TEHRAN – Roja Rahimi, a professor of Traditional Pharmacy at the School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, has won the Bionorica Phytoneering Award 2025.

The Bionorica Phytoneering Award recognizes outstanding research in the field of developing and applying phytopharmaceutical products, according to ga-online.org.

The Society gives the award for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA). The award aims to motivate scientists to perform research in the following areas:

Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of herbal medicinal products and their active principles, Clinical research in the areas of respiratory tract infections, inflammation, women’s health, and metabolic syndrome, and Safety and pharmacovigilance studies.

Graduated with a Pharm.D. degree from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, Rahimi continued her education to receive a Ph.D. in traditional pharmacy from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. She also holds a Postdoc in ‘Pharmacology of Medicinal Plants Used in Gastrointestinal Disorders in Persian Medicine’.

She has been listed amongst the Top-1% highly-cited scientists according to Essential Science Indicator (ESI) in the years 2015-2017, 2022, and 2024.

Rahimi has contributed to more than 200 articles and acted as editor and/or author in several book chapters for international publishers. Her field of expertise focuses on the evaluation of the safety and efficacy of Traditional Persian Medicine formulations in pre-clinical and clinical settings.

Medicinal plants and natural products offer unique opportunities in healthcare and drug development. Thus, the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research is dedicated to working towards a healthier life for humans and animals through developing a more evidence-based use of medicinal natural products, promoting research and development in the broad field of natural products.

It also provides a platform for the exchange of knowledge and ideas related to medicinal natural products, including annual conferences, e-symposia, workshops, and podcasts.

Women’s share in science

In the past Iranian calendar year (March 2023 – March 2024), women accounted for 12.75 percent of the most-cited researchers. With a 29.57 percent share, the Ministry of Health has the highest number of the most-cited female researchers.

According to the recent report of the Islamic World Science Citation (ISC), a total of 177 Iranian female researchers have been recognized in the areas of Agricultural Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Neuroscience and Psychology, Engineering, Material Science, Psychiatry/Psychology, Computer Science, Physics, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Social Sciences, Generalities, Physics, Plant and Animal Sciences, Immunology, and some have obtained the necessary points even in several fields.

Moreover, 375 female Iranian highly-cited researchers are among the top two percent of the world (one-year performance) in 13 subject areas of Clinical Medicine, Biomedicine, Chemistry, Engineering, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Strategic Technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, etc.), Information Technology and Communication, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Public Health and Health Services, Biology, Statistics and Mathematics, Communication and Textual Research have obtained the necessary points.

In Iran, women account for more than 24 percent of inventions in the country, compared to the global average of 17 percent.

Having made great strides in manufacturing high-tech products and growing the knowledge-based economy, Iranian women are conveying to the world the message that they have the potential to shine in the field of ‘technology’, the same as in other fields. They have managed to shine brilliantly in different global events, showcasing Iranian women’s abilities to the world.

The percentage of female CEOs and chairpersons of the board of directors of knowledge-based companies has increased noticeably over the past three years. The number of female managers has almost doubled, rising from 1,092 in the Iranian calendar year 1400 (2021-2022) to 2,250 by the end of the first nine months of the current Iranian year that started on March 20, 2024.

Only 12 percent of entrepreneurship and start-ups are founded by women. Out of 27,237 individuals who are members of the board of directors of knowledge-based companies, only 5,154, making up 19 percent of the members, are women.

In the latest international event, four Iranian women, namely Azam Karami, Mahvash Abyari, Marzieh Ebrahimi, and Fatemeh Hosseini, made history. They were among the winners of the BRICS Women’s Startups Contest 2024, which is one of the main programs of the BRICS Entrepreneurs Forum. The contest’s international panel of judges considered more than 1,000 applications from 30 countries.

MT/MG