L'Oreal-UNESCO Names Professor Bonnie Bassler, Princeton University, For Women in Science 2012 Laureate for North America

The L'ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science partnership recently recognized five exceptional women scientists from around the world with the 2012 L'ORÉAL-UNESCO Award in Life Sciences. Professor Bonnie Bassler, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Principal Investigator, Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, was awarded as the 2012 Laureate for North America.

Professor Bassler is a world-renowned expert on how bacteria "talk" to each other using a chemical language in order to coordinate their behavior as a group. She was selected for her work in understanding chemical communication between bacteria and opening up new doors for treating infections.

Professor Bassler earned a Ph.D in biochemistry from The Johns Hopkins University in 1990, and performed postdoctoral work in microbial genetics at the Agouran Institute in La Jolla, California. She joined the Princeton University faculty in 1994, and became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator in 2005. A year later, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007. Professor Bassler is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the MacArthur Foundation and the American Society for Microbiology.

The L'ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards is in its 14^th year. An international network of nearly 1,000 scientists nominates the candidates for each year's Awards. The five Laureates are then selected by an independent, international jury presided by Professor Günter Blobel, Nobel Prize in Medicine 1999.

An outstanding role model for the next generation of scientists, each Laureate received $100,000 in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of science. The awards ceremony took place on March 29 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France.

Faced with global issues such as diminishing resources, increasing and aging populations, and the consequent medical and social challenges, L'Oréal and UNESCO are convinced that these women researchers will have a major impact on society and help light the way to the future. Learn more about Professor Bassler and the other 2012 Laureates here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFbfatJQU24