The award ceremony of the 18th China Young Women Scientists Award is held in Beijing on April 22. [Photo/bsc.org.cn]

Two women scientists recommended by the Biophysical Society of China (BSC) obtained recognition at the award ceremony of the 18th China Young Women Scientists Award held in Beijing on April 22.

Yu Xiaorong, deputy dean and professor at the School of Basic Medical Sciences of Shandong University, received the 18th China Young Women Scientists Award.

Yu has been funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Education and has been involved in the studies of pancreatic islet circuits and homeostasis as well as biased GPCR signal transduction and selection of GPCR specific ligands.

She uncovered the accurate regulatory mechanisms of transmembrane signaling towards pancreatic islet functions and homeostasis, and developed methods to reproduce extracorporeal pancreatic islets, laying a solid foundation for research of diabetes-related regenerative medicine.

Zhang Qian, a post-doctoral fellow with the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was added to the list of the 2021 Future Female Scientists program.

Zhang is a leading researcher in mitochondrial stress and ageing. She discovered the Wnt signaling pathway-mediated communication of mitochondrial stress responses and unveiled cross-generation genetic effects and mechanisms of the increase in mitochondrial DNA copy numbers.

Her findings have provided new perspectives and references for the regulation of mitochondrial functions and their influences upon the adaptive changes of individuals and groups.

Zhang’s studies have been published in journals such as Cell, Nature Cell Biology and Cell Reports.

The China Young Women Scientists Award was co-established by the All-China Women's Federation, the China Association for Science and Technology, the National Commission of China for UNESCO and L'Oréal China in 2004 as an extension of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards.