In celebration of her Gleaner Honour Award for excellence in the field of Science and Technology, Professor Helen Asemota wore a hairstyle which she called the 'yam hairstyle'.

Above her forehead was what she called the corm. Rising out of the corm were twists of braided hair which she described as the vines and, at the bottom of the corm and the vines was the tuber, which was actually her face; and she was smiling.

"I am very happy, now more motivated. I feel there is now more to do because people are asking questions. I feel that there is a long road to travel and we have only just started," she said after receiving her award.

The professor, who specialises in biochemistry, molecular biology and nanotechnology, hails from Nigeria and is currently professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Department of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Mona. She is also head of the Nanobiology Division at Shaw University in North Carolina and chair of the Shaw Institutional Research Board.

Benefits from marketing yam

The professor has completed extensive research on yam and ways to improve the tuber with the use of biotechnology.

With the high exposure of yam on the international market through the successful exploits of Usain Bolt and his attribution of that success to the food, Asemota believes Jamaica has a lot to benefit from marketing yam.

"Jamaica can really run with yam. In fact, Jamaica should be in a position where, at the next Olympics, we have bombarded the market with yam products. The world is looking out for that."

Asemota also wants to see the day when scientific research is used more in policy formation in the island. This, she says, can only benefit the island.

She has provided consultancy services to various international organisations, such as the European Union (EU) and the United Nations. In 1994, she was the technical expert in her field with the EU and, in 2001, she served as international technical cooperation programmes consultant for biotechnology to Syria. Asemota was also the international consultant for biotechnology to the Republic of Tajikistan from 2003 to 2007. In that position, she provided technical leadership for the Tajikistan National Seed Potato Production Programme. The work she did there went a long way towards making that country food sufficient.