Mounira Hmani Aifa

Mounira Hmani Aifa (born 1972) is a Tunisian geneticist, best known for her work in mapping the PRSS56 gene.[1] She has been a recipient of the "Sur les traces de Marie Curie" award from UNESCO and the L'Oreal Foundation in 2012, and a fellowship from them in 2002.

Aifa is from Sfax, in Tunisia, and currently teaches and researches at the Sfax Biotechnology Center.[1] In 2002, she won the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award, which allowed her to pursue post-graduate research in human genetics at the Faculty of Medical Sciences in Linköping, Sweden.[2] She continued this research in Tunisia, working on a project which studied the genetic origins of hereditary deafness.[2] She also pursued research on posterior microphthalmia, a rare genetic condition affecting the eye, for which she mapped the PRSS56 gene, and established its potential links with a type of glaucoma.[3][4] In 2012, she was awarded the "Sur les traces de Marie Curie" from UNESCO and the L'Oreal Foundation for this research.[5]

References
  1. "Mounira Hmani Aifa - The discoveries of an Arab woman". The Africa Report.com. 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  2. Djait, Amel (2012-04-19). "Mounira Hmani-Aifa lauréate de la Bourse UNESCO-L'Oréal: Une scientifique tunisienne sur les traces de Marie Curie" (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  3. "Gene behind glaucoma identified". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  4. Nair, K. Saidas; Hmani-Aifa, Mounira; Ali, Zain; Kearney, Alison L.; Salem, Salma Ben; Macalinao, Danilo G.; Cosma, Ioan M.; Bouassida, Walid; Hakim, Bochra; Benzina, Zeineb; Soto, Ileana; Söderkvist, Peter; Howell, Gareth R.; Smith, Richard S.; Ayadi, Hammadi (June 2011). "Alteration of the serine protease PRSS56 causes angle-closure glaucoma in mice and posterior microphthalmia in humans and mice". Nature Genetics. 43 (6): 579–584. doi:10.1038/ng.813. ISSN 1546-1718. PMC 4388060.
  5. "Dr Mounira Hmani-Aifa et Emna Harigua sélectionnées pour des Bourses L'Oréal-Unesco". Leaders (in French). 20 March 2012.
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