Meet the winner of the reNEW ARTxSCIENCE competition!

Congratulations to Charlotte De Henau, research technician at the Karine Raymond lab in Leiden, part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW, for winning first prize in the second ARTxSCIENCE competition. Her entry stood out among 50 competitors and was unanimously chosen by an esteemed international jury and announced on October 9 in celebration of Stem Cell Awareness Day.

“The winning submission really connected science to art in the image while also being extremely eye catching and beautiful with a very impactful and clearly communicated story that people can understand and relate to. The winner has great potential to raise awareness about stem cells and demonstrate how stem cell research can impact and transform the lives of people,” the jury members agreed.

The international jury consists of Professor Insoo Hyun from the Museum of Science (Boston, US), Christel Schollaardt, Science Manager at Museum Boerhaave (Leiden, Netherlands), Professor Martin Ridderstråle, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, (Denmark) and Bern Hall, Assisting Curator at the Science Gallery (Melbourne, Australia).

Christel Schollaardt, international jury member of ARTxSCIENCE Competition, Charlotte de Henau, winner of the ARTxSCIENCE Competition, Professor Ton Rabelink, Node Director reNEW Leiden.

The winning image is titled: “Starry Night Revisited: an evening under the skin”.

Human skin, like the night sky in Van Gogh’s painting “The Starry Night,” has a complex, yet beautiful structure. As the body’s largest organ, the skin serves as a protective barrier against environmental factors, including UV light exposure. The goal for the researchers of reNEW is to develop a 3D skin model, or skin organoid, to investigate the mechanisms underlying the condition “children of the night,” which is associated with UV light hypersensitivity, requiring patients to continuously protect themselves from the sunlight. ARTxSCIENCE WINNER.

Doctor Karine Raymond, Arnoud van der Niet, Charlotte de Henau, Myrthe Flesseman, Karine Raymond Lab, reNEW Leiden.

“I am very excited and honored to have won the reNEW ARTxSCIENCE Competition this year. I strongly believe it is important to disseminate our science to a larger audience and raise awareness of the potential applications of stem cells in medicine. The competition is an excellent platform to do this in an engaging and understandable manner. From the infinitely small to the infinitely large, both art and science illuminate what is often invisible”, said Charlotte De Henau.

Raising awareness through art
The reNEW ARTxSCIENCE Competition, established by reNEW in 2023 celebrates Stem Cell Awareness Day.  The competition aims to highlight the incredible potential of stem cell research by blending art and science and hopefully raising awareness of stem cells and their transformative capabilities. Its second edition attracted an impressive 50 entries from reNEW’s three nodes, located in Copenhagen, Leiden, and Melbourne.

“The reNEW ARTxSCIENCE competition proved to be a huge success in its second year, reaching a much wider audience than we had expected – one of our key goals. We will continue to hold the competition on an annual basis and will try to expand and enhance it,” said reNEW’s CEO, Professor Melissa H. Little.

Participants were asked to select a stem cell image from their research and accompany it with a well-written, easy-to-understand story that explained their work to the general public. The entries were posted on social media, enabling the public to vote for the entry that  best conveyed the story behind the image. The top 12 finalists were then presented to the international jury, which selected the overall winner. The first prize includes a EUR 5,000 cheque and the honor to be featured on the front cover of reNEW’s annual report.

The ARTxSCIENCE Competition 2024 will feature a travelling exhibition showcasing the finalists’ works. The exhibition will debut at the public space on the 15th floor of the Panum tower at the University of Copenhagen from October 9 to 21.

See all the stunning submissions and read about the incredible power of stem cells and their potential to transform the lives of people at: https://renew.science/artxscience/

For additional information, contact:
Markela Dedopoulos, Head of Communications & Engagement at reNEW, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine

Tel: + 45 9356 5069
Email: markela.dedopoulos@sund.ku.dk