ACS and SBQ present the 2022 Brazilian Women in Chemistry awards

The American Chemical Society and Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ) have awarded the 2022 Brazilian Women in Chemistry award to three women scientists in Brazil: Ohara Augusto of University of São Paulo, Thais Guaratini of Lychnoflora, and Carolina Horta Andrade of the Federal University of Goiás.

The awards are sponsored by C&EN and CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, with support from SBQ and ACS (ACS publishes C&EN). Their aim is to promote gender equality in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in Brazil and to advance understanding of the impact of diversity on scientific research and the field of chemistry.

“Each year the Brazilian Women in Chemistry award is further growing in importance,” says SBQ president Romeu C. Rocha Filho. “The quality of the candidates in the three categories has been exceptionally high, making the work of the selection committees very hard. At SBQ we are delighted to honor the achievements of the 2022 winners,” he adds.

“In 2022 the Brazilian Women in Chemistry awards turns five and I’m delighted to see another outstanding trio of scientists being recognized by SBQ and ACS,“ says Bibiana Campos Seijo, editor in chief of C&EN and vice president of the C&EN Media Group. “Brazil is a country with a rich cultural diversity and enormous scientific talent. Let’s take this opportunity to celebrate its scientific capital as it deserves.”

Denise Ferreira, the CAS country manager for Brazil, adds “It is an honor to recognize these talented women and to watch the growing interest of the community year after year for the award. We know Brazil has highly qualified female professionals and are delighted to acknowledge their contribution to Science.”

Augusto is the winner in the Leadership in Academia category. This award “recognizes an established academic who has made an important contribution with a global and societal impact on scientific research in chemistry or a related science.” She is being honored for her important contributions to our understanding of the role of free radicals and oxidizing agents in biology.

Guaratini is the winner in the Leadership in Industry category. This award “recognizes an individual working in the chemical industry whose research and creative innovations have led to discoveries that contributed to commercial success and to the good of the community and society.” Guaratini is the founder of Lychnoflora, a spin-off of the University of São Paulo that offers R&D services to organizations in sectors as diverse as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, and more.

Horta Andrade is the winner in the Emerging Leader category. This award “recognizes the achievements of an outstanding young chemical scientist or entrepreneur. This exceptional scientist will be younger than 40 years old and no more than 10 years removed from earning a PhD.” Her work focuses on the application of computational technologies and artificial intelligence to the discovery of new drug candidates for neglected diseases and emerging viruses.

Each winner will receive a $2,000 cash award, a SciFinder ID valid for 1 year, free ACS membership for 1 year, free access to one course by the ACS Institute, and an award certificate and trophy. The winners will be honored at an event on June 2 held alongside SBQ’s annual meeting.

For more information, visit the award homepage. Nominations for the 2023 awards will open in the spring.