Three Bangladeshi scientists, all of them women, have made it to the list of "best and brightest" 100 Asian scientists for their contribution to research.

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh's Dr Firdausi Qadri, Model Livestock Advancement Foundation's Dr Salma Sultana, and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology's Professor Saima Subrina have been included in the sixth edition of the list published by Singapore-based magazine Asian Scientist.

Read Legendary Women in Bangladesh with Pioneering Contribution in Diverse Fields

Scientists from China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have also secured a place on the prestigious list.

Researchers and inventors from across a range of scientific disciplines have been picked based on their role in tackling this year's key challenges, including Covid-19 and climate change, said Asian Scientist.

Read 2 Bangladeshi women named in BBC 100 Women 2020 list

All three Bangladeshi scientists previously received an international award for their leadership and role in effective discovery.

Dr Firdausi, an emeritus scientist at icddr,b, won the L'Oréal-Unesco for Women in Science Award 2020 for her work on understanding and preventing infectious diseases affecting children in developing countries and advocacy for early diagnosis and global vaccination.

Read Bangladeshi young medical scientist shines in Japan

Dr Salma, the founder of Model Livestock Advancement Foundation, previously won the Norman E Borlaug Award 2020 for field research and application by the World Food Prize Foundation for her work with Bangladeshi small-scale farmers – namely her efforts involving veterinary outreach, treatment, and education. 

Professor Samia received the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award 2020 for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World for her research on the properties and uses of nanomaterials.

Read Women continue making amazing contributions in STEM fields.