The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science Pan-Arab Regional Fellowships Program was inaugurated in 2009 in association with the Arab Science & Technology Foundation (ASTF), with a mission to promote the importance of greater participation of women in science by offering awards to outstanding female postdoctoral researchers in the Arab world.

In October 2011, nine exceptional Arab women scientists from Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen were announced as the winners of the 2011 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science Pan-Arab Regional Fellowships.

Since the international L’Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowships began in 1998, over 1000 women in over 100 countries have been recognized for their research and received funding to further their studies.

Anisa Hassan Sakkaf Albiti King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Research topic: Health impact assessment of Pregnancy in Sickle Cell hemoglobinopathies.   Ansam Shafik Alafandy Damascus University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Syria Research topic:Pediatric Dentistry   Hind Mohamed Abushama Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, Sudan Research topic: Immunogenetics   Lubna Hamid Tahtamouni The Hashemite University, Jordan & Colorado State University, USA Research topic: Cancer Biology   Rayhanah Abdul Munim Al Mjeni Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA Research topic: Genetics of Glaucoma   Rula Abdul-Salam Abdul-Ghani Faculty of Medicine, AL-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine Research topic: Cancer Research   Shahenda Mahmoud El-Naggar Children’s Cancer Hospital, Egypt Research topic: Cancer Stem Cells Self Renewal in Glioblastoma Multiforme   Wissem Cheikh Rouhou-Koubaa Materials Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, Sfax University, Tunisia Research topic: Magnetic Oxides   Zeina Hobaika Faculty of Sciences, Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon Research topic: Anti-HIV drug design