Anggia Prasetyoputri from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and Latifah Nurahmi from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) in Surabaya, East Java, were found to have made extraordinary contributions to innovations to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Not only did the two scientists […] focus on the ongoing situation, they also thought about other challenges in the medical world, such as the continuing effects of COVID-19 on patients and the benefits of robotic development in rehabilitation and operation,” said Arief Rachman, head of the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO, during an online press conference on Wednesday.

Anggia won the fellowship for her research on bacterial coinfections in COVID-19 patients using swab sample sequencing. 

She started the research after realizing that COVID-19 patients might also be infected with bacteria or viruses other than SARS-CoV-2. People weakened by COVID-19 are more susceptible to these pathogens. She introduced a quick way to identify coinfections that could help doctors prescribe the right courses of treatment.

Latifah developed a robotic system that could significantly reduce physical contact between patients and doctors, decreasing risks during surgery.

Established in 2004, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science program aims to acknowledge and support women in science. It has granted 59 fellowships to Indonesian women scientists.

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