Gerjo van Osch receives Suffrage Science Award on International Women’s Day

Gerjo van Osch, part-time professor of Integrative Cartilage Regeneration at the Department of BioMechanical Engineering and principal investigator at the Department of Orthopaedics & Otorhinolaryngology at Erasmus MC, received the Engineering and Physical Sciences Suffrage Science award on International Women’s Day. Professor Sue Kimber from the University of Manchester will pass on this prestigious award to Van Osch.

Every two years, twelve Engineering and Physical Sciences Suffrage Science awards are passed on from one scientist to another. The Suffrage Science awards were created to honour the scientific achievements of women and are presented by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences. In two years’ time, Van Osch will get to decide who succeeds her. Until then, she may wear a piece of jewellery (a pendant or brooch) that comes with the award and eventually pass it on, thus creating a ‘chain’ of female scientists.

Inspiring role model

Professor Sue Kimber praises her successor for her scientific affiliations and her research on cellular mechanisms of chondrogenesis, her research on the use of stem cells and biomaterials in tissue engineering for cartilage repair, and her research on the influence of the inflamed environment in cartilage repair.

‘Gerjo is an excellent scientist and a go to person for wise and thoughtful advice in the field. She is an inspiring and excellent role model for young researchers – particularly women – in the field of tissue engineering. She has published over two hundred articles and coordinates a Horizon2020 MSCA-ITN.’

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