Assoc. Prof. Leenawaty Limantara is a natural product chemist whose research focuses on utilizing natural pigments from vegetables, fruits, microalgae, seaweed, bacteria, and fungi for functional food innovation and the development of health products based on natural pigments. She has received numerous national and international awards, including the Toray Science & Technology Award (2005), the Humboldt Alumni Award (2018) from the Humboldt Foundation in Germany, and the Outstanding Humboldtian Award (2019) from the Humboldt-Club Southeast Asia. She also served as the Humboldt Science Ambassador for Germany in Indonesia from 2011 to 2017. In 2004, she was named Indonesia’s Second-Ranked National Outstanding Lecturer by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. With over 25 years of research experience, she has served as an ASEAN Expert and international trainer in capacity-building programs for research, leadership, and university governance, equipping university leaders and researchers across ASEAN through various international initiatives, including DIES ProGRANT, DIES NMT, DIES Partnership, and the SDG Partnership.

Education

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan (1998)

• Master of Chemistry, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan (1994)

• Bachelor of Biology, Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia (1990)

Expertise:

• Natural Product Chemistry
• Extraction and Separation Techniques of Natural Products
• Analysis and Application of Natural Carotenoid Pigments in Food and Health
• Photodynamic Therapy for Tumors and Cancer Using Chlorophyll-Derived Pigments

Selected Awards

• 2004 First-Ranked Outstanding Lecturer, Central Java Province
• 2004 Second-Ranked National Outstanding Lecturer
• 2004 Humboldt Fellow from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany
• 2005 ITSF award from Toray Science Foundation, Japan
• 2018 Humboldt Alumni Award from Humboldt Foundation, Germany
• 2019 Outstanding Humboldtian Awards from Humboldt Club Southeast Asia