Professor Anne Andrews has received the 2021 IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry/Chemical Engineering award.
As UCLA professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, and a Senior Research Scientist in the Hatos Center for Neuropharmacology, Andrews leads efforts in basic and translational research on anxiety and depression, and at the nexus of neuroscience and nanoscience. Her interdisciplinary research team focuses discovering, developing, and using in vivo neurotransmitter monitoring approaches to understand how the serotonin (and other) neurotransmitter systems encode emotionally salient information. To learn more about Andrews’ research, visit her website.
Andrews has also received an NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award. She has been the recipient of a California Neurotechnologies Research Award, a NARSAD Independent Investigator Award, an American Parkinson’s Disease Association Research Award, an Eli Lily Outstanding Young Analytical Chemist Award, and an NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence, among others. She was Associate Editor for ACS Chemical Neuroscience and is currently a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and President of the International Society for Serotonin Research.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) awards program, initiated as part of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry celebrations, was created to acknowledge and promote the work of women chemists/chemical engineers worldwide. Each year since 2011, the award has gained more attention in the community. The twelve 2021 awardees were selected based on excellence in basic or applied research, distinguished accomplishments in teaching or education, or demonstrated leadership or managerial excellence in the chemical sciences. The Awards Committee is particularly interested in nominees with a history of leadership and/or community service during their careers. Awards will be made during the IUPAC World Chemistry Congress to be held in August 2021.
Prof. Christopher Brett, President of IUPAC, commented, “The group of this year’s awardees comprises highly worthy recipients from all over the world who have all made a significant contribution to advancing the chemical and chemical engineering sciences. The award has been the focus of increasing attention since its inception in 2011, the International Year of Chemistry, and that we certainly plan to continue in the future.”
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a global day celebrating achievement and promoting full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. The day marks a call to action to further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The IUPAC celebrates that day with a Global Breakfast event on February 9th with the theme of “Empowering Diversity in Science”.
The IUPAC was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry and academia. Since then, the Union has succeeded in fostering worldwide communication in the chemical sciences and in uniting academic, industrial, and public sector chemistry in a common language. The IUPAC is recognized as the world authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, standardized methods for measurement, atomic weights, and many other critically evaluated data. In more recent years, IUPAC has been proactive in establishing a wide range of conferences and projects designed to promote and stimulate modern developments in chemistry, and assisting in aspects of chemical education and the public understanding of chemistry. More information about IUPAC and its activities is available at www.iupac.org.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.