing countries. (Photo: Royal Society)

Baik Mu-Hyun

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Baik was awarded the 2021 POSCO TJ Park Science Prize for exploring the chemical reactions activated by transition metal catalysts, leveraging computational techniques to predict and design better chemical reactions. (Photo: Institute for Basic Science)

Kanishka Biswas

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
India

Biswas was co-awarded the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Chemical Sciences) for his work on novel thermoelectric materials. (Photo: Edexlive)

Thimmaiah Govindaraju

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
India

Govindaraju was co-awarded the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Chemical Sciences) for his contributions to the development of small molecule diagnostics and therapeutics. (Photo: Report Odisha)

Zubair Hasan

East West University
Bangladesh

Hasan received the 2021 TWAS- Atta-ur-Rahman Award for using metal organic frameworks to remove emerging contaminants in pharmaceutical and personal care products. (Photo: East West University)

Kyoko Nozaki

University of Tokyo
Japan

Nozaki received the 2021 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award for her pioneering efforts in synthetic chemistry, specifically in designing molecular catalysts for manufacturing useful molecules in environmentally friendly ways. To improve car manufacturing as well as fuel efficiency, Nozaki is developing a high-performing, recyclable polar polypropylene that can be produced without adding harsh chemicals. In the realm of sustainability, she has also worked on synthesizing plastics from renewable resources like carbon dioxide. For her contributions, Nozaki was also elected as an international member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. (Photo: The Vallee Foundation)

Wong Chi-Huey

Institute of Biotechnology and Medicine Industry
Taiwan

Wong is the first Taiwanese winner of the 2021 Welch Award in Chemistry for his breakthrough contributions to enzyme technology—pioneering the successful synthesis of complex polysaccharides, the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. (Photo: Taiwan News)

Boonyawan Yoosuk

National Science and Technology Development Agency
Thailand

Yoosuk is a recipient of the 2020 L’Oréal Thailand For Women In Science Fellowship for exploring how Thai palm oil can be transformed into sustainable high- value products, like clean fuels and biolubricants. (Photo: TheReporter.Asia)

Anthony James Bautista

University of Santo Tomas
Philippines

Bautista won the 2021 Gregorio Y. Zara Award for developing the Logistic Indoor Service Assistant (LISA) telepresence robot. It allows for teleconsultations and medicine delivery, minimizing exposure of Filipino frontliners to the coronavirus. (Photo: University of Santo Tomas)

Chen Xiaodong

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Chen received the 2021 President’s Science Award for his contributions to advancing soft bioelectronics with the potential to digitalize the human senses. (Photo: ACS Axial)

Chin Daeje

SkyLake Investment Co.
South Korea

Chin was elected as an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering for innovations and industry leadership in semiconductor technology. (Photo: US National Academy of Engineering)

Pawan K. Goenka

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
India

Goenka was elected as an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering for expanding Mahindra’s automotive business in India and his contributions to automotive engine lubrication. (Photo: US National Academy of Engineering)

Jeong Han

i3 Systems
South Korea

Jeong was awarded the 2021 POSCO TJ Park Technology Prize for pioneering the development of infrared image sensors in South Korea, helping make the country only the seventh in the world to mass produce such sensors. (Photo: POSCO TJ Park)

Philip T. Krein

Zhejiang University
China

Krein was recognized with the 2021 IEEE Transportation Technologies Award for his contributions to electric vehicle battery management and hybrid system optimization. (Photo: Zhejiang University)

Lee Sang Yup

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Lee was elected as one of the two first-ever South Korean members of the Royal Society in the UK for his pioneering contributions to systems metabolic engineering. (Photo: AlChe)

Joey D. Ocon

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

Ocon received the 2021 David M. Consunji Award for Engineering Research for developing novel materials and processes in clean energy technologies. (Photo: International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development)

Aditya Sadhanala

Indian Institute of Science
India

Sadhanala received the 2021 Early Career Scientist Award (Asia) from the International Science Council for developing one of the world’s most sensitive absorption measurement techniques, along with his contributions to energy and optoelectronics research. (Photo: International Science Council)

Rohit Srivastava

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
India

Srivastava was co-awarded the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Medical Sciences) for his contributions to developing affordable medical devices. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Su Guaning

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Su was elected as an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to regional security and defense, as well as his academic leadership as president emeritus of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. (Photo: US National Academy of Engineering)

Simon Sze

National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Taiwan

Sze was awarded the 2021 Mathematics and Computer Science Prize for his pioneering contributions to inter-metal and semiconductor carrier transports. His discoveries established both the scientific basis and practical guidelines for implementing modern semiconductor devices, enabling the scaling of integrated circuits over the past half-century. Sze also co- discovered the floating gate memory effect, which laid the groundwork for the invention of non-volatile memories such as flash memory. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Guillermo Q. Tabios III

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

Tabios received the 2021 Michael R. I. Purvis Award for Sustainability Research for his advocacy in linking sustainability science, policy and management with a transdisciplinary approach in sustainable water resources development. (Photo: National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines)

Dian Burhani

Indonesian Institute of Science
Indonesia

Burhani received the 2021 UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Young Scientist Award for her work exploring macroalgae from Central Java’s Karimunjawa-Jepara-Muria Biosphere Reserve as a substitute for conventional mask materials. Typically, the materials in single-use masks produce microplastics that are harmful to the environment, spurring Burhani to look for more sustainable alternatives. Her research shows that mask filters made from macroalgae- based nanofibers not only provide optimal comfort, but are also highly efficient in removing bioaerosols—a step forward in promoting the green economy for the reserve’s local community. (Photo: Indonesian Institute of Sciences)

Asuncion B. De Guzman

Mindanao State University Naawan Foundation for Science and Technology Development
Philippines

De Guzman received the 2021 Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Basic Research for her exploring the vulnerability of small pelagic fish to climate change and the socioeconomic impact of subsistence fisheries. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Guo Huadong

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Guo received the 2021 Science for Sustainability Award from the International Science Council for his active contributions to international efforts to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on global Big Earth Data. (Photo: International Science Council)

Li Hongying

Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Singapore

Li was awarded with the 2021 Underwriters Laboratories-ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women for designing a novel water treatment system that protects marine life from water pollution, as well as for her computational work in predicting COVID-19 transmission risk through droplet dispersion. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Lin Yi-Yi

National Taiwan University
Taiwan

Lin received the Most Outstanding Researcher Award at the 14th Taiwan Outstanding Women in Science ceremony for her contributions to typhoon forecasting. (Photo: Tatler Asia)

Narendra Ojha

Physical Research Laboratory
India

Ojha was awarded the 2021 ICTP Prize for his contributions to understanding the influence of human-driven and biomass-burning emissions on Southeast Asia's air quality. (Photo: Physical Research Laboratory)

Binoy Kumar Saikia

North East Institute of Science and Technology
India

Saikia received the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences) for developing fluorescent carbon quantum dots from Indian coal. (Photo: time8)

Neni Sintawardani

Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Indonesia

Sintawardani was awarded the 2021 Underwriters Laboratories-ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women for using biogas from processed wastewater to increase clean water availability and improve community sanitation systems. (Photo: ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women)

Chen Yun-Nung

National Taiwan University
Taiwan

Chen was recognized as a Young Scientist of Excellence at the 14th Taiwan Outstanding Women in Science ceremony for her contributions to spoken dialogue systems and natural language processing, among others. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Kunihiko Fukushima

Fuzzy Logic Systems Institute
Japan

Fukushima was awarded the 2021 C&C Prize for his inventing the neocognitron, a hierarchical neural network model of the brain's visual cortex. (Photo: Kunihiko Fukushima)

Debdeep Mukhopadhyay

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
India

Mukhopadhyay received the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Engineering Sciences) for his research on micro-architectural security and crypto-engineering that bridges mathematical theory with practical cyberattack scenarios. (Photo: LinkedIn)

Zhang Hanwang

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Singapore

Zhang was awarded the 2021 Young Scientist Award for his pioneering group theory in building a framework that describes what artificial intelligence learns, how it learns and where its knowledge can be transferred. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Andrew Chi-Chih Yao

Tsinghua University
China

Yao received the 2021 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology for his contributions to computer science and their impact on cybersecurity and big data processing, among others. (Photo: Kyoto Prize)

Raymond W. Yeung

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

The first Asian researcher to receive the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal since its establishment in 1988, Yeung was awarded for co-founding the field of network coding and pioneering the development of the BATS code. (Photo: Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Sudkate Chaiyo

Chulalongkorn University
Thailand

Chaiyo was recognized under Thailand's Young Scientist Awards 2021 for inventing new sensors for biochemical analysis with applications in food and agriculture to clinical laboratories. Chaiyo was recognized under Thailand's Young Scientist Awards 2021 for inventing new sensors for biochemical analysis with applications in food and agriculture to clinical laboratories. (Photo: Chulalongkorn University)

Guan Yi

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Guan and Peiris were jointly awarded the 2021 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for their significant contributions to understanding the origins of emerging infectious disease outbreaks in Asia, notably zoonotic influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The pair started collaborating in the wake of Hong Kong’s H5N1 avian flu outbreak, initiating foundational studies on the virus’ evolution and developing a highly effective monitoring and surveillance program. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Peiris led the team that first identified the virus responsible for the syndrome, SARS-CoV-1, while Guan traced the virus’ origins to the wild animal markets in Guangdong, China. Together, their pioneering investigations into emerging infectious diseases have provided critical insights in subsequent outbreaks, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Guan and Peiris were jointly awarded the 2021 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for their significant contributions to understanding the origins of emerging infectious disease outbreaks in Asia, notably zoonotic influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The pair started collaborating in the wake of Hong Kong’s H5N1 avian flu outbreak, initiating foundational studies on the virus’ evolution and developing a highly effective monitoring and surveillance program. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Peiris led the team that first identified the virus responsible for the syndrome, SARS-CoV-1, while Guan traced the virus’ origins to the wild animal markets in Guangdong, China. Together, their pioneering investigations into emerging infectious diseases have provided critical insights in subsequent outbreaks, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Kaang Bong-Kiun

Seoul National University
South Korea

Kaang received the 2021 Ho-am Prize in Chemistry and Life Sciences for his work exploring the molecular mechanisms that underlie how our brains store and retrieve information at the synaptic level. (Photo: Seoul National University)

Yuji Kamiya

RIKEN
Japan

Kamiya received the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for studying the biosynthesis and regulation of plant growth hormones. (Photo: Japan Academy Prize)

Kang Le

Hebei University
China

Kang was elected as an international member of the National Academy of Science for his contributions to entomology and ecology genomics. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Sarah Luo

Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Singapore

Luo was awarded the 2021 Young Scientist Award for discovering a novel neural circuit that regulates appetite, bridging the fields of neuroscience and metabolic research. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Atsushi Miyawaki

RIKEN
Japan

Miyawaki received the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for enhancing bioimaging technology to better understand cellular signaling mechanisms. (Photo: RIKEN Center for Brain Science)

Arun Kumar Shukla

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
India

Shukla is one of the recipients of the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Biological Sciences) for deepening our understanding of the activation, signaling and regulation of G protein-coupled receptors. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur)

Amit Singh

Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
India

Singh is one of the recipients of the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Biological Sciences) for his contributions to the understanding host-pathogen interactions in tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. (Photo: India Alliance)

Mikiko Tanaka

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Tanaka received the 41st Saruhashi Prize for her research on the development and evolution of vertebrate limbs, with her studies on sharks shedding a light on the evolutionary origin of limb muscles. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Tsay Yi-Fang

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Tsay was elected as an international member of the National Academy of Science for her work on nitrate transport, signaling and utilization efficiency in plants. (Photo: Overseas Community Affairs Council)

Wang Linfa

Duke-NUS Medical School
Singapore

Wang received the 2021 President's Science Award for his foundational work in bat biology, such as his team's discovery that bats are a SARS-CoV-1 reservoir— paving the way for a more effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Yuen Kwok-Yung

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Yuen, alongside Peiris, was co-awarded the 2021 Life Science Prize for their seminal contributions to public understanding of emerging infectious diseases, including SARS in 2003 and the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Liu Bin

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Liu was awarded the 2021 Centenary Prize for the innovative design and synthesis of organic molecules and nanomaterials in biomedicine, as well as for excellence in communication. (Photo: Royal Society of Chemistry)

Imalka Munaweera

University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Sri Lanka

Munaweera is one of the winners of the 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. She was recognized for her research that focusing on fabricating different functionalized materials, nanoparticles and nanocomposites for industrial applications—ranging from drug delivery to water filtration and even minimizing the post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables. (Photo: The Morning)

Vinich Promarak

Vidyasirmedhi Institute
Thailand

Nanomaterials researcher Promarak was awarded Thailand's Outstanding Scientist Award 2021 for developing next-generation solar cell and lighting technology. (Photo: Vidyasirimedhi Institute)

Thirumalai Venkatesan

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Venkatesan was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for inventing the pulsed laser deposition process and pioneering its application to thin films of complex oxides and multi-component materials. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Wu Hsin-Jay

National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Taiwan

Wu was recognized as a Young Scientist of Excellence at the 14th Taiwan Outstanding Women in Science ceremony for her contributions to high-efficiency thermoelectric materials, with applications in advancing green energy. (Photo: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University)

Khongorzul Dorjgotov

National University of Mongolia
Mongolia

Dorjgotov is one of the winners of the 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. She was recognized for her contributions to financial mathematics and mathematical modeling. (Photo: University of Science and Technology)

Anish Ghosh

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Ghosh was co-awarded the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Mathematical Sciences) for his leading contributions to the field of Ergodic theory. (Photo: Hindustan Times)

Neena Gupta

Indian Statistical Institute
India

The third woman and fourth Indian to receive the DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize for young mathematicians from developing countries, Gupta was awarded for her work in affine algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. In particular, she was recognized for her solution to the Zariski cancellation problem for affine spaces—a fundamental problem in algebraic geometry that was first posed by the field’s founder Oscar Zariski in 1949. Gupta also received the Indian National Science Academy Young Scientist Award in 2014 and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Mathematical Sciences) in 2019 for her breakthrough contributions. (Photo: Scroll.in)

June Huh

Korea Institute for Advanced Study
South Korea

Huh received the 2021 Ho-am Prize in Physics and Mathematics for using breakthrough methods from algebraic geometry to prove unsolved problems like Read's conjecture and the Rota-Heron-Welsh conjecture. (Photo: Princeton University)

Shihoko Ishii

University of Tokyo
Japan

Ishii was awarded the 2021 Imperial Prize and Japan Academy Prize for her multilateral studies on singularities. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Takuro Mochizuki

Kyoto University
Japan

Mochizuki was awarded the 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics for deepening the understanding of the theory of bundles with flat connections over algebraic varieties, including the case of irregular singularities. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Makiko Sasada

University of Tokyo
Japan

Sasada was awarded the 3rd Brilliant Female Researchers Award (Jun Ashida Award) for her mathematical contributions to interacting particle systems. (Photo: Center for Advanced Intelligence Project)

Saket Saurabh

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Saurabh was co-awarded the 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Mathematical Sciences) for his leading contributions to parameterized complexity. (Photo: University of Bergen)

Teerapong Suksumran

Chiang Mai University
Thailand

Suksumran was recognized under Thailand's Young Scientist Awards 2021 for developing a methodology for gyrogroup, an abstract mathematical concept related to Einstein's special theory of relativity. (Photo: Chiang Mai University)

Yvonne Gao

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Gao was awarded the 2021 Young Scientist Award for her research revolving around the development of key hardware building blocks for quantum computers. (Photo: Asian Scientist Magazine)

Hahm Taik Soo

Seoul National University
South Korea

Hahm is the 8th Laureate of the S. Chandrasekhar Prize of Plasma Physics for broadening our understanding of turbulence and confinement physics in tokamak plasmas as well as pioneering the development of modern nonlinear gyrokinetic theories. At the Seoul National University, his research group focuses on the theoretical study of plasmas in magnetic fusion devices, including its instabilities as well as the anomalous transport of magnetically confined plasmas. (Photo: Seoul National University)

Kenichi Iga

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Iga received the 2021 IEEE Edison Medal for pioneering the development of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Hidetoshi Katori

RIKEN
Japan

Katori was co-awarded the 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics along with Jun Ye of the US for their invention and development of the optical lattice clock, enabling precision testing of nature's most fundamental laws. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Shunsuke Kobayashi

Tokyo University of Science Yamaguchi
Japan

Kobayashi and Uchida were co-awarded the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for elucidating the physical properties of liquid crystals and studying high-performance liquid crystal displays. (Photo: Shunsuke Kobayashi)

Tatsuo Uchida

Tohoku University
Japan

Kobayashi and Uchida were co-awarded the 2021 Japan Academy Prize for elucidating the physical properties of liquid crystals and studying high-performance liquid crystal displays. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Wang Dazhong

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Wang was conferred the 2020 Preeminent Science and Technology Award in recognition of decades leading nuclear energy research in China and his work on advancing nuclear energy systems with inherent safety features. (Photo: Tsinghua University)

Haruki Watanabe

University of Tokyo
Japan

Watanabe was co-awarded the 2022 New Horizons in Physics Prize for his pioneering theoretical work formulating novel phases of non-equilibrium quantum matter, including time crystals. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Yao Wang

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

The 2021 Nishina Asia Award was given to Yao for his exceptional contributions to valleytronics in two-dimensional semiconductors and van der Waals heterostructures. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Zhang Jie

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Zhang was awarded the 2021 Physical Science Prize for developing laser-based fast electron beam technologies and their applications. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Tomifumi Godai

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Japan

Godai was inducted into the International Astronautical Federation Hall of Fame for his significant contributions to Japan’s aerospace industry. (Photo: International Astronautical Federation)

Meng Zhizhong

Chinese Academy of Engineering
China

Meng was inducted into the International Astronautical Federation Hall of Fame for his contributions as a pioneer of China’s aerospace industry. (Photo: International Astronautical Federation)

Yu Menglun

Chinese Academy of Science
China

Yu was inducted into the International Astronautical Federation Hall of Fame for his contributions as a pioneer of China’s aerospace industry. (Photo: International Astronautical Federation)

Kailasavadivoo Sivan

Indian Space Research Organization
India

Sivan was awarded the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Simon Ramo Medal for developing pioneering space technology and his leadership of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as chairman. Under his guidance, India launched its second mission to the moon—Chandrayaan 2—to conduct orbital experiments. (Photo: International Astronautical Federation)

Byrana Nagappa Suresh

Indian Space Research Organization
India

Suresh was awarded the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Simon Ramo Medal for developing pioneering space technology and his leadership of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as an honorary distinguished professor. Under his guidance, India launched its second mission to the moon—Chandrayaan 2—to conduct orbital experiments. (Photo: Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology)

Chew Bee Lynn

University of Science Malaysia
Malaysia

Chew was awarded the 2020 Women of the Future Award (Southeast Asia) for her work introducing practical agricultural technologies to local farmers and food growers. (Photo: University of Science Malaysia)

Desiree M. Hautea

University of the Philippines Los Baños
Philippines

Hautea was conferred the 2020 Leads Agriculture Award by the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology for her research into the adoption of the genetically modified Bt eggplant in the Philippines. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Salma Sultana

Model Livestock Advancement Foundation
Bangladesh

Sultana was awarded the 2020 Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application by the World Food Prize Foundation for her work with small-scale farmers in Bangladesh, particularly her efforts involving veterinary outreach, treatment and education. (Photo: World Food Prize Foundation)

Tran Thi Thu Ha

Thái Nguyên University
Vietnam

Tran was awarded the Vietnamese Kovalevskaia Award 2019 for her research on the breeding and intensive cultivation of trees, the propagation and rearing of non-timber forest products and medicinal herbs, and the development of local medicinal plants. (Photo: Thái Nguyên University)

Rajeev Kumar Varshney

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
India

Varshney received the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s 2020 Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award for his work in the area of plant genomics and genomics-assisted crop breeding. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Ritesh Agarwal

Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
India

Agarwal is a recipient of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in medical sciences for his contributions to the field of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, the immune system’s exaggerated response to Aspergillus fungi. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Bushra Ateeq

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
India

Ateeq is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the field of medical sciences for her research on the consequences of androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer patients. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur)

Dario Campana

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Campana was awarded the 2020 President’s Technology Award for his work converting immune cells into effective cancer therapies, which has revolutionized the treatment of leukemia. (Photo: A*STAR)

Ananlada Chotimongkol

National Science and Technology Development Agency
Thailand

Chotimongkol received the L’Oréal Thailand COVID-19 Solidarity Prize in the field of technology for developing a smartphone application that enables the Department of Disease Control to monitor the health of people under self-isolation. (Photo: Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science)

Salvacion Gatchalian

Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
Philippines

Gatchalian was posthumously honored with the Dr. Lourdes Espiritu Campos Award for Public Health for her advocacy for tobacco control and the immunization of children. (Photo: Philippine Pediatric Society)

Ju Young Seok

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Ju is a recipient of the 13th Asan Award in Medicine for Young Medical Scientists for his research on lung cancer-related genes. (Photo: Asan Award in Medicine)

Tadamitsu Kishimoto

Osaka University
Japan

Kishimoto is one of three awardees of the 2020 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science for his discovery and cloning of the protein known as interleukin-6 (IL-6), which regulates antibody production. After identifying IL-6, Kishimoto and his team cloned its receptor to demonstrate its role in inflammatory diseases like arthritis—revolutionizing the treatment of rheumatoid and juvenile arthritis. (Photo: Japan Prize Foundation)

K. Ranga Rama Krishnan

National Medical Research Council
Singapore

Krishnan was awarded the 2020 President’s Science and Technology Medal for his efforts in advancing academic medicine, translational and clinical research, and technology transfer and entrepreneurship in Singapore. (Photo: A*STAR)

Vuong Thi Ngoc Lan

Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy
Vietnam

Lan is one of three recipients of the 2020 Ta Quang Buu Awards for her research comparing the transfer of fresh and frozen embryos for in vitro fertilization. (Photo: Ta Quang Buu Prize)

Tsering Landol

Sonam Norboo Memorial Government Hospital
India

Landol is one of the recipients of the Padma Bhushan Awards 2020 for distinguished service. She was honored for her dedication to women’s health by providing medical care to women through difficult terrain and freezing temperatures. (Photo: Padma Bhushan Award)

Le Thi Quynh Mai

National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology
Vietnam

Mai leads a team of women who were awarded the 2019 Vietnamese Kovalevskaia Award for their successful isolation of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2, making Vietnam one of the first four countries to successfully isolate the virus in 2020. Her team has spent the last two decades fighting deadly diseases, most notably SARS, A/H5N1 bird flu and H1N1. (Photo: Sức Khỏe & Dời Sống)

Lee Jae Won

University of Ulsan
South Korea

Lee received the 13th Asan Award in Medicine for Clinical Medicine for pioneering a new surgical approach for heart disease and establishing a robotic cardiac surgery center in Korea. (Photo: Asan Award in Medicine)

Lee Won Jae

Seoul National University
South Korea

Lee received the 13th Asan Award in Medicine for Basic Medicine for his research on the impact microbiomes have on animal growth and physiology. (Photo: Asan Award in Medicine)

Lee Yong-ho

Yonsei University
South Korea

Lee is a recipient of the 13th Asan Award in Medicine for Young Medical Scientists for identifying the loss of muscle tissue as a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. (Photo: Asan Award in Medicine)

Liu Jianjun

Genome Institute of Singapore, A*STAR
Singapore

Liu is a recipient of the 2020 President’s Science Award for his contributions to biomedical research and precision medicine through genetic studies of Asian populations. (Photo: A*STAR)

Dennis Lo Yuk Ming

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Lo is one of four recipients of the 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discovering that fetal DNA is present in maternal blood and that it can be used to test for genetic disorders. (Photo: Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Hiroyuki Mano

National Cancer Center Research Institute
Japan

Mano is one of the recipients of the 2020 Japan Academy Prize for his discovery of the EML4-ALK oncogene, a cancer growth driver, as well as his promotion of cancer genomic medicine. (Photo: Comprehensive Academy for Advanced Oncology)

Sandra Teresa V. Navarra

University of Santo Tomas Hospital
Philippines

Navarra was awarded the Dr. Paulo C. Campos Award for Health Research by the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology for her research on lupus. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Park Seung-jung

University of Ulsan
South Korea

Park was awarded the 2020 Ho-Am Prize in Medicine for his contributions to the field of interventional cardiology. (Photo: Ho-Am Foundation)

Andani Eka Putra

Andalas University
Indonesia

Andani was awarded the 2020 Indonesia Award in the Professional Figure category for his work conducting pooled testing to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19 in West Sumatra. (Photo: Radio Idola Semarang)

Firdausi Qadri

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research
Bangladesh

Qadri is a laureate of the 2020 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award for her work on understanding and preventing infectious diseases affecting children in developing countries as well as her advocacy of early diagnoses and global vaccination. (Photo: UNESCO)

Qiao Jie

Peking University
China

Qiao was elected in 2020 as an international fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for her extensive work on reproductive biology and the pathology of infertility. (Photo: Peking University)

Eiichi Saitoh

Fujita Health University
Japan

In 2020, Saitoh was elected as an international member of the National Academy of Medicine for his groundbreaking research in the fields of physical medicine, rehabilitation and dysphagia. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Mitinori Saitou

Kyoto University
Japan

Saitou is a recipient of the Imperial Prize and the Japan Academy Prize for his work on the mechanism and in vitro reconstitution of germ-cell development. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Shimon Sakaguchi

Osaka University
Japan

Sakaguchi was awarded the 2020 Robert Koch Award for his discovery of regulatory T-cells that modulate the immune system, maintain tolerance to self-antigens, and prevent autoimmune disease. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Arunee Thitithanyanont

Mahidol University
Thailand

Thitithanyanont received the L’Oréal Thailand COVID-19 Solidarity Prize in the field of life sciences for her research projects addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, including diagnostic methods, treatments and vaccines. In an early study of 217 recovered COVID-19 patients, Thitithanyanont and her team at the department of microbiology at Mahidol University were able to identify viral clearance as well as the pattern of antibody responses with SARS-CoV-2. This understanding of natural host defenses and antibody duration provides a foundation for further research into controlling the spread of the virus. (Photo: Loop)

Wang Chen

Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
China

In 2020, Chen was elected as an international member of the National Academy of Medicine for his clinical research, medical reform and leadership of three leading medical bodies: the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, and the Center for Respiratory Diseases of China-Japan Friendship Hospital. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences)

Wong Tien Yin

Singapore National Eye Center
Singapore

Wong was elected in 2020 as an international member of the National Academy of Medicine for his contributions to the diagnosis and prevention of major eye diseases. (Photo: Duke-NUS Medical School)

Zhong Nanshan

The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University
China

Zhong was conferred the Medal of the Republic for his contributions to the field of respiratory disease research and his transparency in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: Journal of Thoracic Disease)

Biman Bagchi

Indian Institute of Science
India

Bagchi was elected as a 2020 fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the 2021 recipient of the Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in theoretical and experimental chemistry of liquids for his studies on statistical mechanics. (Photo: Indian Institute of Science)

Chen Xiao-Ming

Sun Yat-Sen University
China

Chen is a laureate of the 33rd Khwarizmi International Award for his research on the synthesis and crystal engineering of functional coordination compounds and coordination polymers. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Jyotirmayee Dash

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
India

Dash is a recipient of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the field of chemical sciences for designing enhanced drug delivery systems based on the organic synthesis of molecules. (Photo: Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science)

Subi Jacob George

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
India

George is a recipient of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the field of chemical sciences for his research on the properties and applications of supramolecular polymers. (Photo: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research)

Kim Dong-ho

Yonsei University
South Korea

Kim was awarded the 29th Sudang Award in the category of basic sciences. He is known for his spectroscopy research, particularly time-resolved and single-molecule spectroscopy. (Photo: Yonsei University)

Thalappil Pradeep

Indian Institute of Technology Madras
India

For his work developing nanotechnology-enabled water filters, Pradeep was awarded the 25th Nikkei Asia Prize (Science and Technology). Pradeep, who leads the International Centre for Clean Water at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, is also a recipient of a 2020 Padma Shri Award in the field of Science and Engineering. From pesticide to arsenic removal technology, his work has benefitted over ten million Indians, providing them with clean and safe drinking water. His nanochemistry-based water filters consist of a first layer that kills bacteria and viruses with silver nanoparticles and a second layer that traps iron and arsenic. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Madras)

Kathleen B. Aviso

De La Salle University
Philippines

Aviso was awarded the 2020 Dr. Michael Purvis Award for Sustainability Research for her important contributions to environmental systems engineering as well as developing novel optimization models to guide national and global environmental decisionmaking. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Annabelle V. Briones

Department of Science and Technology
Philippines

Briones was awarded the 2020 Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Applied Science Research for designing a mosquito ovicidal/larvicidal trap system aimed at reducing the incidence of dengue fever. (Photo: Department of Science and Technology)

Choi Haecheon

Seoul National University
South Korea

Choi received the 29th Sudang Award in the category of Applied Sciences. He is known for his work in the fields of bio-mimetic engineering and aerodynamics. (Photo: Seoul National University)

Kinshuk Dasgupta

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
India

Dasgupta is a recipient of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the field of engineering sciences for his role in developing a light and low-cost bullet-proof jacket currently used by the police. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Huang Xuhua

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Huang, chief designer of the country’s first-generation nuclear submarines, was honored with the 2019 Highest Science and Technology Award. (Photo: Shen Hong/Xinhua)

Champika Ellawala Kankanamge

University of Ruhuna
Sri Lanka

Kankanamge is a recipient of the 2020 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World for her research on aquatic ecosystem conservation and pollution control. She is currently researching the effectiveness of restoring native plants to control invasive aquatic plants in river ecosystems—work that will help prevent ecosystem degradation. She is also studying the levels of heavy metals in edible fish and shellfish in Sri Lanka’s Batticaloa lagoon, a primary source of seafood for the local community. (Photo: University of Ruhuna)

Amol Arvindrao Kulkarni

National Chemical Laboratory
India

Kulkarni is a recipient of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the field of engineering sciences for developing India’s first microreactor lab. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Jun Murai

Keio University
Japan

Murai is one of two recipients of the NEC C&C Foundation’s 2020 C&C Prize for leading the development of the internet in Japan as the founder of the Japan University NETwork (JUNET). (Photo: Rakuten)

Shin Mikyung

Sungkyunkwan University
South Korea

Shin is a recipient of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Rising Talent Award for her development of nature-inspired adhesive micro-formulations for 3D and 4D bioprinting. Inspired by nature, Shin and her team are exploring the use of biomaterials, such as mussel-inspired catechol, for drug delivery. These hemostatic materials have the ability to control external and internal bleeding, which also makes them useful in wound treatment as a coating on medical tools. (Photo: Sungkyunkwan University)

Samia Subrina

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Bangladesh

Subrina is a recipient of the 2020 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World for her research on the properties and uses of nanomaterials. (Photo: Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World)

Subra Suresh

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Suresh received the 2020 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Medal for his contributions to mechanical engineering through multidisciplinary research and leadership at the national level. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Francis Aldrine Uy

Mapua University
Philippines

Uy is the recipient of the 2020 David M. Consunji Award for Engineering Research for his engineering and innovation projects, including a sensor that monitors the structural integrity of buildings. (Photo: School of Civil, Environmental and Geological Engineering, Mapua University)

Edgardo G. Vazquez

Vazbuilt Technology
Philippines

Vazquez, known for inventing sturdy, prefabricated modular housing, won the 2020 Ceferino Follosco Award for Product and Process Innovation. (Photo: San Beda College Grade School ’65, High School ’69)

Huh Youm

Silicon Mitus
South Korea

Huh was awarded the 2020 POSCO TJ Park Technology Prize for developing power management integrated semiconductor chips that control the power supply to electronic devices. (Photo: POSCO TJ Park Foundation)

Tsuneo Okada

University of Tokyo
Japan

Okada is a recipient of the 2020 Japan Academy Prize for his research on seismic performance evaluation and solutions to upgrade vulnerable buildings. (Photo: Japan Academy)

Suryendu Dutta

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
India

Dutta is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his studies on the evolution of plant terpenoids, a class of organic chemicals that contribute to the scent, flavor and color of plants. (Photo: Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Hong Song-You

Korea Institute of Atmospheric Prediction Systems
South Korea

Hong, an internationally renowned atmospheric modeling expert, was awarded the 2020 POSCO TJ Park Science Prize for leading the development of a numerical weather prediction model designed specifically for Korea. (Photo: POSCO TJ Park Foundation)

Abhijit Mukherjee

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
India

Mukherjee is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his studies of the quality and quantity of groundwater in India that is suitable for drinking. (Photo: ResearchGate)

Minoru Ozima

University of Tokyo
Japan

Ozima is a recipient of the 2020 Japan Academy Prize for his work on noble gas chemistry, which has shed light on the early evolution of Earth. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Zeng Qingcun

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Zeng is one of two awardees of the 2019 Highest Science and Technology Award for his pioneering work on modern atmospheric science, meteorology-numerical prediction and meteorological satellite remote sensing. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Chan Yoke-Fun

University of Malaya
Malaysia

Chan was awarded the 2020 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women for developing vaccines, antivirals and education tools to prevent enterovirus A71—the virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease. (Photo: ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women)

Shubhadeep Chatterjee

Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
India

Chatterjee is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his study of bacterial social communication systems during plant disease. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Kenya Honda

Keio University
Japan

Honda was awarded the Carlos J. Finlay UNESCO Prize for Microbiology for his research on the impact of microbiota on the immune system. (Photo: Keio University)

Kim Se-Kwon

Pukyong National University
South Korea

Kim is one of the recipients of the 33rd Khwarizmi International Award for his research and development of medicinal drugs and supplements from marine organisms. (Photo: Loop)

Kiyoshi Kita

Nagasaki University
Japan

Kita was awarded the 2020 Duke of Edinburgh Prize for his studies on the survival and expansion of tropical pathogenic microorganisms. (Photo: Nagasaki University)

Atsushi Miyawaki

RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Japan

Miyawaki, recognized for his contributions to molecular imaging, is one of two recipients of the 25th Keio Medical Science Prize. He is the inventor of ScaleS, a clearing reagent that reveals the structural details of cells and organs, and AkaBLI, a bioluminescence imaging system that glows and sheds light on the structures and cell activities within living cells and animals. Miyawaki’s imaging technology has allowed researchers around the world to observe microscopic molecular activity within cells, providing the foundation for recent breakthroughs in the field of life sciences. (Photo: RIKEN Center for Brain Science)

Rui Bai

Westlake University
China

Rui is a recipient of the 2020 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Rising Talent Award for her research on RNA splicing. (Photo: UNESCO)

Jonel Saludes

University of San Agustin
Philippines

Saludes was awarded the 2020 Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Basic Science Research for his research into the chemical biology of natural products from organisms. (Photo: Loop)

Teruo Sano

Hirosaki University
Japan

Sano is a recipient of the 2020 Japan Academy Prize for his studies detecting and isolating viroids—a virus-like pathogen that causes disease in plants. (Photo: Japan Academy)

Kazuo Shinozaki

RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
Japan

Shinozaki, internationally renowned for his work studying plant responses to environmental stresses, was awarded the 36th International Prize for Biology. (Photo: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)

Masatoshi Takeichi

Kyoto University
Japan

Takeichi is one of the awardees of the 2020 Canada Gairdner Awards for his identification of cadherins and their role in animal cell adhesion and signaling. (Photo: RIKEN)

Vatsala Thirumalai

National Centre for Biological Sciences
India

Thirumalai is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for her research on neural circuits that generate movement. (Photo: National Centre for Biological Sciences)

Wang Xiaodong

National Institute of Biological Sciences Beijing
China

Wang was awarded the 2020 King Faisal Prize for Biology. His laboratory is known for discovering the role mitochondria plays in apoptosis, or cell death, in multicellular organisms. (Photo: King Faisal Prize)

Wang Zhenyi

Shanghai Jiaotong University
China

Wang was awarded the 2020 Future Science Prize (Life Science Prize) for his discoveries of the use of arsenic trioxide and all trans-retinoic acid to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Zhang Tingdong

Harbin Medical University
China

Zhang was awarded the 2020 Future Science Prize (Life Science Prize) for his discovery of the use of arsenic trioxide and all trans-retinoic acid to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Naruporn Monmaturapoj

National Science and Technology Development Agency
Thailand

Monmaturapoj received the L’Oréal Thailand COVID-19 Solidarity Prize for her work manufacturing innovative face masks that protect against virus particles and other particulate matter. The four-ply masks are coated with a unique composite—hydroxyapatitetitanium dioxide. The hydroxyapatite attracts the virus to the outer surface of the mask while the titanium dioxide deactivates microorganisms. Looking ahead, Monmaturapoj intends to use the funds from this award to manufacture the masks. (Photo: National Science and Technology Development Agency)

Lu Ke

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Lu is the winner of the 2020 Future Science Prize (Physical Science Prize) for discovering and synthesizing a superior nanotwinned structure and gradient nanostructure. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Shobhana Narasimhan

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
India

In 2020, Narasimhan was elected as an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for her work designing practical nanomaterials. (Photo: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research)

Wang Weihua

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Wang is a laureate of the 33rd Khwarizmi International Award for his work on the relaxation property relationships in metallic glasses. (Photo: Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology)

U. K. Anandavardhanan

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
India

Anandavardhanan is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his contributions to representation theory. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Rajat Subhra Hazra

Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata
India

Hazra is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his contributions to probability theory, in particular, random matrices with dependent entries, random fields and random graphs, as well as themes of interest to physics like sandpile models and membranes. (Photo: Indian Academy of Sciences)

M. S. Narasimhan

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Narasimhan is one of two recipients of the 2020 Spirit of Abdus Salam Award for his dedication to supporting early-career mathematicians in developing countries. (Photo: International Centre for Theoretical Sciences)

Peng Shige

Shandong University
China

Peng is the winner of the 2020 Future Science Prize (Mathematics & Computer Science Prize) for his groundbreaking work on the theory of backward stochastic differential equations, the nonlinear Feynman-Kac formula, and the theory of nonlinear expectations. (Photo: Future Science Prize)

Pham Tien Son

Da Lat University
Vietnam

Pham is one of three recipients of the 2020 Ta Quang Buu Awards for his studies on the generic properties for semialgebraic programs. (Photo: Ta Quang Buu Prize)

Chong Yidong

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Chong is one of the recipients of the President’s Science Award for his international leadership and contributions to topological nanophotonics research. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Zhang Baile

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Zhang is one of the recipients of the President’s Science Award for his international leadership and contributions to topological nanophotonics research. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Nikolay Zheludev

Nanyang Technological University Singapore and University of Southampton, UK
Singapore

Zheludev is one of the recipients of the President’s Science Award for his international leadership and contributions to topological nanophotonics research. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Surajit Dhara

University of Hyderabad
India

Dhara is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his research on liquid crystals, complex fluids and soft matter photonics. (Photo: University of Hyderabad)

Rajesh Ganapathy

International Centre for Material Science
India

Ganapathy is one of the recipients of the 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his research on experimental soft condensed matter physics. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Atsuko Ichikawa

Kyoto University
Japan

Ichikawa was awarded the 40th Saruhashi Prize for her contributions to our understanding of the nature of neutrinos. (Photo: NHK)

Loh Huanqian

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Loh is a recipient of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Rising Talent Award for her work on single-molecule quantum control. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Lu Chao-Yang

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Lu is the 2021 recipient of the Rolf Landauer and Charles H. Bennett Award in Quantum Computing for his work on solid-state quantum light sources, quantum teleportation and optical quantum computing. Lu also received the 2020 Optical Society Adolph Lomb Medal for his contributions to optical quantum information technologies. (Photo: University of Science and Technology of China)

Nguyen Truong Thanh Hieu

Ton Duc Thang University
Vietnam

Nguyen is one of three recipients of the 2020 Ta Quang Buu Awards for his project determining electron inelastic mean free paths in materials. (Photo: Ta Quang Buu Prize)

Hyeon K. Park

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Park was awarded the 2020 S. Chandrasekhar Prize of Plasma Physics. He is known for his research in fusion plasma diagnostics. (Photo: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)

Jiang Ying

Peking University
China

Jiang was awarded the 2020 Nishina Asia Award for his research on the structure and dynamics of interfacial water at the atomic scale. (Photo: Nishina Memorial Foundation)

Akira Chiba

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Chiba was awarded the 2020 IEEE Nikola Tesla Award for his contributions to bearingless and reluctance motors for application in hybrid and pure electrical vehicles. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Dishant Mayurbhai Pancholi

Institute of Mathematical Sciences
India

Pancholi received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Mathematical Sciences) for his research in the area of symplectic geometry and topology. (Photo: The Institute of Mathematical Sciences)

Yang Tong

City University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Yang was elected a fellow of the European Academy of Sciences. He is known for his work on partial differential equations and kinetic theories in the area of hyperbolic conservation laws. (Photo: European Academy of Science)

Qian Qihu

Chinese Academy of Engineering
China

Qian received the Highest Science and Technology Award 2018 for his contributions to China’s maritime radar system. (Photo: Visual China Group)

Yasuhiko Arakawa

University of Tokyo
Japan

Arakawa was awarded the IEEE Jun-Ichi Nishizawa Medal 2019 for his contributions to the development and commercialization of quantum dot lasers. (Photo: The University of Tokyo)

Qi Faren

Beihang University
China

The chief designer for Chinese spacecraft, Qi was awarded the 2019 IAF Hall of Fame Award for his contributions to the progress of space science and technology. (Photo: Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Wang Xiaoyun

Tsinghua University
China

Wang won the 2019 Future Science Prize (Mathematics and Computer Science Prize) for developing new cryptoanalysis methods to reveal the weaknesses of widely used hash functions, enabling a new generation of cryptographic hash function standards. (Photo: Wang Xiaoyun)

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Biocon Limited
India

Mazumdar-Shaw received the Lifetime Achievement award from the Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry for her contributions to the field of healthcare and society at large. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Neena Gupta

Indian Statistical Institute
India

Gupta received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Mathematical Sciences) for her contributions in affine algebraic geometry, in particular, her proposal of a solution to the Zariski Cancellation Problem. (Photo: Scroll.in)

Akira Yoshino

Asahi Kasei Corporation
Japan

Yoshino won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating the world’s first commercially viable lithium-ion battery in 1985. He shares the prize with Professor John B. Goodenough of the University of Texas, US and Professor M. Stanley Whittingham of the State University of New York, US. While employed at the then- Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Yoshino paired polyacetylene anodes with Goodenough’s cobalt oxide cathode design to overcome a critical safety barrier in lithium-ion batteries. He further improved the battery’s performance by developing an aluminium foil current collector and strategically designing its coil-wound structure. Today, lithium-ion batteries are used in a wide range of modern technologies, from smartphones to electric cars. (Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Pham Nam Hai

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Pham received the 2019 Gottfried Wagener Prize for Digitalization and Mobility for his work on the giant spin Hall effect in topological insulators and its application to ultralow-power magnetoresistive random-access memory. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Toh Kim Chuan

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Toh was conferred the President’s Science Award 2019 for his fundamental contributions to the theory, algorithms and applications of convex optimization. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Pham Hoang Hiep

Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
Vietnam

Pham won the Ramanujan Prize 2019 for his outstanding research in the field of complex analysis, specifically pluripotential theory, complex Monge-Ampère equations and log canonical thresholds. The prize also recognizes his contributions to the advancement of mathematics in his home country, Vietnam. Pham has the honor of being the first Vietnamese mathematician to publish in mathematics’ most prestigious journal, Acta Mathematica. He is also known in his home country as one of its youngest and most productive professors. (Photo: Pham Hoang Hiep)

Shivaani Mariapun

University of Nottingham Malaysia
Malaysia

Mariapun received the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship For Women in Science National Award (Malaysia)for her research on mammographic density and breast cancer risk in Asian women to formulate effective screening strategies for early detection of the disease. (Photo: L'Oréal Malaysia)

Cheon Jung-Hee

Seoul National University
South Korea

Cheon was awarded the POSCO TJ Park Foundation Science Prize 2019 for developing ‘HeaAn,’ a homomorphic encryption software program that decrypted for the first time the multiple linear function, the biggest challenge in the field of cryptology. (Photo: Dong-A Science)

Sankaralingam Nambi Narayanan

Formerly Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
India

Narayanan was awarded the 2019 Padma Bhushan for introducing liquid fuel rocket technology in India. (Photo: Outlook India)

Yang Chen-Ning

Tsinghua University
China

Yang was awarded the 2019 Qiu Shi Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifetime contributions to theoretical physics. Yang received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on parity nonconservation of weak interactions. (Photo: Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Raghavan B. Sunoj

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
India

Sunoj received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Chemical Sciences) for his contributions to the field of chemistry, which explain how phenomenon such as handedness or enantioselectivity operate at the molecular level. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Rie Umetsu

Tohoku University
Japan

Umetsu received the 2019 Saruhashi Prize for her studies on the physical properties of Heusler-type functional magnetic materials, which are expected to have a variety of applications such as high-performance hard disks. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Makoto Nagao

Kyoto University
Japan

Nagao received the 2019 Okawa Prize for his pioneering achievements in the field of image processing, machine translation and digital library systems, as well as his contributions to academic leadership. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Govindasamy Mugesh

Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
India

Mugesh received the 2019 Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences for his research into the chemical synthesis of small molecules and nanomaterials for biomedical applications. (Photo: The Royal Society of Chemistry)

Yoshio Okamoto

Nagoya University
Japan

Okamoto won the 35th Japan Prize (2019) for his contributions to the precision synthesis of helical polymers and the development of practical chiral materials for separating chiral drugs. (Photo: The Japan Prize Foundation)

Liu Yongtan

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Liu received the Highest Science and Technology Award 2018 for his contributions to radar technology and signal processing. (Photo: Weibo)

Tapas Kumar Maji

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
India

Maji received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Chemical Sciences) for developing functional porous, soft and hybrid materials. (Photo: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research)

Lim Tae-won

Hyundai Motor Company
South Korea

Lim won the POSCO TJ Park Foundation Technology Prize 2019 for his work that led to the first mass production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. (Photo: POSCO)

Ho Thi Thanh Van

Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Resources and Environment
Vietnam

Ho received the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for synthesizing novel nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of fuel cells. (Photo: Báo Mói)

Frank Wang

SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd.
China

Li and Wang were awarded the 2019 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award for their contributions to the development and commercialization of civilian drones, aerial imaging technology and robotics. (Photo: dpreview)

Wang Yifang

Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Wang won the 2019 The Future Science Prize (Physical Science Prize) for the experimental discovery of a new type of neutrino oscillation, which opens the door for new theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. His work is said to potentially be the key to understanding the Universe’s matter-antimatter asymmetry. Wang, along with his colleague Dr. Luk Kam-Biu, led the Daya Bay Rector Neutrino Experiment, where they made their ground-breaking discovery. He is presently serving as the director of the Institute for High-Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Photo: Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Maki Kawai

Institute for Molecular Science
Japan

Kawai received the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award (Asia Pacific) for her work in manipulating molecules at the atomic level to transform and create innovative materials. (Photo: Fondation L'Oréal)

Hirotomo Nishihara

Tohoku University
Japan

Nishihara received the 2019 Gottfried Wagener Prize for Materials and Energy for developing advanced template techniques to make functional carbon materials. (Photo: German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan)

Saku Tsuneta

National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Japan

Tsuneta received the 2019 Japan Academy Prize for his studies of solar magnetohydrodynamic phenomena by satellite observations. (Photo: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

Soumen Basak

National Institute of Immunology
India

Basak received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Biological Sciences) for his research on the NF-KB signalling system. (Photo: Soumen Basak)

Li Zexiang

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong

Li and Wang were awarded the 2019 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award for their contributions to the development and commercialization of civilian drones, aerial imaging technology and robotics. (Photo: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Masahiro Hirama

Tohoku University
Japan

Hirama received the 2019 Japan Academy Prize for his work on the total synthesis of ciguatoxins and structurally complex bioactive natural products. (Photo: The Japan Academy)

Tran Thi Hong Hanh

Vietnam Academy for Science and Technology
Vietnam

Tran received the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science National Fellowship for her research on using finger chromatography to assess the quality of medicinal herbs sold commercially in Vietnam. (Photo: Báo Mói)

Sherry Aw

Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Singapore

Aw was recognized as an International Rising Talent (Asia Pacific) by the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO International Awards For Women in Science for her research into the genetics of neurodegenerative disease using fruit flies. (Photo: Fondation L'Oréal)

Yasuhiko Yasuda

University of Tokyo
Japan

Hatori and Yasuda were awarded the 2019 C&C Prize for their pioneering research and development in the field of image processing, which formed the foundations of broadcasting and communication engineering. (Photo: The NEC C&C Foundation)

Masahide Yamaguchi

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Suyama and Yamaguchi were both awarded the 2019 Yukawa-Kimura Prize for their studies of non-Gaussianity in primordial fluctuations of the universe. (Photo: 12th Asia Pacific Physics Conference)

Alicia Aguinaldo

University of Santo Tomas
Philippines

Aguinaldo received the Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies Shimadzu Achievement Award for Chemical Research for her studies into the anti-tuberculosis and anti-diabetic properties of Philippine plants. (Photo: University of Santo Tomas)

Emma Sales

University of Southern Mindanao
Philippines

Sales received the LEADS AgriAward for Agricultural Research 2019 for establishing the first tissue culture and biotechnology laboratory in the Philippines’ Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) and developing diagnostic tools for the identification of durian, rubber and mango varieties. (Photo: University of Southern Mindanao)

Lim Way Foong

Universiti Sains Malaysia
Malaysia

Lim received the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship For Women in Science National Award (Malaysia) for her research on an alternative light-emitting diode that emits violet light instead of the more harmful blue light. (Photo: L'Oréal Malaysia)

Mitsutoshi Hatori

University of Tokyo
Japan

Hatori and Yasuda were awarded the 2019 C&C Prize for their pioneering research and development in the field of image processing, which formed the foundations of broadcasting and communication engineering. (Photo: The NEC C&C Foundation)

Kayarat Saikrishnan

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune

Saikrishnan received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Biological Sciences) for his contributions to the field of structural biology. (Photo: PuneMirror)

Teruaki Suyama

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Suyama and Yamaguchi were both awarded the 2019 Yukawa-Kimura Prize for their studies of non-Gaussianity in primordial fluctuations of the universe. (Photo: Teruaki Suyama)

Dhiraj Kumar

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
India

Kumar received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Medical Sciences) for his research on the immune response to tuberculosis and strategies for intervention. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Lee Eun Ji

Seoul National University
South Korea

Lee was awarded the 12th Asan Award in Medicine for Young Medical Scientists for establishing a treatment for glaucoma based on optic nerve head imaging. (Photo: Seoul National University Hospital)

Aninda Sinha

Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
India

Sinha received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Physical Sciences) for his research and contributions to theoretical physics, in particular, string theory. (Photo: The Record)

Han Buhm

Seoul National University
South Korea

Han was awarded the 12th Asan Award in Medicine for Young Medical Scientists for identifying the risk factors for autoimmune diseases through genomic big data analysis. (Photo: Seoul National University)

Manjula Reddy

Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
India

Reddy received the 2019 Infosys Prize for Life Sciences for her ground-breaking discoveries concerning the structure of bacterial cell walls. (Photo: Infosys Limited)

Tadamitsu Kishimoto

Osaka University
Japan

Kishimoto was awarded the 2019 Keio Medical Science Prize for his discovery of interleukin-6 and research into its implications in biology and medicine. (Photo: The Japan Prize Foundation)

Goh Eng Lim

Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Singapore

Goh was awarded the Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal 2019 for his technology contributions to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and for successfully demonstrating the first commercial supercomputing platform in the International Space Station. (Photo: Business Wire, Inc.)

Suvrat Raju

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Raju won the ICTP Prize 2019 for his work on black holes and the development of tools and concepts that extend to conformal field theories, holographic correspondence, quantum error corrections and algebraic quantum field theory. (Photo: International Centre for Theoretical Sciences)

John Wong

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Wong was elected to the United States’ National Academy of Medicine in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences and healthcare. (Photo: Sidra Medicine)

Yozo Fujino

Yokohama National University
Japan

Fujino received the 2019 Japan Academy Prize for his studies on vibration and how it can be controlled in large civil structures. (Photo: International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering)

Mika Nomoto

Nagoya University
Japan

Nomoto was recognized as an International Rising Talent (Asia Pacific) by the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO International Awards For Women in Science for her work on plant-specific immunity, which can be used to promote sustainable pest management. (Photo: Fondation L'Oréal)

Kim Jong Sung

University of Ulsan
South Korea

Kim received the 12th Asan Award in Clinical Medicine (2019) for developing treatments for stroke in South Korea. (Photo: Asan Medical Center)

Kanetada Nagamine

High Energy Accelerator Research Organization
Japan

Nagamine received the 2019 Japan Academy Prize for his work on muon beams and the non-destructive muon radiography of large-scale objects. (Photo: The Japan Academy)

Hiroshi Takayanagi

University of Tokyo
Japan

Takayanagi received the 2019 Japan Academy Prize for his studies on osteoimmunology, an interdisciplinary field that combines bone biology and immunology. (Photo: The University of Tokyo)

Tan Sze Tiong

Housing & Development Board
Singapore

Folianto, Koh, Poh and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Technology Award 2019 for developing the Integrated Environmental Modeler, an advanced modeling tool that is capable of integrating the effects of environmental factors such as wind, solar, and noise in urban settings. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research Singapore)

Takashi Nagasawa

Osaka University
Japan

Nagasawa received the 2019 Japan Academy Prize for revealing how microenvironments are essential for maintaining the stem cell potential of blood cells and bone. (Photo: Osaka University)

Emil Q. Javier

Formerly the University of the Philippines System
Philippines

A pioneering plant geneticist and agronomist, Javier was conferred the rank of National Scientist of the Philippines in recognition of his contributions to the field of agriculture. He spearheaded the Institute of Plant Breeding in Los Baños, which popularized high-yielding crops and disease-resistant plant varieties in Asia. Javier also served as the 17th president of the Philippines’ top-ranked university system, the University of the Philippines. Beyond research and academic leadership, Javier is also recognized for promoting sound agricultural policies and programs, utilizing climate-resilient and environmentally-friendly agricultural innovations, and improving governance to enhance the livelihood of Filipino farmers and fisherfolk. Beyond research and academic leadership, Javier is also recognized for promoting sound agricultural policies and programs, utilizing climate-resilient and environmentally-friendly agricultural innovations, and improving governance to enhance the livelihood of Filipino farmers and fisherfolk. (Photo: University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Gagandeep Kang

Translational Health Science and Technology Institute
India

Kang is the first Indian woman to be elected as a fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom. She is known for her inter-disciplinary public health research on enteric infections and their sequelae in children in India. In 2016, she was awarded the prestigious Infosys Prize in Life Sciences for her pivotal contributions to understanding the natural history of rotavirus and other enteric diseases, with broad implications for the treatment of these diseases. Her work has shown that the Indian population has a lower natural immunity to rotavirus infection compared to other populations. In addition to basic research, Kang has also built national rotavirus and typhoid surveillance networks and established laboratories to support local vaccine trials in India. (Photo: Social News XYZ)

Lu Chao-Yang

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Lu was awarded the 2019 (7th) Nishina Asia Award for his contributions to quantum information science using single photons. (Photo: Lu Chao-Yang)

Liao I-Chiu

National Taiwan Ocean University
Taiwan

Liao received the 24th Nikkei Asia Prize for Science and Technology for his pioneering contributions to the development of Taiwan’s aquaculture industry. (Photo: Toshiyuki Kumagai)

Wan Iryani Wan Ismail

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
Malaysia

Ismail received the 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship For Women in Science National Award (Malaysia) for her research on honey consumption in controlling obesity. (Photo: L'Oréal Malaysia)

Shao Feng

National Institute of Biological Sciences
China

Shao won the 2019 The Future Science Prize (Life Science Prize) as well as the 2019 Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientist Award for discovering how cells recognize and respond to pathogenic bacteria. (Photo: European Cell Death Organization)

Mohammad Javed Ali

L.V. Prasad Eye Institute
India

Ali received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Medical Sciences) for his research contributions to dacryology and lacrimal systems. (Photo: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Poh Hee Joo

Institute of High Performance Computing
Singapore

Folianto, Koh, Poh and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Technology Award 2019 for developing the Integrated Environmental Modeler, an advanced modeling tool that is capable of integrating the effects of environmental factors such as wind, solar, and noise in urban settings. (Photo: Ministry of National Development)

Yoshihiro Iwasa

University of Tokyo
Japan

Iwasa was awarded the 2019 (65th) Nishina Memorial Prize for his discovery of electric-field-induced two-dimensional superconductivity. (Photo: The University of Tokyo)

V. Narry Kim

Seoul National University/Institute for Basic Science
South Korea

Kim received the 12th Asan Award in Basic Medicine (2019) for her discovery of the microRNA biogenesis pathway and RNA tailing control. Her trailblazing research has contributed to the improvement of RNA interference technologies. In 2013,Kim, along with Professor Kim Jin-Soo, also developed a new technique to eliminate specific microRNAs, which has potential applications in cancer treatment. For her pioneering contributions to the field of RNA biology, Kim has received multiple awards, including the 2008 L’Oreal-UNESCO Award For Women in Science and the 2009 Ho-Am Prize in Medicine. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Akira Isogai

University of Tokyo
Japan

Isogai received the 2019 Japan Academy Prize for his studies on completely dispersed cellulose nanofibers originating from plants. (Photo: The University of Tokyo)

Cleotilde Hidalgo-How

University of the Philippines Manila
Philippines

Hidalgo-How received the Dr. Paulo Campos Award for Health Research 2019 for her work in the understanding, management and diagnosis of tuberculosis among children and adolescents. (Photo: NA)

Shigeru Yoshida

Chiba University
Japan

Ishihara and Yoshida were jointly awarded the 2019 (65th) Nishina Memorial Prize for their discovery of ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos. (Photo: Chiba University)

Sadao Ota

University of Tokyo
Japan

Horisaki and Ota were awarded the 2019 Gottfried Wagener Prize for Life Sciences for their work on developing ghost cytometry technologies. (Photo: German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan)

Koh Wee Shing

Institute of High Performance Computing
Singapore

Folianto, Koh, Poh and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Technology Award 2019 for developing the Integrated Environmental Modeler, an advanced modeling tool that is capable of integrating the effects of environmental factors such as wind, solar, and noise in urban settings. (Photo: Koh Wee Shing)

Raul Destura

National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila
Philippines

Destura was awarded the 2019 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award for his creation of the award-winning Biotek-M dengue aquakit for faster, more affordable and accessible dengue diagnosis. (Photo: Raul Destura)

Carlo Arcilla

Philippine Nuclear Research Institute
Philippines

Arcilla received the Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Basic Research 2019 for his contributions to resolving sensitive issues on mineral resource development, water management, and developing peaceful applications for nuclear energy in the Philippines. (Photo: International Atomic Energy Agency)

Ryoichi Horisaki

Osaka University
Japan

Horisaki and Ota were awarded the 2019 Gottfried Wagener Prize for Life Sciences for their work on developing ghost cytometry technologies. (Photo: German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan)

Aya Ishihara

Chiba University
Japan

Ishihara and Yoshida were jointly awarded the 2019 (65th) Nishina Memorial Prize for their discovery of ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos. (Photo: Chiba University)

Saw Seang Mei

Singapore Eye Research Institute
Singapore

Beuerman, Chia, Saw and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Science Award 2019 for three decades of research in the field of myopia, which resulted in public health strategies and interventional myopia control therapies to help decrease the rates of myopia and myopia-related blindness in Singapore. (Photo: Duke-NUS Medical School)

Manik Varma

Microsoft Research India
India

Varma received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Engineering Sciences) for his contributions to machine learning and computer vision. (Photo: Microsoft Corporation)

Joselito R. Chavez

National Kidney and Transplant Institute
Philippines

Chavez was awarded the 2019 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award for his trailblazing work on the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in severe leptospirosis. (Photo: Clipside)

Shankar Ghosh

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Ghosh received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Physical Sciences) for his work on how friction can be used to help soft matter self-organize. (Photo: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)

Audrey Chia

Singapore Eye Research Institute
Singapore

Beuerman, Chia, Saw and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Science Award 2019 for three decades of research in the field of myopia, which resulted in public health strategies and interventional myopia control therapies to help decrease the rates of myopia and myopia-related blindness in Singapore. (Photo: Singapore National Eye Centre)

Fachmin Folianto

Institute for Infocomm Research
Singapore

Folianto, Koh, Poh and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Technology Award 2019 for developing the Integrated Environmental Modeler, an advanced modeling tool that is capable of integrating the effects of environmental factors such as wind, solar, and noise in urban settings. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research Singapore)

Zhou Yan

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Zhou won the 2019 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women for her research into energy-efficient water treatment and reclamation for industrial and daily use, which has benefited communities in Asia. (Photo: Zhou Yan)

Oh Uhtaek

Korea Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Oh won the 2019 Ho-Am Prize in Medicine for his discovery of the ion channel genes ANO1 and TTN3,which may help in the development of treatments for diseases caused by ion channel defects. (Photo: Korea Institute of Science and Technology)

Muhammad Faryad

Lahore University of Management Sciences
Pakistan

Faryad received the ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award 2019 for his contributions to the understanding of how light interacts with nanostructured materials, with applications in the area of optical surface waves, solar cells and optical metamaterials. (Photo: International Centre for Theoretical Physics)

Roger Beuerman

Singapore Eye Research Institute
Singapore

Beuerman, Chia, Saw and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Science Award 2019 for three decades of research in the field of myopia, which resulted in public health strategies and interventional myopia control therapies to help decrease the rates of myopia and myopia-related blindness in Singapore. (Photo: SingHealth Research)

Donald Tan

Singapore Eye Research Institute
Singapore

Beuerman, Chia, Saw and Tan were part of the team that was conferred the President’s Science Award 2019 for three decades of research in the field of myopia, which resulted in public health strategies and interventional myopia control therapies to help decrease the rates of myopia and myopia-related blindness in Singapore. (Photo: FV Hospital)

Tang Ching Wan

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong

Tang won the 2019 Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology for his pioneering contributions to the birth of high-efficiency organic light-emitting diodes and their widespread application in displays and lighting. (Photo: The University of Hong Kong)

Subimal Ghosh

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
India

Ghosh received the 2019 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences) for his contributions to our understanding of how land-surface processes are coupled to the Indian monsoon, which has helped to improve regional monsoon predictions. (Photo: Gubbi Labs LLP)

Alonzo Gabriel

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

Gabriel received the Eduardo A. Quisumbing Medal for his research into microbial stress adaptation on food safety and quality. (Photo: Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences)

Robert Dizon

Metals Industry Research and Development Center
Philippines

Dizon received the Mario Cruel Award for Advanced Engineering Technology Application for developing the torque mode configuration for multiple variable frequency drives used in the Automated Guideway Transit System, Hybrid Electric Road Train and Hybrid Electric Train. (Photo: Department of Science and Technology, Republic of the Philippines)

Basudeb Dasgupta

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Dasgupta won the ICTP Prize 2019 for his innovative theoretical contribution to neutrino and dark-matter physics, in particular, our understanding of collective neutrino oscillations. (Photo: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)

Raymond Tan

De La Salle University
Philippines

Tan received the Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Advanced Research 2019 for his contributions to the development of novel computational techniques for the design of sustainable industrial systems. (Photo: De La Salle University)

Susan Gallardo

De La Salle University
Philippines

Gallardo received the David M. Consunji Award for Engineering Research 2019 for her work in environmental engineering and catalysis, as well as industrial and hazardous waste treatment and management. (Photo: De La Salle University)

Pham Thi Thu Ha

Ton Duc Thang University
Vietnam

Pham received the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for using molecular markers to develop high-yielding salt-tolerant rice varieties in affected areas along the Mekong Delta. (Photo: Báo Mói)

Sunita Sarawagi

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
India

Sarawagi received the 2019 Infosys Prize for Engineering and Computer Science for her research in databases, data mining, machine learning and natural language processing. Specifically, she was recognized for being one of the earliest researchers to develop information extraction techniques for the unstructured data commonly found on the World Wide Web. Sarawagi was previously a visiting scientist at Google, where her projects included optimizing deep learning models for personalized Youtube recomendations. Currently, she is the Institute Chair Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-Bombay. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Makoto Fujita

University of Tokyo
Japan

Fujita received the 2019 Imperial Prize and Japan Academy Prize for developing the crystalline sponge method, which is used in the field of X-ray crystallography. (Photo: Japan Science and Technology Agency)

Son Young-Woo

Korea Institute for Advanced Study
South Korea

A theoretical physicist, Son won the 2018 POSCO TJ Park Prize (Science Prize) for showing that graphene nanoribbons have magnetic properties not found in normal graphene. (Photo: Korea Institute for Advanced Study)

Urbasi Sinha

Raman Research Institute
India

Sinha is the recipient of the 2018 ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award given out by the International Commission for Optics (ICO) and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). She was recognized for her contributions to the field of quantum photonics as well as her outreach activities to popularize science in India.Sinha runs the Quantum Information and Computing Lab at the Raman Research Institute, India’s first lab dedicated to research on quantum information processing and its applications. The lab has been chosen to represent India in an international collaboration with Canada to explore using entangled photons for quantum satellite communication. (Photo: Raman Research Institute)

Hirosi Ooguri

University of Tokyo
Japan

For his research on string theory, Ooguri was awarded the Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics, one of the most sought-after science prizes in Germany. (Photo: Caltech)

Ng Kwan Hoong

University of Malaya
Malaysia

Ng is the first scientist from a developing country to receive the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award, a prize that honors scientists for their contributions towards the training of aspiring medical physicists. (Photo: University of Malaya)

Gao Hongjun

Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Gao was awarded the 2018 Tan Kah Kee Science Award (Mathematics & Physics) for his research on the assembly of molecular machines. (Photo: Institute of Physics)

Xu Zongben

Xi’an Jiaotong University
China

Xu is a recipient of the 2018 Tan Kah Kee Science Award (Information Sciences). He developed a theory that allows for the reconstruction of sparse signals, with applications in radar imaging and machine vision, among others. (Photo: Xi’an Jiaotong University)

Wu Yirong

Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Wu is a recipient of the 2018 Tan Kah Kee Science Award (Information Sciences). He developed a theory that allows for the reconstruction of sparse signals, with applications in radar imaging and machine vision, among others. (Photo: Institute of Electronics)

Oh Hee

Korea Institute for Advanced Study
South Korea

Oh was awarded the 2018 Ho-Am Prize for Science for her work on Apollonian circle packings, a concept that can be used to interpret fractals found in nature. (Photo: Korea Institute for Advanced Study)

Hasibun Naher

BRAC University
Bangladesh

Naher received the 2018 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World for her research on non-linear partial differential equations, which has applications in tsunami simulations. (Photo: BRAC University)

Ritabrata Munshi

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Munshi received the 2018 Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from Developing Countries, an annual award given to researchers less than 45 years of age. He was recognized for his outstanding work in number theory, a branch of pure mathematics that studies the properties of integers, or numbers that do not have a fractional part. No stranger to the AS100 list having first appeared in the 2018 edition, Munshi’s research has previously been recognized with accolades such as the Infosys Award in 2017, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 2015 and the Birla Science Prize in 2013. (Photo: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)

Shigeo Kusuoka

University of Tokyo
Japan

Kusuoka was conferred the 2018 Japan Academy Prize for expanding the field of stochastic analysis by developing methods of infinite dimensional analysis. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Masaki Kashiwara

Kyoto University
Japan

In 2018, Kashiwara was awarded the Kyoto Prize as well as the Chern Medal for his research on algebraic analysis and the concept of D-modules. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Akira Yoshino

Asahi Kasei Corporation
Japan

Considered to be the ‘father of the modern lithium-ion battery,’ Yoshino is a Japanese chemist, fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation and professor of Meijo University. In recognition of his contributions to battery technology, he was awarded the 2018 Japan Prize, which is given to individuals whose achievements are scientifically impressive and promote peace and prosperity for all mankind. Apart from the fundamental technology for lithium-ion battery, Yoshino has also developed technology for fabricating electrodes, assembling batteries and making the batteries small and rechargeable. These efforts have been instrumental to the success and commercialization of lithium-ion batteries. (Photo: Asahi Kasei Corporation)

Wang Jianfang

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Wang was selected as the 31st Laureate of the Khwarizmi International Award in recognition of his achievements in the field of colloidal plasmonic metal nanocrystals. (Photo: Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Tian Yongjun

Yanshan University
China

Tian received the 2018 Tan Kah Kee Science Award (Technological Sciences) for his research on the hardening of covalent materials. (Photo: Yanshan University)

Anjan Soumyanarayanan

A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering & National University of Singapore
Singapore

In 2018, Soumyanarayanan received the Young Scientist Award and the IEEE Magnetics Society Early Career Award for his research on quantum materials. (Photo: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering)

Thalappil Pradeep

Indian Institute of Technology Madras
India

Pradeep was awarded the 2018 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Chemistry for developing nanomaterials that can be used as ultrasensitive sensors and to purify water. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Madras)

Marissa Paglicawan

Department of Science and Technology
Philippines

For her research on turning Manila hemp or abaca into an engineering material, Paglicawan was awarded the 2018 Gregorio Zara Award for Applied Science Research. (Photo: Department of Science and Technology, the Philippines)

Yukiko Ogawa

National Institute of Materials Science
Japan

Ogawa received the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Rising Talent award for creating a metal alloy with shape-memory. (Photo: National Institute of Materials Science)

Nguyen Thi Hiep

Vietnam National University
Vietnam

Nguyen received the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Rising Talent award for developing a smart nanoparticle gel that can accelerate tissue regeneration. (Photo: Nguyen Thi Hiep)

Luo Huixia

Sun Yat-sen University
China

Luo received the 2018 International Association of Advanced Materials Scientist Medal for her work on functional inorganic materials and condensed matter physics. (Photo: Sun Yat-sen University)

Liu Zheng

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Liu was one of three researchers recognized with the 2018 Young Scientist Award for his research on two-dimensional materials. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Hideo Hosono

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Hosono received the 2018 Von Hippel Award from the Materials Research Society for developing transparent oxide semiconductors that are now widely used in liquid crystal displays. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Takuzo Aida

University of Tokyo
Japan

Aida received the 2018 Japan Academy Prize for developing innovative soft materials such as a hydrogel named ‘aquamaterial’ which is mechanically robust and moldable. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Xue Shifeng

Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Singapore

Xue received the 2018 Young Scientist Award for her research on how genes are controlled during development. (Photo: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology)

Chikashi Toyoshima

University of Tokyo
Japan

Toyoshima was awarded the 2018 Imperial Prize and Japan Academy Prize for his determination of the crystal structures of key ion pumps which are crucial for maintaining concentration gradients across cell membranes. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Gen Suwa

University of Tokyo
Japan

Suwa was conferred the 2018 Duke of Edinburgh Prize for his contributions to our understanding of human evolution through the analysis of the 4.4 million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus and other hominin fossils. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Susumu Seino

Kobe University
Japan

Seino received the 2018 Japan Academy Prize for using molecular biology to investigate the mechanisms of insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells. (Photo: Kobe University)

Wirulda Pootakham

National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Thailand

Pootakham was awarded the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for her work in identifying heat-tolerant coral species for marine ecosystem restoration. (Photo: National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology)

Nguyen Thanh Liem

Vinmec Research Institute of Stem Cell and Gene Technology
Vietnam

A leading pediatric endoscopic surgeon, Nguyen was the first in Vietnam to perform a laparoscopic surgery on a child in 1997 and the first to carry out kidney and liver transplantations in Vietnam’s children’s hospitals. Apart from his surgical career, Nguyen is the director of the Vinmec Research Institute of Stem Cell and Gene Technology where he pioneers stem cell therapies for diseases such as cerebral palsy and autism. For his notable medical contributions over the years, Nguyen was awarded the 2018 Nikkei Asia Prize for Science and Technology. (Photo: Vinmec Research Institute of Stem Cell and Gene Technology)

Tetsuo Nagano

University of Tokyo
Japan

Nagano was awarded the 2018 Japan Academy Prize for developing powerful general principles for the rational design of bioimaging fluorescent probes. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Louis Tan

National Neuroscience Institute
Singapore

Louis Tan received the 2018 President’s Science Award for identifying clinical biomarkers, developing novel models and transforming patient care in Parkinson’s Disease. (Photo: National Neuroscience Institute)

Tan Eng King

National Neuroscience Institute
Singapore

Tan Eng King received the 2018 President’s Science Award for identifying clinical biomarkers, developing novel models and transforming patient care in Parkinson’s Disease. (Photo: National Neuroscience Institute)

Ng Huck Hui

Genome Institute of Singapore
Singapore

Ng received the 2018 President’s Science Award for identifying clinical biomarkers, developing novel models and transforming patient care in Parkinson’s Disease. (Photo: Genome Institute of Singapore)

Lim Kah Leong

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Lim received the 2018 President’s Science Award for identifying clinical biomarkers, developing novel models and transforming patient care in Parkinson’s Disease. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Li Jiayang

Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology
China

Li received the 2018 Tan Kah Kee Science Award (Life Sciences) for characterizing key genes regulating rice plant architecture, which is crucial for grain yield. (Photo: Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology)

Lee Sang Yup

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

In 2018, Lee received both the 2018 Eni Advanced Environmental Solutions Prize and the George Washington Carver Award for his research on biofuels. (Photo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

Ho Weang Kee

University of Nottingham Malaysia
Malaysia

Ho received the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Rising Talent award for developing a statistical tool to predict breast cancer risk in women. (Photo: University of Nottingham Malaysia)

Charissa Marcaida Ferrera

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

For her research on improving water quality in marine environments, Ferrera was awarded the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship. (Photo: University of the Philippines Diliman)

Kenji Doya

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
Japan

Doya was awarded the 2018 Donald O. Hebb Award for developing artificial neural networks to understand the role of striatal neurons. (Photo: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology)

Bang Yung-Jue

Seoul National University
South Korea

Bang received the 2018 Asan Award in Clinical Medicine for developing targeted agents and immune oncology drugs for gastric cancer. (Photo: Seoul National University)

Zakri Abdul Hamid

Islamic Development Bank
Malaysia

Apart from being appointed to the scientific advisory board of the Islamic Development Bank, Zakri was also named a winner of the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity in 2018. (Photo: Islamic Development Bank)

Hiroshi Yamakawa

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Japan

In 2018, Yamakawa assumed his position as president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), one of Asia’s leading space agencies. (Photo: JAXA)

Shih Choon Fong

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Shih received the 2018 Harvard Centennial Medal for his research on fracture mechanics, as well as his leadership of two global universities, namely the National University of Singapore and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Hiroki Nakatani

Keio University
Japan

Formerly assistant director general of the World Health Organization, Nakatani was named board chair of the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund in 2018. (Photo: Keio University)

N. R. Narayana Murthy

Infosys
India

Murthy, co-founder of telecommunications giant Infosys, makes his second appearance on the AS100 list for winning the 2018 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Founders Medal. (Photo: Infosys)

Judith Swain

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Swain was awarded the 2018 President’s Science and Technology Medal for raising Singapore’s global reputation in clinical and translational research. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Lam Khin Yong

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

For his role in shaping Singapore’s pool of scientific talent and pushing for research that impacts society, Lam was awarded the 2018 President’s Science and Technology Medal. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Ravi Kuchimanchi

Association for India’s Development
India

Kuchimanchi received the 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize for his continued research in physics while simultaneously advocating for human rights and social justice issues in India. (Photo: Association for India’s Development)

Chang Meemann

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
China

In 2018, Chang was awarded the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Achievement Prize and named a laureate of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science. Both prizes recognize her seminal contributions to our understanding of how aquatic vertebrates made the transition from sea to land. Chang, who became the first woman to become head of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in 1983, has three species named in her honor: the extinct sarcopterygian fish Meemannia; the theropod dinosaur Sinovenator changii; and the extinct bird Archaeornithura meemannae. She was also featured in a children’s book series highlighting outstanding scientists from Asia titled Asian Scientist Junior. (Photo: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology)

Zhao Guochun

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Zhao won the 2018 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Earth, Astronomy and Space Sciences for shedding light on continental collisional tectonics in Earth’s early history. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Khadg Singh Valdiya

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
India

Valdiya received the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences 2018 Lifetime Excellence Award for his major contributions in the field of geodynamics, particularly in active faults, natural hazards and geo-hydrology of springs. (Photo: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research)

Vikram Chandra Thakur

Indian Academy of Sciences
India

Thakur, an expert on Himalayan geology, received the 2018 Padma Shri for Science and Engineering for his work on structure tectonics. (Photo: Indian Institute of Science)

Toshiko Terakawa

Nagoya University
Japan

Terakawa received the 38th Saruhashi Prize for developing a new method to rationally estimate the pattern of stress fields that cause earthquakes. (Photo: Nagoya University)

Kusala Rajendran

Indian Institute of Science
India

Rajendran received the inaugural National Award for Women Scientists from the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences for her work on understanding earthquakes in India. (Photo: Indian Institute of Science)

Gay Jane Perez

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

Perez is the first Filipino to win the ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women, an award to encourage promising female scientists working in Southeast Asia. She was recognized for her research using satellite data to improve agriculture for precision farming. Perez, who did her postdoctoral studies at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, was responsible for leading the Department of Science and Technology’s microsatellite program that successfully sent the Philippines’ first microsatellite—Diwata-1—into space in 2016. (Photo: University of the Philippines Diliman)

Sekhar Muddu

Indian Institute of Science
India

Muddu received the 2018 National Award for Geoscience & Technology from India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences for his extensive work in the field of water resources and environmental engineering. (Photo: Indian Institute of Science)

Dai Jinxing

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Dai was conferred the 2018 Tan Kah Kee Science Award (Earth Sciences) for his research on petrochemicals. His work has led to the discovery of several giant gas fields, changing China from a gas-poor to a gas-rich country. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Wang Zeshan

Nanjing University of Science and Technology
China

Wang, sometimes called the ‘Chinese Alfred Nobel’ for his research on explosives, received the 2017 Pre-eminent Science and Technology Award alongside Hou Yunde. (Photo: Nanjing University of Science and Technology)

Rajagopalan Vasudevan

Thiagarajar College of Engineering
India

Known as the ‘plastic man of India,’ Vasudevan received the 2018 Padma Shri for Science and Engineering for developing a method to put plastic waste to use in road construction. (Photo: Thiagarajar College of Engineering)

Surapa Thiemjarus

National Electronics and Computer Technology Center
Thailand

Thiemjarus received the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for her research on Internet of Things (IoT) technology for the elderly. (Photo: National Electronics and Computer Technology Center)

Amitava Roy

Department of Atomic Energy, India
India

Roy was conferred the 2018 Padma Shri for Science and Engineering for his work on fuel reprocessing and radioactive nuclear waste management. (Photo: Department of Atomic Energy)

Park Nam-Gyu

Sungkyunkwan University
South Korea

Park was awarded the 2018 Ho-Am Prize for Engineering in recognition of his pioneering research on solid-state perovskite solar cells. Unlike conventional solar cells, solid-state perovskite solar cells are both highly efficient and stable in the long term. Park was also previously named a potential recipient of the Nobel Prize in 2017 by Clarivate Analytics, which mines millions of citations in the Web of Science to identify influential researchers. Park, the only Korean researcher to have been nominated to date, was singled out alongside Tsutomu Miyasaka of Toin University of Yokohama, Japan, for his work on perovskites. (Photo: Sungkyunkwan University)

Hwang Cheol-Ju

Juseong Engineering
South Korea

Hwang was awarded the 2018 POSCO TJ Park Technology Prize for driving research and innovation in South Korea’s semiconductor industry. (Photo: Juseong Engineering)

He Jinliang

Tsinghua University
China

He won the 2018 IEEE Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award for improving lightning protection in high-power transmission lines. (Photo: Tsinghua University)

Elmer Dadios

De La Salle University
Philippines

Dadios received the 2018 David M. Consunji Award for Engineering Research for his work on swarm robotics and artificial intelligence. (Photo: De La Salle University)

James C. C. Chan

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Chan received the 2018 IEEE Transportation Technologies Award for the theoretical analysis and optimization of electric vehicles to enable clean and efficient transportation methods. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Tseng Yu-Chee

National Chiao Tung University
Taiwan

Tseng received the 2018 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Engineering Sciences for his contributions to wireless and mobile networks, including the discovery of ‘broadcast storms’ which are used in denial of service attacks. (Photo: National Chiao Tung University)

Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay

Indian Statistical Institute
India

Bandyopadhyay received the 2018 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Engineering Sciences. Bandyopadhyay, the first woman director of the Indian Statistical Institute, previously appeared on the AS100 list in 2018. (Photo: Indian Statistical Institute)

Ricardo Balog

University of Santo Tomas
Philippines

Balog was awarded the 2018 Mario Cruel Award for Advanced Engineering Technology Application for his research on low-cost medical devices. (Photo: University of Santo Tomas)

Chularat Wattanakit

Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology
Thailand

Wattanakit won the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for her work on the synthesis of chiral molecules. (Photo: Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology)

Rosalinda Torres

Department of Science and Technology, the Philippines
Philippines

For her research on the larvicidal ability of Philippine medicinal plants, Torres received the 2018 Gregorio Zara Award for Basic Science Research. (Photo: Department of Science and Technology, the Philippines)

Keiji Maruoka

Kyoto University
Japan

Maruoka was awarded the 2018 Japan Academy Prize for developing a metal-free organocatalyst that utilizes water as a solvent, a world’s first. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Loh Teck Peng

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

In recognition of his contributions to green chemistry, Loh received the 2018 President’s Science Award. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Witri Wahyu Lestari

Sebelas Maret University
Indonesia

Lestari, who was previously featured on the AS100 2017 list, makes a second appearance for winning the 2018 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. (Photo: Sebelas Maret University)

Makoto Fujita

University of Tokyo
Japan

For his groundbreaking research using metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to promote the formation of supramolecular structures, Fujita was awarded the 2018 Wolf Prize in Chemistry. MOFs are metal ions that can be linked by organic molecules to form multi-dimensional frameworks. One of the key applications of Fujita’s method, termed metal-directed self-assembly, is to capture proteins in a regular orientation, thereby allowing X-ray crystallography without the need for protein crystallization. Fujita shared the 2018 Wolf Prize in Chemistry with Omar Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, who was recognized for his work on MOFs and covalent–organic frameworks (COFs). (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Bao Xinhe

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Bao was awarded the 2018 Tan Kah Kee Science Award (Chemistry) for studying the structural and electronic properties of catalytically active centers in nano-confined systems. (Photo: University of Science and Technology of China)

Chihaya Adachi

Kyushu University
Japan

Adachi was awarded the 2018 Nagoya Silver Medal of Organic Chemistry for his research on semiconductors used in organic light-emitting diodes and organic lasers. (Photo: Kyushu University)

Wan Yue

Genome Institute of Singapore
Singapore

In 2018, Wan was named a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in the Molecular Architecture of Life program. The program funds and supports researchers within five years of their first academic position by helping them build research networks and develop essential skills needed to become leaders in global research. Wan was recognized for her work on the role of RNA structures in human health and infectious diseases. Previously, Wan was elected as an EMBO Young Investigator in 2017 and received the L’Oréal Singapore for Women in Science National Fellowship in 2016. (Photo: Genome Institute of Singapore)

Rody Sy

University of the Philippines Manila
Philippines

Sy received the 2018 Dr. Paulo Campos Award for Health Research for his leading role in the field of cardiology in the Philippines. (Photo: University of the Philippines Manila)

Pankaj Manubhai Shah

Gujarat Cancer Society
India

Shah was awarded the 2018 Padma Shri for his work on breast cancer awareness. (Photo: Gujarat Cancer Society)

M. R. Rajagopal

Pallium India
India

Rajagopal was conferred the 2018 Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor, for his pioneering role in the country’s palliative care landscape. (Photo: Pallium India)

Varisa Pongrakhananon

Chulalongkorn University
Thailand

Pongrakhananon was recognized for her research on lung cancer with the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship. (Photo: Chulalongkorn University)

Chanchao Lorthongpanich

Siriraj Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Research
Thailand

Lorthongpanich won the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship for her work on using stem cells to produce donor-independent platelets. (Photo: Siriraj Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Research)

Kazutoshi Mori

Kyoto University
Japan

Mori received the 2018 Breakthrough Prize for his discovery of the unfolded protein response—a cellular quality-control system that detects disease-causing unfolded proteins and directs cells to take corrective measures. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Koh Gou Young

Institute for Basic Science
South Korea

Koh won the 2018 Ho-Am Prize in medicine for his work on the role of vascularization in tumors and eye diseases. (Photo: Institute for Basic Science)

Kim Ho Min

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Kim was awarded the 2018 Asan Award for Young Medical Scientists for medical scientists under the age of 40. (Photo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

Kim Beom Kyung

Yonsei University
South Korea

Kim was awarded the 2018 Asan Award for Young Medical Scientists for medical scientists under the age of 40. (Photo: Yonsei University)

Kim Eunjoon

Institute for Basic Science
South Korea

Kim, director of the Institute of Basic Science’s Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, received the 2018 Asan Award in Basic Medicine for his research on synaptic adhesion proteins. (Photo: Institute for Basic Science)

Hou Yunde

Chinese Academy of Engineering
China

Hou, who is known as the ‘father of China’s interferon’ for producing China’s first human-grade antivirals, was awarded the 2017 Pre-eminent Science and Technology Award. (Photo: Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China)

Tasuku Honjo

Kyoto University
Japan

Honjo was honored with the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), a key regulator of the immune response against tumors. He shares the award with Professor James P. Allison, who pioneered research on CTLA-4, another major pathway allowing cancer cells to evade the immune system. The discoveries of PD-1 and CTLA-4 have paved the way for powerful new cancer therapies that use the body’s own immune system to target tumors. Drugs targeting PD-1 and CTLA-4, called checkpoint inhibitors, are currently being used to treat advanced skin, lung and other cancers. Honjo and Allison were previously recognized for their pioneering role in immunotherapy with the 2014 Tang Prize. (Photo: Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study)

Christiani Jeyakumar Henry

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Henry received the 2018 Niigata International Food Award Grand Prix for his research on rice as functional food to prevent diabetes. (Photo: Clinical Nutrition Research Centre)

Stuart Cook

Duke-NUS Medical School
Singapore

Cook won the President’s Technology Award 2018 for advancing research in human genetics and cardiovascular disease. (Photo: Duke-NUS Medical School)

Zhang Dabing

Shanghai Jiao Tong University
China

Zhang was awarded the 2018 The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Agricultural Sciences for his research on the molecular mechanisms of flowering in higher plants such as rice. (Photo: Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Xu Minggang

Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
China

Xu received the 2018 Kingenta Agricultural Science Award for his contributions to agriculture in China, particularly in soil research. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

Artemio Salazar

University of the Philippines Los Baños
Philippines

Salazar received the 2018 Leads Agri Award for Agricultural Research for his work on high protein corn. (Photo: University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Takeshi Horie

Kyoto University
Japan

Horie was conferred the 2018 Japan Academy Prize for his research on the impact of climate change on food production. (Photo:Kyoto University)

Soichi Arai

Tokyo University of Agriculture
Japan

Arai was awarded the 2018 Niigata International Food Award Grand Prix for coining the concept of functional foods and developing the global food science industry. (Photo: Tokyo University of Agriculture)

Amitha Bentota

Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Bentota received the 2018 Senadhira Rice Research Award for her contribution to rice genetics in Sri Lanka. (Photo: Department of Agriculture)

Tamal Lata Aditya

Bangladesh Rice Research Institute
Bangladesh

Aditya received the 2018 Senadhira Rice Research Award for her contribution to rice genetics in Bangladesh. (Photo: Bangladesh Rice Research Institute)

Michael Ming-Chiao Lai

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Recognized as the ‘father of coronaviruses,’ Lai received the 2017 Nikkei Asia Prize for his role in preventing an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. Apart from serving as vice president of Academia Sinica between 2003 and 2006, Lai was awarded Taiwan’s 2013 Presidential Science Prize, an honor he shares with mathematician Peng Shie-Ming and semiconductor pioneer Lu Chih-Yuan. (Photo: Michael Ming-Chiao Lai)

Ajoy Kumar Ray

Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology
India

An alma mater of the school himself, Ray was awarded the 2017 Padma Shri for converting the Bengal Engineering and Science University into the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology. (Photo: Biswarup Ganguly)

Chandrakant Pithawa

Electronics Corporation of India Limited
India

Pithawa was awarded the 2017 Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, in recognition of his distinguished service in science and engineering. Currently the Raja Ramanna Fellow of the Electronics Corporation of India, a government-owned corporation under the Department of Atomic Energy, Pithawa has played a key role in many of India’s strategic nuclear programs, including the development of indigenous high temperature neutron detectors for a prototype fast breeder nuclear reactor. (Photo: Department of Atomic Energy)

S. Suresh Babu

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
India

Babu was awarded the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for his research on black carbon aerosols and their impact on the stability of the atmosphere. (Photo: S. Suresh Babu)

Jitendra Nath Goswami

Physical Research Laboratory
India

The chief scientist for India’s Chandrayaan satellite mission, Goswami received the 2017 Padma Shri in science and engineering for his contributions to the country’s aerospace efforts. (Photo: Harsh Vardhan)

Rogel Mari Sese

National Space Development Program
Philippines

Sese, the head of the Philippines’ space program, was commended for his outreach efforts at the Department of Science and Technology’s Science Educational Institute’s 30th Anniversary Celebrations. (Photo: Asian Scientist Magazine)

Min Aung

University of Veterinary Science
Myanmar

Aung was awarded the 2017 Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers for his work on dietary supplementation to increase milk yield and decrease methane production from dairy cows. (Photo: Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences)

Rajan Man Bajracharya

Db2Map
Nepal

Bajracharya received the 2017 Data-Driven Farming Prize for his GeoKrishi program which integrates satellite, government and crowdsourced data into actionable advice for farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs. (Photo: GeoKrishi)

Hari Krishna Dhonju

Db2Map
Nepal

Dhonju received the 2017 Data-Driven Farming Prize for his GeoKrishi program which integrates satellite, government and crowdsourced data into actionable advice for farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs. (Photo: GeoKrishi)

Chandra Siddaiah Nayaka

University of Mysore
India

For developing biotechnological approaches to plant disease management, Nayaka won the 2017 Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers. (Photo: Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences)

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao

Government of Telangana
India

Rao received the 2017 Agriculture Leadership Award from the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture for his role in launching irrigation and agricultural initiatives. (Photo: Government of Telangana)

Sheetal Sharma

International Rice Research Institute
India

Sharma won the 2017 Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers for her work on Crop Manager for India, a tool that provides site-specific nutrient recommendations to farmers. (Photo: Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences)

Hiroshi Uchino

Tohoku Agricultural Research Center
Japan

Uchino was awarded the 2017 Organic Farming Innovation Award Science Prize for his research on using cover crops as an alternative to pesticides for weed suppression. (Photo credit: Hiroshi Uchino)

Chen Wen

Tianjin Medical University
China

Chen received the DSM Science & Technology Award Asia 2017 for her research on iodine nutrition in children from areas with varying iodine levels in drinking water. (Photo: DSM)

Amit Dutt

Tata Memorial Centre
India

Dutt received the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his outstanding contributions to cancer genetics, in particular the role of novel mutations in Indian lung cancer patients. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Tamao Endo

Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology
Japan

Endo received the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for his research that has helped to identify the cause of Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy, an autosomal-recessive genetic disorder found almost exclusively in Japan. (Photo: Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology)

Tatsushi Toda

Kobe University
Japan

Toda received the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for his research that has helped to identify the cause of Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy, an autosomal-recessive genetic disorder found almost exclusively in Japan. (Photo: Japan Academy)

Deepak Gaur

Jawaharlal Nehru University
India

For his contributions to our understanding of how the malaria parasite infects red blood cells, Gaur was awarded the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Edward Holmes

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Holmes won the 2017 President’s Science and Technology Medal for his role in developing Singapore’s health and biomedical sciences system. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Sir David Lane

Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Singapore

Sir David received the 2017 President’s Science and Technology Medal for his role in the development of Singapore’s biomedical sciences sector and contributions to cancer therapeutics and research. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Li Jingmei

Genome Institute of Singapore
Singapore

For her work on mammographic density and its impact on women’s health, Li received the 2017 Young Scientist Award at the President’s Science and Technology Awards. In 2014, Li won the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship. More recently, the senior research scientist at the Genome Institute of Singapore was inducted as a class of 2018 National Research Foundation Fellow, an award that offers early career researchers up to S$3 million in funding over five years. (Photo: L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science)

Mario Antonio Jiz II

Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
Philippines

Jiz was recognized as a 2017 National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding Young Scientist for his contributions to the understanding of immunity to schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection affecting millions of Filipinos. (Photo: Mario Antonio Jiz II)

V. Narry Kim

Seoul National University
South Korea

Kim, the director of the Institute for Basic Science at Seoul National University, received the 2017 Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research for her studies into the role of microRNAs in development and cancer. (Photo: Institute for Basic Science)

Tadamitsu Kishimoto

Osaka University
Japan

Kishimoto, a group leader at the Immunology Frontier Research Center and Emeritus Professor at Osaka University, was recognized for his role in developing biologic therapies for autoimmune diseases with the 2017 King Faisal International Prize. (Photo: Japan Prize Foundation)

Seiji Ogawa

Tohoku Fukushi University
Japan

For his pioneering work in establishing the basic principles underlying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Ogawa was awarded the 2017 Keio Medical Science Prize. (Photo: Tohoku Fukushi University)

Paik Soonmyung

Yonsei University
South Korea

Paik received the 2017 Ho-Am Prize for developing Oncotype DX, the first multi-gene prognostic test for breast cancer patients that spares them from the side effects of chemotherapy. (Photo: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium)

Shimon Sakaguchi

Osaka University
Japan

Together with Fred Ramsdell and Alexander Rudensky, Sakaguchi was awarded the 2017 Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis for his discovery of regulatory T-cells. (Photo: Osaka University)

Paul Kwong Hang Tam

The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Tam, the Li Shu-Pui Professor in Surgery at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, received the 2017 Denis Browne Gold Medal for his contributions to pediatric surgery. (Photo: British Association of Paediatric Surgeons)

Tu Youyou

China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine
China

Tu, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was awarded the 2017 Preeminent Science and Technology Award, the top award for science in China. (Photo: Lasker Foundation)

Tehemton Erach Udwadia

Breach Candy Hospital and PD Hinduja Hospital
India

Udwadia, who received the Padma Shri Award in 2006, was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2017 for his contributions to the field of laparoscopic surgery. (Photo: Parsi Khabar)

Yu Nam-Kyung

Seoul National University
South Korea

Yu was recognized as a 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Rising Talent for her work on Rett syndrome, a genetic neurological disorder. (Photo: L'oréal Foundation)

Lucille V. Abad

Philippine Nuclear Research Institute
Philippines

Abad received the Julian A. Banzon Medal as a 2017 Outstanding Research and Development Awardee for her research on using irradiated seaweed as a plant growth supplement. (Photo: Civil Service Commission of the Philippines)

Pimchai Chaiyen

Mahidol University
Thailand

Chaiyen, who won the 2003 L’Oréal Thailand For Women in Science Award, received the 2017 L’Oréal Woman Scientist Crystal Award for her research into a cleaner way to produce chemicals. (Photo: Mahidol University)

Pussana Hirunsit

National Science and Technology Development Agency
Thailand

Hirunsit won the 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Award for her research on environmentally friendly nanocatalysts. (Photo: Pussana Hirunsit)

Kim Myung-hwan

LG Chem
South Korea

Kim, who is head of the Battery Research Institute at LG Chem, received the 2017 POSCO TJ Park Technology Prize for his role in developing lithium ion batteries. (Photo: University of Akron)

Ganpathi Naresh Patwari

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
India

Naresh Patwari received the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his research on vibrational spectroscopy in the gas phase. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Long Ran

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Long won the 2017 L’Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science International Rising Talent award for her research on photocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction. (Photo: L'oréal Foundation)

Phan Thanh Sơn Nam

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
Vietnam

Phan was one of two scientists awarded the 2017 Tạ Quang Bửu Awards for his work on molecular catalysts in organic transformation. (Photo: Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology)

Mitsuo Sawamoto

Kyoto University
Japan

A pioneer in the field of polymer science, Sawamoto received the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry for developing living polymers that can be reactivated. His technique of introducing free radical deactivators to the polymerization process allows scientists to control the reaction, and has been used to make improved coatings, dispersants and composites for commercial, biomedical and environmental applications. (Photo: Franklin Institute)

Xie Xiaoliang Sunney

Peking University
China

Xie, the director of the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics and the Biodynamics Optical Imaging Center, received the 2017 Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientist Award for his work on single-molecule enzymes. (Photo: Xie Xiaoliang Sunney)

Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay

Indian Statistical Institute
India

Bandyopadhyay received the Infosys Prize 2017 in Engineering and Computer Science for her research in algorithmic optimization, which has led to the discovery of a genetic marker for breast cancer and the role of white blood cells in Alzheimer’s disease. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Cha Hyung Joon

Pohang University of Science and Technology
South Korea

Cha, who developed a protein-based adhesive inspired by mussels, received the Inventor of the Year Award from the Korean Intellectual Property Office. Unlike commonly used medical adhesives, the mussel-inspired bioadhesive is biocompatible and strongly adhesive even when wet. Cha has been listed as the inventor of 135 intellectual properties, including 23 international patents, 47 domestic patents, 34 international patent applications and 31 domestic patent applications. (Photo: Pohang University of Science and Technology)

James C. C. Chan

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

For his contributions to the advancement of electric vehicle technologies, Chan has been selected to receive the 2018 IEEE Transportation Technologies Award. (Photo: Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences)

He Jinliang

Tsinghua University
China

He will receive the 2018 IEEE Herman HaLperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award for his contributions to lightning protection of power transmission systems including advancing analytic methods and innovation in line surge arresters. (Photo: International Conference on Lighting Protection)

Jang Jin

Kyung Hee University
South Korea

Jang received the Ho-Am Prize 2017 for his role in developing thin-film transistor displays, including flexible active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays and active-matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCD). (Photo: Young Samsung)

Anchalee Manonukul

National Science and Technology Development Agency
Thailand

For her work on powder metallurgy, Manonukul received the 2017 L’Oréal Woman Scientist Crystal Award, a special award commemorating the 15th anniversary of the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Awards in Thailand. (Photo: National Metal and Materials Technology Center)

Neelesh B. Mehta

Indian Institute of Science
India

Mehta received the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his research on wireless communications, energy-harvesting wireless networks, interference modeling and co-operative communications. (Photo: Neelesh B. Mehta)

Takashi Mimura

Fujitsu Laboratories
Japan

Mimura was recognized for his invention of high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with the 2017 Kyoto Prize. By constraining electrons within an ultrathin layer, HEMTs have contributed to the study of electrons with reduced dimensions. (Photo: Kyoto Prize Foundation)

Lanndon A. Ocampo

Cebu Technological University
Philippines

Ocampo received the 2017 Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the National Academy of Science and Technology for his contributions to manufacturing sustainability and risk analysis. (Photo: Lanndon A. Ocampo)

Pack Sangheon

Korea University
South Korea

Pack, who is currently leading a global study developing a software-based networking system, won the 2017 IEIE/IEEE Joint Award for Young IT Engineer of the Year for his work on wireless communication. (Photo: IEEE Xplore)

Tang Ching Wan

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong

Tang received the 2017 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal for his pioneering work in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that has paved the way for the first commercial full-color OLED displays. (Photo: The Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong)

Jackie Y. Ying

Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
Singapore

In 2017, Ying became the first woman to receive the Abdeali Tayebali Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognized her contributions to nanotechnology research. She was also named a fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors that year. (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research)

Kenneth Mei-yee Leung

The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

In 2017, Leung received the Biwako Prize for Ecology and was made a fellow of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry for his work on marine biodiversity and conservation. (Photo: The University of Hong Kong)

Jeffrey S. Perez

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
Philippines

Perez received the 2017 National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding Young Scientist award for helping to update the active fault map of the Philippines. (Photo: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology)

Yan Ning

National University of Singapore
Singapore

For his research on harvesting materials from waste through rational catalytic design, Yan was awarded the 2017 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division Early Career Award. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Aletta Concepcion T. Yñiguez

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

Yñiguez won the 2017 National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding Young Scientist Award for her work on modeling the dynamics of the ocean ecosystem to build early warning systems. (Photo: University of Philippines Diliman)

Shigeki Goto

Waseda University
Japan

In 2017, Goto was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as a Global Connector for his role in expanding the internet in the Asia Pacific and promoting multilingual domain name standards. (Photo: Asia Pacific Advanced Network)

Tanzima Hashem

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Bangladesh

Hashem was awarded the 2017 Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World for her work in developing computational approaches to privacy protection. (Photo: Tanzima Hashem)

N. R. Narayana Murthy

Infosys
India

Murthy, co-founder of global software consulting company Infosys, was awarded the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Global Innovation. Under his leadership, Infosys laid the foundation for India’s success in IT services outsourcing. In addition to being appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2007, Murthy received the Padma Vibhushan and was made an officer in the French Legion of Honor in 2008. (Photo: Infosys)

Wu Jianping

Tsinghua University
China

Wu is a 2017 inductee of the Internet Hall of Fame and the only Chinese person on the list. He was recognized for advancing internet technology in China and strengthening the country’s ties with the global internet community. (Photo: Tsinghua University)

Chang Meemann

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP)
China

The first woman to head China’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chang received the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award for her pioneering work on fossil records leading to insights on how aquatic vertebrates adapted to life on land. (photo: St Louis University)

Lam Khin Yong

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Singapore

Lam was made a knight in the French Legion of Honor in 2017 for fostering academic and industry collaborations between Singapore and France. (Photo: Asian Scientist Magazine)

Jenny Huey-Jen Su

National Cheng Kung University
Taiwan

Su, president of National Cheng Kung University, was recognized with the 2017 Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health’s Leadership Award for her timely and effective response to two emergency events in Taiwan: a dengue fever outbreak in Tainan City in 2015 and a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in 2016. An air pollution researcher, Su has conducted research on airborne microbial hazards and helped to shape policies at the national and international level. (Photo: National Cheng Kung University)

Subra Suresh

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Singapore

Previously the director of the US National Science Foundation and president of Carnegie Mellon University, the incoming Nanyang Technological University president was awarded the university’s inaugural Distinguished University Professorship in 2017. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Phillip A. Alviola

University of the Philippines Los Baños
Philippines

Alviola, who has described at least ten new species in the Philippines, received the 2017 National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding Young Scientist Award for his research on biodiversity and bat virology. (Photo: University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Upinder Singh Bhalla

National Centre for Biological Sciences
India

Bhalla was awarded the 2017 Infosys Prize in Life Sciences for his pioneering contributions to the understanding of the brain’s computational machinery. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Varodom Charoensawan

Mahidol University
Thailand

Charoensawan received the 2017 Young Scientist Award from the Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Technology under the Patronage of His Majesty the King for his bioinformatics research. (Photo: Medical Research Council)

Sanjeev Das

National Institute of Immunology
India

The 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology was conferred on Das for his discoveries relating to the function of sirtuins and the p53 tumor suppressor protein. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Tetsuya Higashiyama

Nagoya University
Japan

Higashiyama, vice director of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, won the 2017 Kihara Memorial Foundation Academic Award for his discovery of the molecules that guide pollen tube formation. (Photo: Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules)

Deepak Thankappan Nair

Regional Centre for Biotechnology
India

Nair won the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his work on DNA and RNA polymerases and their role in genome replication. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Shigetou Namba

University of Tokyo
Japan

Namba was awarded the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for his pioneering crystallographic research that has helped to shed light on the flagella and secretion systems of medically important bacteria. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Marisa Ponpuak

Mahidol University
Thailand

Ponpuak received the 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship for her research on autophagy aimed at finding new drugs for malaria and tuberculosis. (Photo: Mahidol University)

Shi Yigong

Tsinghua University
China

A structural biologist, Shi received the 2017 Future Science Prize for his studies that produced high-resolution structures of the spliceosome, a protein complex essential for mRNA processing. Using cryo-electron microscopy, Shi was able to observe the active site of the spliceosome and thereby determine how mRNA matures in the spliceosome. (Photo: Rita Allen Foundation)

Son Young-Sook

Kyung Hee University
South Korea

Son received the 2017 L’Oréal Korea-UNSECO Award for Women in Life Science for her research on the ability of stem cells to self-heal. (Photo: Kyung Hee University)

Yasuhiko Arakawa

University of Tokyo
Japan

Arakawa won the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for his pioneering research on quantum dots, which are semiconductor nanostructures that are now being used in lasers and photonic devices. (Photo: International Commission for Optics)

Napida Hinchiranan

Chulalongkorn University
Thailand

Hinchiranan was awarded the 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship for her studies on using natural rubber to create value-added products. (Photo: Chulalongkorn University)

Lee Jong-Heun

Korea University
South Korea

Lee was recognized with the 2017 POSCO TJ Park Science Prize for his research on self-assembling nanoblocks and gas-detecting semiconductors. (Photo: International Meeting on Chemical Sensors)

Aloke Paul

Indian Institute of Science
India

Paul received the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for generating insights into multi-component solid state diffusion with important implications for the development of complex high-performance alloys. (Photo: Indian Institute of Science)

Justin C. W. Song

Institute of High Performance Computing
Singapore

Song, who is a National Research Foundation Fellow and an affiliate of Nanyang Technological University, received the 2017 Young Scientist Award for his research on quantum materials. (Photo: Institute of High Performance Computing)

Toshimitsu Yokobori

Tohoku University
Japan

Yokobori was awarded the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for developing theories that can be used to predict metal fatigue as well as estimate blood vessel elasticity. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Zhao Zhongxian

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

A physicist with over four decades of experience with superconductors, Zhao was presented the Preeminent Science and Technology Award by President Xi Jinping at a ceremony in 2017. Zhao, the director of the National Laboratory for Superconductivity, is known for his research on low temperature physics, where matter starts to display quantum properties such as the quantum Hall effect, as well as for his research on high temperature superconductors. (Photo: Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation)

Zhu Yanwu

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Zhu received the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education for his cross-border research on graphene-based materials. (Photo: Xiamen University)

Gan Wee Teck

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Gan, who lends his name to the Gan-Gross-Prasad conjecture, received the 2017 President’s Science Award for his contributions to number theory, geometry and the Langlands program. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Ritabrata Munshi

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Munshi was awarded the 2017 Infosys Prize in Mathematics for his contributions to the Diophantine problem and estimates of the sub-convexity bounds for a large class of L-functions. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Sum Nguyễn

Quy Nhon University
Vietnam

Sum was recognized with the 2017 Tạ Quang Bửu Award for his research on the Peterson hit problem, an open problem in polynomial algebra. (Photo: Vietnam National University)

Xu Chenyang

Beijing International Center of Mathematics Research
China

Xu was one of three recipients of the 2017 Future Science Prize for his contributions to birational algebraic geometry, a specific branch of mathematics that has applications in statistics, geometric modeling and computing. (Photo: Institute for Advanced Study)

Chen Shiyi

South University of Science and Technology
China

Chen received the 2017 Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientist Award for his record-breaking numerical simulations of turbulence in hydrodynamics and fluid mechanics. (Photo: South University of Science and Technology)

Choi Sookyung

Gyeongsang National University
South Korea

A renowned particle physicist, Choi received the 2017 Ho-Am Prize for her discovery of a new class of subatomic particles named XYZ mesons. Together with her colleagues in the Belle experiment, Choi was the first to observe the X(3872) meson, a subatomic particle made of quarks and gluons. Although such exotic hadrons were first proposed over 50 years ago, they were only found by experimentalists in 2003 and subsequently confirmed by seven other experimental groups, making them the first and most well-understood type of XYZ meson. (Photo: Ho-am Foundation)

Gao Weibo

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Singapore

Gao received the 2017 Young Scientist Award at the President’s Science and Technology Awards for his research on quantum information and quantum photonics. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Vinay Gupta

National Physical Laboratory
India

Gupta was awarded the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his work in the fields of organic solar cells and carbon nanotube arrays. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)

Nathaniel P. Hermosa II

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

In addition to the 2017 National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding Young Scientist Award, Hermosa also received the 2017 Eduardo A. Quisumbing Medal for his research on the fundamental properties of light and light-matter interactions. (Photo: Nathaniel P. Hermosa II)

Nissim Kanekar

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Kanekar, who has defined stringent observational bounds on the evolution of the electron proton mass ratio, was awarded the 2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his contributions to astrophysics. (Photo: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)

Pan Jianwei

University of Science and Technology of China
China

The 2017 Future Science Prize in Physics was awarded to Pan in honor of his work on quantum optical technology. (Photo: The State Council of the People's Republic of China)

David Ruffolo

Mahidol University
Thailand

Ruffolo received the 2017 Outstanding Scientist Award from the Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Technology under Royal Patronage for his research on global radiation and cosmic rays, including a computer program that can predict the effects of solar storms on Earth. (Photo: Mahidol University)

Fumihiko Takasaki

High Energy Accelerator Research Organization
Japan

A central figure in the B-factory accelerator project at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Takasaki was awarded the 2017 Japan Academy Prize for providing experimental proof of the asymmetry between particles and antiparticles. (Photo: Reidar Hahn)

Adeeb Hayyan

University of Malaya
Malaysia

Hayyan received the 2017 UNESCO MAB Young Scientists Award from the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere program for his research on alternative natural oils for the food industry. (Photo: University of Malaya)

Li Junfeng

Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission
China

A chief architect of China’s renewable energy policy, Li was recognized with a lifetime achievement award at the 2017 Zayed Future Energy Prize for his role in reducing the country’s reliance on coal and strengthening its capabilities in renewable energy. (Photo: International Institute for Sustainable Development)

Ng Wun Jern

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Singapore

Ng received the 2017 President’s Technology Award for his research on wastewater management and resource recovery that has been used in industrial applications. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Felycia Edi Soetaredjo

Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya
Indonesia

For her work on using biomass for environmental remediation, Soetaredjo was awarded the 2017 Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. In her research, Soetaredjo converts biomass and clay into absorbents that can be used to remove hazardous compounds such as antibiotics, heavy metals and dyes from wastewater. She is also in the process of patenting a method using Fenton reagents that can be used to degrade 98 percent of the pollutants in wastewater. (Photo: Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya)

Xie Zhenhua

National Development and Reform Commission
China

China’s chief negotiator at the Paris Agreement, Xie received the 2017 LUI Che Woo Prize in Sustainable Development for his efforts in resisting climate change. (Photo: International Institute for Sustainable Development)

Aristotle T. Ubando

De La Salle University
Philippines

Ubando, who designs and integrates algal systems for the development of algal biorefineries, was recognized with the 2016 Philippines Promising Star Award. (Photo: Aristotle T. Ubando)

Reasmey Tan

Institute of Technology of Cambodia
Cambodia

Tan was named a finalist of the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women for her efforts at turning fatty acids and biomass into renewable energy resources. (Photo: USAID Cambodia)

Thi Thi Soe

Ministry of Science and Technology
Myanmar

Soe, who wants to use wind energy to power rural Myanmar, was a finalist of the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women. (Photo: Hla Myo Aung/USAID)

Worajit Setthapun

Chiang Mai Rajabhat University
Thailand

Setthapun, who develops sustainable energy systems that could benefit the livelihoods of those in small and rural communities, was named the winner of the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women. (Photo: USAID)

Fatehah Mohd Omar

University of Science Malaysia
Malaysia

Fatehah was recognized in 2016 with a L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Malaysia Fellowship for investigating nano-pollutants in palm oil mill effluent. By studying the fundamental characteristics of these pollutants, including their stability and dispersion properties, she hopes to contribute to a long-term, sustainable wastewater treatment for palm oil industries and help to reduce the pollution in Malaysia's rivers. (Photo: Fatehah Mohd Omar)

Supawadee Namuangruk

National Nanotechnology Center, National Science and Technology Development Agency
Thailand

Namuangruk received the 2016 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Thailand Fellowship for developing nanomaterials which have sustainable energy and environmental applications. (Photo: National Nanotechnology Center, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development)

Latsamy Phounvisouk

National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute
Laos

Phounvisouk, a researcher who develops biogas technologies for those living off the grid in rural areas, was a finalist of the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women. (Photo: Khamtha/USAID)

Ho Ghim Wei

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Ho, who develops sustainable solar technologies to meet Singapore’s energy demands, was a finalist of the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women. (Photo: National University of Singapore/USAID)

Chua Kian Jon

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Chua, who invented, foil-like membranes to sieve out water molecules in air-conditioning systems and reduce energy consumption, won the Institution of Chemical Engineers' Research Project of the Year Award in 2016. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Rajasekhar Balasubramanian

National University of Singapore
Singapore

For his novel waste treatment technology that converts urban waste streams into biofuels and other useful products, Balasubramanian was awarded the 2016 Institution of Chemical Engineers’ Energy Award (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Sharifah Rafidah Wan Alwi

University of Technology Malaysia
Malaysia

Alwi was recognized with an honorable mention at the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Przie for Women for her research into carbon dioxide emission reduction, maximixing energy efficiency for industry and buildings, and creating bioenergy from biomass. (Photo: University of Technology Malaysia)

Menandro N. Acda

University of the Philippines Los Baños
Philippines

Acda, whose work on alternative sources for bioenergy spans chicken feathers to waste paper sludge, was recognized with the 2016 Philippines Promising Star Award. (Photo: University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Xue Qikun

Tsinghua University
China

Xue was a recipient of the Future Science Award in 2016, referred to as China’s Nobel Prize, for his pivotal role in the discovery of the quantum anomalous Hall effect. (Photo: Tsinghua University)

Yeom Han-Woong

Institute for Basic Science
South Korea

Yeom won a Korea Science Award in 2015 for observing the existence of chiral solitons on indium atomic wires, a discovery that could one day lead to the development of single-electron information storage devices. (Photo: Institute for Basic Science)

Wen Liangjian

Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

The particle physicist won the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Young Scientist Award 2016 for his role in the discovery of the non-zero neutrino mixing angle θ13. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Umesh Waghmare

Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research
India

Waghmare’s theories and modeling of topological insulators, ferroelectrics, multiferroic and 2D materials like graphene won him the Infosys Prize 2015. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

S. Anantha Ramakrishna

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
India

Ramakrishna, a condensed matter physicist who studies the photonic properties of nano- and micro-structured materials, was awarded the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the physical sciences category. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur)

G. Ravindra Kumar

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

An experimental physicist, Kumar has been recognized with an Infosys Prize 2015 for his research into high-intensity laser-matter interactions. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Kim Yang-Hann

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Kim’s long, illustrious career spanning 25 years of acoustics, vibration and noise research won him the 2015 Rossing Prize in Acoustics Education. (Photo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

Kim Myungshik

Korea Institute for Advanced Study
South Korea

World-renowned in the field of quantum optics, Kim’s theoretical work could one day lead to the development of a quantum computer. He received the Ho-Am Prize in 2016. (Photo: Ho-Am Foundation)

Kim Kwanpyo

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Kim was conferred a 2016 Chung-Am (TJ Park) Science Fellowship for the synthesis of emerging 2D nanomaterials beyond graphene. (Photo: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)

Peng Shige

Shandong University
China

Peng was recognized with the Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientist Award in 2016 for his work in the fields of probability theory and stochastic control research. (Photo: Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Mahan MJ

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

MJ was recognized with an Infosys Prize 2015 for his contributions to geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology and complex geometry. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Joseph M. Pasia

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

Pasia, whose research involves analysis, design and implementation of evolutionary algorithms, received a 2016 Philippines Promising Star Award. (Photo: University of the Philippines, National Academy of Science and Technology)

Amalendu Krishna

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India

Krishna, who won the Ramanujan Prize in 2015, was one of two recipients of the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the mathematical sciences category. (Photo: International Center for Theoretical Physics)

Naveen Garg

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
India

For his work into algorithms and complexity theory, Garg was one of two recipients of the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the mathematical sciences category. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi)

Choi Kyudong

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Choi was awarded a 2016 Chung Am (TJ Park) Science Fellowship for his mathematical analyses of partial differential equations in fluid dynamics. (Photo: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)

Kathleen Aviso

De La Salle University
Philippines

Aviso's mathematical models for environmental decision-making earned her recognition as a finalist of the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women. (Photo: De La Salle University)

Zhao Dongyuan

Fudan University
China

Zhao was awarded the 2016 TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize for his work into mesoporous materials, structures that have microscopic holes and which have many nanoscale applications. (Photo: International Mesostructured Materials Association)

Takuo Sugano

University of Tokyo
Japan

Sugano received the 2016 IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal for his trailblazing contributions to our understanding of III-V semiconductors, superconducting devices, and single-electron transistors. (Photo: IEEE)

Nadnudda Rodthongkum

Chulalongkorn University
Thailand

Rodthongkum, who develops nanomaterials for use in medical diagnosis and the detection of environmental pollutants, was awarded the 2016 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Thailand Fellowship. (Photo: Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute)

Liu Xiaogang

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Liu was recognized with the President's Science Award in 2016 for his research on luminiscent, biocompatible nanomaterials, which are used in bioimaging applications such as the tracking of cancer cells. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Jiang Lei

Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry
China

In 2016, Jiang was recognized with a Nikkei Asia Prize in the science and technology category for his research in the fields of bioinspired and biomimetic multiscale interface materials. An award-winning chemist, Jiang has published hundreds of research papers in internationally-renowned journals, and developed over 30 patents. In addition to the Nikkei Asia Prize, Jiang has won two national awards in his native China: the National Thousands of Experts Project in the New Century in 2004 and the National Natural Science Award in 2005. (Photo: Jiang Lei)

Hiroshi Kawazoe

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Hosono, Kamiya, Kawazoe were co-awarded the 2016 Ceramics Grand Prize for opening up a new field of transparent oxide electronics. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Toshio Kamiya

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Hosono, Kamiya, Kawazoe were co-awarded the 2016 Ceramics Grand Prize for opening up a new field of transparent oxide electronics. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Hideo Hosono

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Hosono has pioneered new realms in materials science with the development of energy-efficient liquid crystal displays and large organic light-emitting diode displays used in tablets and televisions. Based on his discovery of iron-based superconductors, Hosono developed transparent oxide semiconductors that are widely used in the computer monitors and flat-screen TVs of today. In 2015, Hosono was awarded the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy, and in 2016, the Japan Prize and Ceramics Grand Prize. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Jackie Ying

Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
Singapore

Ying, whose research has led to many breakthroughs in the realms of drug delivery, cell and tissue engineering, and biosensing, among others, received the Mustafa Prize Top Scientific Award in 2015, an AAAS Fellowship in 2015, and a Singapore National Academy Science Fellowship in 2016. (Photo: IBN)

Hiroshi Matsumoto

RIKEN
Japan

The president of RIKEN, Matsumoto was awarded the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor in 2016 for spearheading the creation of an accord for the mutual recognition of academic degrees between Japan and France. (Photo: Embassy of France in Tokyo)

Chiels Liu Chen-Kun

Medecins Sans Frontieres Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Medecins Sans Frontieres was awarded the inaugural LUI Che Woo Prize 2016 for its key role in controlling the 2010 Haiti cholera outbreak and the 2014 West African Ebola epidemic. Liu, president of MSF Hong Kong, accepted the prize on behalf of the international humanitarian aid non-governmental organization. (Photo: LUI Prize)

Bertil Andersson

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

In 2016, Andersson received a Singapore National Academy of Science Fellowship and the prestigious President's Science and Technology Award for leading Singapore's Nanyang Technological University to greater heights as its president, and for building up the city-nation into a global R&D hub. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Venkata Narayana Padmanabhan

Microsoft Research India
India

Padmanabhan, whose research work spans sensor systems, computer systems, mobile computing, and wireless networking, was one of two recipients in the engineering sciences category of the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology. (Photo: Microsoft)

Takao Nishitani

Tokyo Metropolitan University
Japan

Nishitani was named a co-recipient of the 2017 IEEE Donald O. Peterson Award in Solid-State Circuits for developing the first single-chip, real-time programmable digital signal processors, which revolutionized communications networks. (Photo: IEEE Xplore Digital Library)

Masaki Yamamoto

Keysight Technologies
Japan

Chung, Endoh and Yamamoto won in 2016 the Prime Minister's Award for Contribution to Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration for developing high tech equipment for manufacturing and evaluating spin transfer torque magnetic RAM, or STT-MRAM. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Tetsuo Endoh

Tohoku University
Japan

Chung, Endoh and Yamamoto won in 2016 the Prime Minister's Award for Contribution to Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration for developing high tech equipment for manufacturing and evaluating spin transfer torque magnetic RAM, or STT-MRAM. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Gishi Chung

Tokyo Electron Limited
Japan

Chung, Endoh and Yamamoto won in 2016 the Prime Minister's Award for Contribution to Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration for developing high tech equipment for manufacturing and evaluating spin transfer torque magnetic RAM, or STT-MRAM. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Zhao Guochun

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Zhao won the 2016 Khwarizmi International Award for two significant research feats: the recognition of two million-year-old collisional belts, and the collisional events that assembled nearly all the continents on Earth to form a single supercontinent in the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Period. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Yang Xiaoping

Institute of Geology and Geophysics
China

Yang won the Humboldt Research Award in 2016 for his work into the dynamic process and interaction of water and sand in arid areas. (Photo: Institute of Geology and Geophysics)

Sunil Kumar Singh

Physical Research Laboratory
India

Singh, who studies the biogeochemistry of trace elements and isotopes in the Indian and Southern Oceans, was awarded the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences category. (Photo: Physical Research Laboratory)

Augustus C. Resurreccion

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

Resurreccion, who conducts research in soil physics and gas transport in porous media, was one of the 12 recipients of the 2016 Philippines Promising Star Awards. (Photo: University of the Philippines)

Neo Mei Lin

Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore
Singapore

Neo's work into the conservation of wild giant clams, a marine species that is evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered, earned her the 2015 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Singapore Fellowship. (Photo: Neo Mei Lin)

Chong Song

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Yi and Chong won the 2016 IEEE William R. Bennett Prize for proposing an original method to effectively offload the cellular network and maximize Wi-Fi network usage. They are only the second recipients to have won the Prize twice since its inception in 1994. (Photo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

Yi Yung

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Yi and Chong won the 2016 IEEE William R. Bennett Prize for proposing an original method to effectively offload the cellular network and maximize Wi-Fi network usage. They are only the second recipients to have won the Prize twice since its inception in 1994. (Photo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

Wang Rong

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

In 2016, Wang and colleague Anthony G. Fane were recognized with the Alternative Water Resources Prize, part of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water, for developing a membrane that can reduce membrane fouling and scaling during water reclamation and recycling processes. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Betty Tsai

Procter & Gamble
Singapore

Tsai's research on the innovation process behind skincare consumer products won her the Institution of Chemical Engineers' 2016 Young Chemical Engineer in Industry Award. (Photo: Institution of Chemical Engineers)

Akira Toriumi

University of Tokyo
Japan

Toriumi was awarded the 2016 IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award for his pioneering contributions to the understanding of advanced gate dielectrics and device physics, which are driving the continued miniaturization of electronic device components. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Sul Seung Ki

Seoul National University
South Korea

Sul's innovations in sensorless control techniques have improved the reliability and reduced the cost of motor drive systems, which earned him the 2017 William E. Newell Power Electronics Award. (Photo: Seoul National University)

Show Pau Loke

University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
Malaysia

Show was conferred the Institution of Chemical Engineers' 2016 Young Chemical Engineer in Research Award for his work in bioseparation engineering, the large-scale separation and purification of biological products. (Photo: Show Pau Loke)

Oh Jun-Ho

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Oh developed one of the world's most advanced humanoid robot platforms, the DRC-HUBO, which won the prestigious DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015. With wheels in its knees, the robot was able to transform from a walking robot to one that could roll on four wheels, just by bending over—which was how it conquered the task of climbing stairs. Considered a world leader in the field of humanoid robotics, Oh was also recognized with the Ho-Am Prize in 2016. (Photo: Ho-Am Foundation)

He Jinsong

National University of Singapore
Singapore

He was awarded the Institution of Chemical Engineers' Young Chemical Engineer in Research in 2016 for successfully developing a full-scale production system for decontaminating water using metallic oxide nanoparticles and membranes. (Photo: American Institute of Chemical Engineers, National University of Singapore)

Masayoshi Esashi

Tohoku University
Japan

A pioneer of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology, Esashi received the 2016 IEEE Junichi Nishizawa Medal for his MEMS innovations, which are used in automobiles, mobile phones, industrial equipment and medical devices. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Avinash Kumar Agarwal

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
India

A mechanical engineer focusing on combustion visualization, alternative fuels and biodiesel development, Avinash was one of two recipients in the engineering sciences category of the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology. (Photo: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur)

Wu Yundong

Peking University
China

An academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wu received a 2016 Humboldt Research Award for his work into reaction mechanisms and drug design. (Photo: Peking University)

Mitsuo Sawamoto

Kyoto University
Japan

Sawamoto received a 2016 Humboldt Research Award for his work into the preparative and physical chemistry of polymers, and is a co-recipient of the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry. (Photo: Franklin Institute)

Hiroyuki Ohshima

Tokyo University of Science
Japan

Ohshima was recognized for his work on the theory of colloid and interfacial electric phenomena with the 2016 Khwarizmi International Award, a prize given out by the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology. (Photo: Khwarizmi International Award)

Partha Sarathi Mukherjee

Indian Institute of Science
India

Mukherjee was awarded the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the chemistry category for his work into supramolecular and organometallic materials. (Photo: Indian Institute of Science)

Kosuke Morita

RIKEN
Japan

In 2012, Morita and his research team discovered element 113, the first chemical element ever discovered in Asia. Their discovery was formally accepted in 2015 and Morita named the superheavy element Nihonium in tribute to his native Japan. (Photo: RIKEN)

Liu Bin

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Liu, who has developed water-dispersible organic nanoparticles that are brighter and more accurate than commercial quantum dots, was recognized with the 2016 President’s Technology Award. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Ling Xing Yi

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Ling received the 2015 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Singapore Fellowship for developing an ultrasensitive environmental sensing platform that quickly detects trace contamination in water and soil by environmental toxins. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Kee Jung-Min

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology
South Korea

Kee was awarded a 2016 Chung-Am (TJ Park) Science Fellowship to support his efforts to develop a new molecular tools for studying post-translational modifications of proteins in the body. (Photo: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)

Ding Kuiling

State Key Laboratory of Organometallic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Ding received a 2016 Humboldt Research Award for his combinatorial approaches to asymmetric catalysis and the development of new strategies for chiral catalyst immobilization. (Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Takahiko Akiyama

Gakushuin University
Japan

Akiyama won a 2016 Humboldt Research Award for his work in synthetic organic chemistry, particularly in extending the synthetic utility of chiral phosphoric acid and developing novel chiral Bronsted acid catalysts. (Photo: Gakushuin University)

Hiroshi Iwasaki

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Iwasaki was recognized with the 2016 Kihara Prize for his work into homologous recombination, which involves the exchange of sequences between two homologous DNA molecules, using fission yeast models. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Maria Corazon A. De Ungria

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

De Ungria won the 2016 Philippines Promising Star Award for using forensic DNA technology to improve the Philippine criminal justice system and help in disaster victim identification. (Photo: University of the Philippines Diliman)

Sumitra Thongprasert

Chiang Mai University
Thailand

A founding member of the Thai Society of Clinical Oncology, Thongprasert was honored with the European Society for Medical Oncology’s Women for Oncology Award in 2016 for being a role model to other female oncologists in Thailand. (Photo: European Society for Medical Oncology)

Tsay Yi-Fang

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Tsay received the 2016 Khwarizmi International Award for her role in isolating the first nitrate transporter gene in higher plants, a landmark achievement that paves the way for understanding how plants’ primary source of nitrogen is transported into and around the plant. (Photo: Institute of Molecular Biology)

Masayo Takahashi

RIKEN
Japan

Takahashi has been recognized for her trailblazing work with the inaugural Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize 2015. She led the world’s first clinical trial to use induced pluripotent stem cells in humans, with the intent to treat retinal diseases. (Photo: Masayo Takahashi/RIKEN)

Amit Sharma

International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
India

Sharma won the Infosys Prize 2015 for his work detailing the structural features of numerous malaria parasite proteins, and which is now informing the search for novel anti-parasite drug. (Photo: Amit Sharma)

Raymond L. Rosales

Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas
Philippines

Rosales, a professor who has led a number of international, multi-center clinical trials, was awarded the 2016 Philippines Promising Star Award for his work in neurology and behavioral science. (Photo: University of Santo Tomas)

Windell L. Rivera

University of the Philippines Diliman
Philippines

One of the Philippines’ most prominent parasitologists, Rivera was recognized with a Philippines Promising Star Award in 2016. (Photo: University of the Philippines Diliman)

Reena Rajasuriar

University of Malaya
Malaysia

Rajasuriar was awarded the 2016 L'Oréal For Women in Science Malaysia Fellowship for her research into immunological aging, specifically the potential drivers of premature aging in HIV and cancer survivors. (Photo: L’Oréal Malaysia)

Yoshinori Ohsumi

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Ohsumi was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research into autophagy, the process used by cells to break down damaged parts and recycle unused proteins. Since Ohsumi first identified the genes controlling autophagy in the 1990s, it has been established that this cell recycling process is essential for maintaining cell equilibrium. Furthermore, defects in autophagy have been linked to diseases ranging from Alzheimer's disease to cancer. Also in 2016, Ohsumi received the 2016 Breakthrough Prize, the Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research, the 45th Rosentiel Award and the 15th Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Sudjit Luanpitpong

Siriraj Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Research
Thailand

Luanpitpong was awarded the 2016 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Thailand Fellowship for her research into targeting cancer stem cells as a novel type of cancer therapy. (Photo: Siriraj Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Research)

Dennis Lo

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Lo was awarded the 2016 Future Science Award for developing non-invasive prenatal diagnostics tests widely used around the world today. Thanks to his two decades of research, which has benefited millions of pregnant mothers around the world, it is possible to not only uncover the sex of an unborn baby but also to detect chromosomal abnormalities such as Down's, Edwards and Patau syndromes. Lo was also the first Chinese scholar to be awarded the prestigious 2015 Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. (Photo: Dennis Lo)

Nethia Mohana Kumaran

University of Science Malaysia
Malaysia

Kumaran was awarded the 2016 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Malaysia Fellowship for her research into developing treatments for nasopharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer. (Photo: L’Oréal Malaysia)

Nicholas Plachta

Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Singapore

Plachta is one of three recipients of the 2016 American Society for Cell Biology-Gibco Emerging Leaders Prize for his research into the shape, position and fate of cells during early development. (Photo: ASCB)

Tasuku Honjo

Kyoto University
Japan

For his discovery of activation-induced cytidine deaminase, the enzyme responsible for antibody class switching, Honjo was awarded the Keio Medical Science Prize and Kyoto Prize in 2016, among other honors. (Photo: Kyoto Prize)

Emmanuel P. Estrella

University of the Philippines Manila
Philippines

Estrella, an orthopedic surgeon, was awarded the 2016 Philippines Promising Star Award for his contributions to clinical medicine. (Photo: UP Philippine General Hospital)

Chen Hualan

Herbin Veterinary Research Institute
China

The Asia Pacific winner of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award in 2016, Chen was recognized not only for her research into the biology of the bird flu virus, but also for her contributions to the development and use of effective vaccines for avian influenza control. (Photo: L'Oréal Foundation)

Suvendra Nath Bhattacharyya

CSIR Indian Institute of Chemical Biology
India

Bhattacharyya was recognized with the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology 2016 for his work into molecular cell biology and epigenetics. (Photo: Indian Institute of Chemical Biology)

Niyaz Ahmed

University of Hyderabad
India

Ahmed’s research, which delves into the functional epidemiology of enteropathogenetic bacteria, earned him the 2016 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the medical sciences category. (Photo: University of Hyderabad)

Maria Czarina Acelajado

University of the Philippines Manila
Philippines

Acelajado was recognized with a 2016 Philippines Promising Star Award for her world-class publications in hypertension research as indexed in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science Core Collection. (Photo: OB Montessori)

Yuan Longping

Chinese Academy of Engineering
China

Yuan, the ‘father of hybrid rice,’ was awarded the 2016 LUI Che Woo Prize in the sustainability category for developing high-yielding hybrid rice. (Photo: LUI Prize)

Witri Wahyu Lestari

Sebelas Maret University
Indonesia

Lestari, whose research focuses on the conversion of palm oil and other natural resources into biofuel, was named a finalist of the 2016 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women. (Photo: Qonita Awwaliya/USAID)

Phung Le

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
Vietnam

Le was named a finalist of the ASEAN-US Science Prixe for Women for creating biofuel out of agricultural waste such as rubber seed oil, ground coffee beans and fruit. (Photo: USAID)

G. Satheesh Reddy

Defense Research and Development Organization
India

Reddy, a renowned aerospace and navigation scientist, received the 2015 RAeS Silver Medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society, London, as well as the inaugural 2015 IEI-IEEE Award for Engineering Excellence for his significant contributions towards avionics, missiles and aerospace technologies in India. Since 1986, Reddy has led the conceptualization, design and development of sensors, navigation systems and satellite navigation receivers, and spearheaded the flight testing of avionics systems in India. He was also appointed scientific adviser to India’s minister of defense in 2016. (Photo: Syed Akbar)

Udupi Ramachandra Rao

Physical Research Laboratory
India

Rao was instrumental to India's satellite industry since the 1970s, beginning with the first Indian satellite Aryabhata in 1975. He was given an International Astronautical Federation Hall of Fame Award in 2016. (Photo: Indian Space Research Organization)

Ong Kien Soo

ST Electronics
Singapore

Ong, together with researchers and engineers from ST Electronics, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and DSO National Laboratories were jointly recognized with a President's Technology Award in 2016 for their contributions to the development of TeLEOS-1, a one-meter resolution satellite. (Photo: A*STAR)

Lim Wee Seng

Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

Lim, together with researchers and engineers from ST Electronics, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and DSO National Laboratories were jointly recognized with a President's Technology Award in 2016 for their contributions to the development of TeLEOS-1, a one-meter resolution satellite. (Photo: Nanyang Technological University)

Desmond Lim

DSO National Laboratories
Singapore

Lim, together with researchers and engineers from ST Electronics, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and DSO National Laboratories were jointly recognized with a President's Technology Award in 2016 for their contributions to the development of TeLEOS-1, a one-meter resolution satellite. (Photo: ISTANA, A*STAR)

Kwoh Leong Keong

National University of Singapore

Kwoh, together with researchers and engineers from ST Electronics, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and DSO National Laboratories were jointly recognized with a President's Technology Award in 2016 for their contributions to the development of TeLEOS-1, a one-meter resolution satellite. (Photo: A*STAR)

Yongyuth Yuthavong

Government of Thailand
Thailand

Yuthavong, a former professor in biochemistry at Mahidol University, was appointed deputy prime minister of Thailand in 2014, becoming one of the few practicing scientists to attain such a high ranking political office. Click here to read our exclusive interview with him on how he went from papayas to parasites and finally, politics. (Photo: Yongyuth Yuthavong)

Wang Yifang

Institute of High Energy Physics, CAS
China

For leading a large international collaboration that carried out the Daya Bay neutrino oscillation experiment in China, Wang received the 2015 Nikkei Asia Prize in the science, technology and environment category. (Photo: Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Tan Gee Paw

Public Utilities Board
Singapore

Tan, chairman of the Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore’s national water agency, won the 2015 President’s Science and Technology Medal, Singapore’s highest science and technology honor, for his central role in developing a sustainable water supply for Singapore, and for building Singapore into a water and environmental R&D hub. His achievements include writing Singapore’s first water plan in 1972, and introducing two water sources for Singapore: recycled sewage water and desalinated water. (Photo: Asian Scientist/Bryan van der Beek)

Tan Chorh Chuan

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Tan, the president of the National University of Singapore, was elected as a lifetime member of the US National Academy of Medicine in 2015. He has the honor of being the organization’s first Singaporean member. (Photo: Asian Scientist Magazine/Cyril Ng)

Eisuke Tada

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
Japan

In 2015, Tada was appointed to one of two deputy director-general positions at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the world’s largest experimental fusion facility. (Photo: ITER)

M. R. Srinivasan

Nuclear Power Corporation of India
India

The chief architect of India’s nuclear power program won the 2015 Padma Vibhushan Award, India’s second highest civilian award. (Photo: M. R. Srinivasan)

C. N. R. Rao

Government of India
India

Rao was conferred with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, Japan’s highest civilian award, for his contributions to science and Indo-Japanese science cooperation. He is the only Indian to be elected as a foreign member of the Japan Academy. (Photo: Royal Society of Chemistry)

Li Jinghai

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

In 2014, the vice-president of CAS was elected as one of two vice-presidents of the International Council for Science, a nongovernmental organization representing 122 national scientific bodies and 31 international scientific unions. (Photo: EMMS Group)

Lee Jae Kyu

KAIST
South Korea

In 2014, Lee, HHI Chair Professor in the College of Business at KAIST was appointed president of the Association for Information Systems, a professional association for the research, teaching, practice and study of information systems. (Photo: KAIST)

Lee Hoesung

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
South Korea

The South Korean economist, who specializes in climate and energy policy, was elected as head of the Switzerland-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2015. Lee is also a professor at the Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Korea University, South Korea. (Photo: United Nations)

Yang Ke

Peking University
China

Yang, the executive vice president of Peking University, won the 2015 Prince Mahidol Award for reforming research and medical education in China. (Photo: Peking University)

Bai Chunli

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Bai, a nanotechnology pioneer and president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was elected a foreign member of the UK’s Royal Society in 2014. (Photo: The World Academy of Sciences)

Tan Tieniu

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Tan’s work into computer vision and pattern recognition helped him get elected as an international fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014. (Photo: Center for Biometrics and Security Research)

Agachai Sumalee

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
Thailand

Sumalee was awarded the APEC Science Award for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) Science Award 2014 for combining traffic-flow algorithms with highway sensors to create an intelligent transportation system that reduces highway congestion. (Photo: Agachai Sumalee)

Song Kiseok

KAIST
South Korea

Song was awarded the 2014 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for developing biomedical patch systems connected to smart phones. (Photo: KAIST)

Jayant Haritsa

Indian Institute of Science
India

Haritsa won the Infosys Prize 2014 in Engineering and Computer Science for the design and optimization of database engines that form the core of modern enterprise information systems. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Vijay P. Bhatkar

India International Multiversity (IIMv)
India

Aside from being the founder of the India International Multiversity (IIMv), Bhatkar is known as the architect of India’s supercomputer program. He won the 2015 Padma Vibhushan Award, India’s second highest civilian award. (Photo: Vijay P. Bhatkar)

Manindra Agrawal

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
India

Agrawal was elected a member of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2015 for his research into cryptography, complex analysis and combinatorics. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Yu Kyoungsik

KAIST
South Korea

Yu was honored as a 2015 Young Scientist of the World Economic Forum for his research into nanophotonics. (Photo: KAIST)

Yu Chengzhong

The University of Queensland
China

Yu received the 2015 Le Févre Memorial Prize for developing nanoparticles with applications in vaccine delivery and water treatment. (Photo: University of Queensland)

Benjamin Tee

Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Singapore

MIT Technology Review named Tee as one of their 35 Innovators Under 35 for developing flexible and stretchable electronic skin-like sensors. (Photo: Benjamin Tee)

Yosiro Oono

Kyushu University
Japan

Oono’s studies into classical circuit theory won him the 2015 IEEE Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Award. (Photo: IEEE)

Andrew Nee

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Nee, an expert on the use of computer-aided design in precision engineering as well as an augmented reality pioneer, received the US Society of Manufacturing Engineers Gold Medal in 2014 for his lifetime contributions to manufacturing research. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Masayoshi Nakashima

Kyoto University
Japan

Nakashima was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2015 for his research into the large-scale dynamic testing of buildings. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Lu Chih-Yuan

Macronix International
Taiwan

Lu received The World Academy of Sciences 2014 prize in engineering for his work in semiconductor device physics and semiconductor integrated circuits technology. (Photo: National Chiao Tung University)

Lim Chwee Teck

National University of Singapore
Singapore

Lim won the Vladimir K. Zworykin Award 2015 for developing microfluidics devices for the detection and diagnosis of cancer. In 2016, he was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. (Photo: National University of Singapore)

Lee Sung-Hee

KAIST
South Korea

Lee was honored as a 2015 Young Scientist of the World Economic Forum for his work in computer graphics, animations and humanoid robotics. (Photo: KAIST)

Viswanathan Kumaran

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
India

Kumaran received The World Academy of Sciences 2014 prize in engineering for his work on the laminarturbulent transition of flow through soft-walled tubes and channels. (Photo: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology)

Neeti Kailas

Nestle Purina North America
US

Kailas was a 2014 Young Laureate (science & health) of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise for developing a non-invasive medical device to screen for hearing impairment in newborns. (Photo: Rolex Awards for Enterprise)

Gao Huijun

Harbin Institute of Technology
China

Thomson Reuters named Gao as one of the most influential scientific minds in 2014 for publishing many “hot papers” that year. (Photo: University of Auckland)

Masayoshi Esashi

Tohoku University
Japan

Esashi received the 2015 IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award for developing micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) used in transportation and industrial electronics. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Ahn Byung Min

Ajou University
South Korea

Ahn won the 2015 Young Scientist Award from the Korea Institute of Metals and Materials for developing strong and lightweight structural metal-based nanomaterials. (Photo: Ajou University)

Zong Chuanming

Peking University
China

Zong was co-awarded the 2015 Levi L. Conant Prize by the American Mathematical Society for his article, “Mysteries in Packing Regular Tetrahedra.” (Photo: American Mathematical Society)

Yuan Yaxiang

Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
China

Yuan received The World Academy of Sciences 2014 prize in mathematics for developing numerical methods for nonlinear optimization. (Photo: Yuan Yaxiang)

Shin Jinwoo

KAIST
South Korea

Shin is the recipient of the 2015 ACM SIGMETRICS Rising Star Research Award for developing distributed, high-performance algorithms for stochastic queueing networks and graphical models. (Photo: KAIST)

Dang Thi Oanh

Thái Nguyên University of Information and Communications Technology
Vietnam

Dang won the 2015 Elsevier Foundation Award for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World for developing algorithms to solve problems that are normally too complicated for computers. (Photo: The Elsevier Foundation)

Shinichi Mochizuki

Kyoto University
Japan

In 2012, Mochizuki published a 500-page-long proof of the ABC conjecture. Two years later, he released a new report explaining his theory further, but fellow mathematicians remain baffled. (Photo: Kyoto University)

Zhao Zhongxian

Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Zhao won the 2015 Bernd T. Matthias Prize for discovering new materials that demonstrated the limit of the transition temperature in bulk Fe-based superconductors. (Photo: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Yu Min

Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

Yu was given the 2014 National Highest Science and Technology Award, China’s top science award, for his research into hydrogen bombs. (Photo: Peking University)

Yao Wang

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

A recipient of the 2014 Robert T. Poe Prize, Yao studies the physics of spin and valley pseudospin in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Yang Chen Ning

Tsinghua University
China

Yang received a 2015 Marcel Grossman Award for deepening Einstein’s geometrical approach to physics in the best tradition of Paul Dirac and Hermann Weyl. (Photo: Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Tsumoru Shintake

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
Japan

Shintake led the design, construction and operation of the SACLA X-ray free electron laser, a feat that won him the 2014 Gersch Budker Prize. In 2015, he was awarded the Optics and Quantum Electronics Achievement Award (Takuma Award) from the Japan Society of Applied Physics. (Photo: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology)

Hideo Ohno

Tohuku University

Ohno won the 5th Compound Semiconductor Electronics Achievement Award 2015 (Isamu Akasaki Award) for his research into semiconductor spintronics. (Photo: Tohoku University)

Ken’ichi Nomoto

Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe
Japan

Nomoto received a 2015 Marcel Grossman Award for discovering the role of binary systems in the evolution of massive stars. (Photo: Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe)

Takaaki Kajita

University of Tokyo
Japan

Kajita is the co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering that neutrinos from the atmosphere switch between two identities as they make their way to Earth. His findings helped physicists explain why two-thirds of neutrinos go missing during experimental calculations. It also led to the far-reaching conclusion that neutrinos, which for a long time were considered massless, must have some mass, however small. (Photo: University of Tokyo)

Han Yilong

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong

The International Organization of Chinese Physicists and Astronomers gave Han the 2014 Robert T. Poe Prize for using colloids to solve three classical problems in crystal melting and glass transitions. (Photo: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Chen Xianhui

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Chen received the 2015 Bernd T. Matthias Prize for discovering new materials for superconducting studies. (Photo: University of Science and Technology of China)

Shuji Nakamura

University of California, Santa Barbara
Japan

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving light sources.” (Photo: Shuji Nakamura)

Hiroshi Amano

Nagoya University
Japan

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving light sources.” (Photo: Nagoya University)

Isamu Akasaki

Nagoya University
Japan

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving light sources.” (Photo: National Academy of Engineering)

Vivian Yam

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Yam won the Ludwig Mond Award 2015 from the Royal Society of Chemistry for her work in inorganic and organometallic chemistry. In the same year, she was also elected as a foreign member of the Academia Europaea, an international, non-governmental association of individual scientists and scholars from all disciplines. (Photo: University of Hong Kong)

Xie Yi

University of Science and Technology of China
China

Xie was honored with a L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award in 2015 for creating new nanomaterials with promising applications in the conversion of heat or sunlight into electricity. (Photo: L'Oréal)

Wong Chi-Huey

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Wong, the president of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica received the Robert Robinson Award 2015 from the Royal Society of Chemistry for his lifetime contributions to organic chemistry. (Photo: Academia Sinica)

Jiro Tsuji

Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Tsuji’s co-discovery of transition metal-catalyzed transformations, widely used in several important industrial processes, won him the 2014 Tetrahedron Prize. (Photo: Elsevier)

You Shuli

Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry
China

You received the Royal Society of Chemistry Merck Award 2015 for the development of catalytic asymmetric dearomatization reactions, opening elegant access routes to complex molecular architectures. (Photo: Foreign & Commonwealth Office UK)

Peng Shie-Ming

National Taiwan University
Taiwan

Peng won the Luigi Tartufari International Prize in Chemistry in 2014 for the synthesis and structure of transition metal complexes. (Photo: Academia Sinica)

Seo Myungeun

KAIST
South Korea

Seo, an Ewon assistant professor at KAIST, won the 2015 Wiley-PSK JPS Young Scientist Award for synthesizing novel triarylamine monomers. (Photo: KAIST)

Max Lu

University of Queensland, Australia
China

The Chemical Society of Japan gave Lu the Colloid and Surface Chemistry Lectureship Award 2015 for developing advanced materials in the areas of clean energy, the environment and healthcare. (Photo: University of Surrey)

Masako Yudasaka

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
Japan

Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio and Masako Yudasaka shared the European Inventor Award 2015 in the non-European countries category for their ground-breaking discovery of carbon nanotubes and for developing a sustainable process to produce them. (Photo: AIST)

Akira Koshio

Mie University
Japan

Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio and Masako Yudasaka shared the European Inventor Award 2015 in the non-European countries category for their ground-breaking discovery of carbon nanotubes and for developing a sustainable process to produce them. (Photo: EPO)

Sumio Iijima

Meijo University/AIST
Japan

Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio and Masako Yudasaka shared the European Inventor Award 2015 in the non-European countries category for their ground-breaking discovery of carbon nanotubes and for developing a sustainable process to produce them. (Photo: Sumio Iijima)

Itaru Hamachi

Kyoto University
Japan

Hamachi won the Nagoya Medal of Organic Chemistry in 2014 (silver medal) for his research into live-cell organic chemistry and supramolecular biomaterials. (Photo: Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University)

Srivari Chandrasekhar

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT)
India

Chandrasekhar won the Infosys Prize 2014 in Physical Sciences for his research into the synthesis of complex molecules from natural sources and was appointed director of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in 2015. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Yang Yuanqing

Lenovo Group
China

Yang, chairman and CEO of Lenovo Group, received the Edison Achievement Award 2014 for helping to grow the PC manufacturer into a global technology leader. (Photo: Natalie Behring, World Economic Forum)

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Biocon Ltd
India

Mazumdar-Shaw won the Kiel Institute’s 2014 Global Economy Prize for Business for growing Biocon into one of India’s largest biopharmaceutical companies. (Photo: Biocon)

Olivia Lum

Hyflux Ltd
Singapore

Hyflux’s founder had a good run in 2014, winning Frost & Sullivan’s Asia Pacific Water Technology Company of the Year Award and Global Water Intelligence UK’s Desalination Plant of the Year for its Tuaspring seawater reverse osmosis plant in Singapore. (Photo: Yale-NUS College)

Zhang Feng

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
US

A pioneer in the sizzling new field of genome editing, Zhang has developed accurate and specific genome editing technology for application in eukaryotic cells—including human cells—from natural microbial CRISPR systems. Awards have come aplenty, with the 2015 Robertson Stem Cell Prize, Cell’s “40 under 40” in 2014, and MIT Technology Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies in 2014. Before CRISPR, Zhang was also widely recognized for developing another breakthrough technology called optogenetics, in which neuronal activity can be controlled with light. (Photo: Len Rubenstein/Broad Institute Communications)

Tu Youyou

China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine
China

Tu, a traditional Chinese medicine expert, received one half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing an anti-malarial drug, artemisinin, based on ancient herbal medicine. Tu is the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Artemisinin rapidly kills malaria parasites at an early stage of their development, which explains its unprecedented potency in the treatment of severe malaria. When used in combination therapy, artemisinin is estimated to reduce mortality from malaria by more than 20 percent overall and by more than 30 percent in children. (Photo: China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine)

Shubha Tole

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)
India

Tole was awarded the Infosys Prize 2014 in Life Sciences for her work on the mammalian nervous system, which revealed genetic mechanisms critical to the formation of the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and amygdala. (Photo: TIFR)

Masayo Takahashi

RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology
Japan

Takahashi was placed on Nature magazine’s “Nature’s 10 2014” for carrying out the first-ever induced pluripotent stem cell clinical study for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Since the surgery in 2014, the patient has shown no tumor formation, Takahashi’s team says. (Photo: RIKEN)

Shimon Sakaguchi

Osaka University
Japan

For his discovery and characterization of regulatory T cells in autoimmune diseases and cancer, Sagakuchi received the Canada Gairdner International Award 2015. (Photo: Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University)

Tran Ha-Lien Phuong

Vietnam National University
Vietnam

A 2015 L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science International Rising Talent, Phuong develops fucoidan-based polymeric micelles for cancer treatment and diagnosis. (Photo: Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City)

Satoshi Omura

Kitasato University

Omura, professor emeritus at Kitasato University, shared one-half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of an anti-roundworm parasite drug, avermectin. Ivermectin, which is a newer derivative of avermectin, has radically lowered the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, among other parasitic diseases. (Photo: Satoshi Omura)

Yoshinori Ohsumi

Tokyo Institute of Technology

In 2015, Ohsumi received both the Canada Gairdner International Award and the Keio Medical Science Prize for his pioneering research into autophagy and its role in diseases such as neurodegeneration, cancer and infection. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Irene Ng Oi Lin

University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Ng received The World Academy of Sciences 2014 prize in medical sciences for her research into liver cancer. (Photo: Croucher Foundation)

Shigekazu Nagata

Osaka University
Japan

In 2015, Nagata was elected as foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences for helping to understand the role of apoptosis and phagocytosis in autoimmune diseases. (Photo: Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University)

Kazutoshi Mori

Kyoto University
Japan

Mori won the 2014 Shaw Prize in Life Sciences and Medicine—“Asia’s Nobel Prize”—and the 2014 Lasker Basic Medical Research Award— “America’s Nobel Prize”—for his work on the unfolded protein response, a quality control system which prevents the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the cell. (Photo: Mori Research Laboratory)

Satyajit Mayor

National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)
India

Mayor, director of India’s National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) was elected as foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2015 for his work on the molecular mechanisms of endocytosis in metazoan cells. (Photo: Infosys Science Foundation)

Lee Jeong Ho

KAIST
South Korea

Lee’s research into intractable epilepsy won him acclaim with the 2015 Pediatric Epilepsies Research Award from the non-governmental organization Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE). (Photo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

Hiroshi Kimura

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Kimura won the Robert Feulgen Prize 2015 for developing novel methods to measure the dynamics of post-translational modifications in endogenous proteins in vivo. (Photo: Tokyo Institute of Technology)

Nancy Ip

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

In 2015, Ip was elected as foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. An academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the dean of science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Ip has furthered our understanding into brain development and synaptic plasticity, and dysregulation in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Awards include the National Natural Science Awards, China’s highest honor in the natural sciences, and the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award. (Photo: Nancy Ip/HKUST)

Tasuku Honjo

Kyoto University
Japan

Honjo was awarded the inaugural Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Sciences in 2014 for discovering CTLA-4 and PD-1—immune inhibitory molecules with applications in cancer immunotherapy. (Photo: Tang Prize Foundation)

Hiroshi Hamada

Osaka University
Japan

Hamada won the 2014 Keio Medical Science Prize for his 1996 discovery of a gene called Lefty that determines the differences between left and right. (Photo: Osaka University)

Akira Endo

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Japan

Endo won the Prince Mahidol Prize 2014 in the medicine category for discovering the first statin (compactin), a major milestone in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease. (Photo: Prince Mahidol Award Foundation)

Chang Tse Wen

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Chang received The World Academy of Sciences 2014 prize in medical sciences for developing treatments for asthma. (Photo: Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Chan Yoke-Fun

University of Malaya
Malaysia

Chan received a 2015 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science fellowship for developing therapeutic peptides that target enterovirus A71 in hand, foot and mouth disease. (Photo: Chan Yoke-Fun)

Takuo Aoyagi

Nihon Kohden Corporation
Japan

Aoyagi received the 2015 IEEE Medal for Innovations in Healthcare Technology for his research into pulse oximetry. (Photo: Engineering and Technology History Wiki)

Khadg Singh Valdiya

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR)
India

Valdiya received the Padma Bhushan Award 2015, the third highest civilian award in India, for his research into the geodynamics of the Kumaon Himalayas. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Gavino Cajulao Trono Jr.

University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute
Philippines

Trono was conferred the honor of National Scientist of the Philippines in 2014 for his research into tropical marine phycology with a focus on seaweed biodiversity. (Photo: Presidential Communications Operations Office, the Philippines)

Yutaka Takahasi

University of Tokyo
Japan

Takahasi won the 2015 Japan Prize for his research into river basin management and water-related disasters. (Photo: The Japan Prize Foundation)

Alfredo Mahar Lagmay

University of the Philippines Diliman, National Institute of Geological Sciences
Philippines

Lagmay, a professor at the National Institute of Geological Sciences, University of the Philippines Diliman, received the 2015 Plinius Medal from the European Geosciences Union for his research into natural hazards and disasters in the Philippines, in particular volcanic hazards, earthquakes, typhoons, landslides and floods. He is also executive director of the Department of Science and Technology Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH), a flagship program for disaster risk reduction and management in the Philippines. (Photo: University of Philippines Diliman)

Edgardo D. Gomez

University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute
Philippines

Gomez led the world’s first national-scale assessment of damage to coral reefs, work which led to him being conferred the title of National Scientist of the Philippines in 2014. (Photo: Gil Jacinto/University of the Philippines, Marine Science Institute)

Chung Sun-Lin

Academia Sinica
Taiwan

Chung won The World Academy of Sciences 2014 prize in earth sciences for his research into continental tectonics and magma generation. (Photo: TWAS/Flickr/CC)

Angel C. Alcala

Silliman University
Philippines

Alcala was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2014 for his research into Philippine amphibians and reptiles, as well as the conservation of marine-protected areas. (Photo: Silliman University)

Zhang Fusuo

China Agricultural University
China

Zhang received The World Academy of Sciences 2014 prize in the agricultural sciences for establishing the principle and technology of integrated nutrient management in China. (Photo: Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Li Jiayang

Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
China

Li was elected a foreign member of the UK’s Royal Society in 2015 for establishing forward genetics approaches in rice, which have led to the development of improved rice varieties. (Photo: Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

C. L. Laxmipathi Gowda

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
India

Gowda, deputy director-general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), received the 2014 Sano Touzaburo Special Prize—“Asia’s World Food Prize”—for developing chickpea cultivars with high yield and resistance to diseases and pests. (Photo: ICRISAT)

Ramon Cabanos Barba

University of the Philippines Los Banos
Philippines

Barba was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2014 for inventing a way to induce flowering in mango trees regardless of season, boosting the local mango industry. (Photo: World Intellectual Property Office/Flickr/CC)

K. Radhakrishnan

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
India

Radhakrishnan is the recently retired chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He spearheaded India’s Mangalyaan mission, the first Asian space probe to successfully orbit Mars. Radhakrishnan was named by Nature magazine as one of the ten people who mattered in 2014. That year, he also received the Padma Bhushan award, India’s third highest civilian award. He is chairman of the Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. (Photo: K. Radhakrishnan/LinkedIn)

P. C. Agrawal

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)
India

Agrawal was one of the lead scientists involved in the launch of India’s first astronomy satellite, Astrosat, on September 28, 2015. (Photo: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)