Chemical biology Ph.D. candidate AJ Addae (P. Weiss/Caram groups) recently delivered a TEDx talk highlighting her journey in using scientific research to close inclusivity gaps in the beauty industry by developing skincare solutions and sunscreens tailored for melanin-rich skin.
From the TEDx video description:
AJ Addae’s provocative talk shares her journey as a scientist in the beauty industry. Her research showing that hyperpigmentation products work differently on melanin-rich skin (darker skin tones) than on lighter skin tones created the opportunity to use science to close the beauty industry’s inclusivity gaps. The talk was filmed in November 2024, and selected in June 2025 as a TED Editor’s Pick for global promotion.
AJ Addae is a Ghanaian-American chemical biology Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the founder of SULA LABS – a cosmetic laboratory that formulates and clinically tests products for beauty companies in retailers such as Sephora, Credo Beauty and Ulta Beauty. AJ’s research focuses on formulating skincare solutions for darker skin tones, as well as optimizing colloidal and photophysical properties of sunscreen formulations for enhanced photoprotection..
Her research is published in peer reviewed journals, and she is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, a Center for Diverse Leadership in Science Fellow and a Future Laboratory 100 Innovators Awardee. AJ’s work has been featured in outlets such as CBS News, United Nations Economics Commission for Africa (UNECA), Essence, Cosmopolitan, Allure, UCLA Newsroom, and many more. She is driven by her innate passion for using chemistry and clinical research as a means of change for the health of skin of color.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx.
About AJ Addae
AJ Addae graduated from Northeastern in 2020 with a biology major with minors in English and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. Before coming to UCLA, she founded SULA LABS, a research and development laboratory that specializes in developing and clinically testing cosmetics for individuals with darker skin tones.
Addae joined UCLA’s chemical biology graduate program in 2022, working in the groups of Professor Justin Caram and Professor Paul S. Weiss, where she synthesizes zinc oxide to develop zinc oxide-based sunscreen formulations and studies their colloidal and photophysical properties . In 2024, Addae’s work in the Weiss lab resulted in a publication and journal cover in Accounts of Materials Research titled ‘Standardizing the White Cast Potential of Sunscreens with Metal Oxide Ultraviolet Filters’.
In 2024, Addae won Northeastern University’s first place Women Who Empower Women Innovator Award, and second place in Powering Diverse and Inclusive Communities of Belonging Award.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
