Esteé Lauder’s Nadine Pernodet Named 2024 Shaw Mudge Award Winner

Dr. Nadine Pernodet PhD, lead scientist for the Estée Lauder brand, will be honored with the Society of Cosmetic Chemists’ 2024 Shaw Mudge Award at the Society’s 78th Annual Meeting in December.

The award is presented to the author or authors of the best paper presented at the preceding annual scientific meeting hosted by the SCC. Pernodet’s paper, “Harnessing Epigenetics: from anti-aging to age reversal,” was presented during the 77th Annual SCC meeting in New York City.

SCC’s 2024 Annual Meeting will be held Dec. 11-13 in Los Angeles.

In her presentation, Pernodet shared her group’s findings from the past 15 years on how epigenetic signals, such as sirtuin longevity proteins, relate to skin cell age reversal and can revolutionize the way consumers address skin and aging. She provided information on the cutting-edge technologies that are key to helping skin look and act younger for longer, driving the move from anti-aging to visible age reversal, according to ELC.

To extend Pernodet’s years of research into the link between circadian rhythm and skin cell function, Estée Lauder supported a study in collaboration with Case Medical Center in Cleveland, OH to determine the effects of poor sleep quality on skin appearance, function and recovery compared to good sleep quality. This body of work helped Estée Lauder researchers study how key skin cell activities might be impacted due to the loss of circadian synchronization and led to new findings that help mitigate the key hallmarks of visible skin aging.

Shaw Mudge Award

Shaw Mudge was co-founder and chairman of Shaw Mudge & Company in Shelton, CT. Mudge, who served in World War II, co-founded P. Robertet Inc. (a manufacturer of aromatic compounds) and later co-founded the Shaw Mudge & Company. He held numerous leadership positions during his career as a small business owner, including the National Advisory Council to the US Senate Committee on Small Business, the Fragrance Materials Association and the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC) in which he was recognized with The Merit Award in 1971.

Pernodet is a past winner of the Shaw Mudge Award; she was honored in 2019.

With this second award, she becomes one of only two multiple winners of the Shaw Mudge Award.  The other is Dr. Robert Lochhead (1991, 1995 and 2017).

Pernodet’s Resume

Pernodet, who joined The Estee Lauder Companies (ELC) in 2007, is currently senior vice president bioscience, advanced technology pioneering, global R&D for ELC. She leads the global advanced technology pioneering bioscience group including China, skin biology and physiology, and the bioactive technology group including fermentation as well as the academic collaboration network fueling ELC brands portfolio.

As head of the bioscience group, Pernodet created a continuous stream of new scientific insights that have driven a pipeline of efficacious active ingredients, new claims, new concepts, and new scientific communications and credentialing for successful global skincare launches such as Advanced Night Repair, Supreme and Re-Nutri Age Reversal Diamond.

According to ELC, her unique approach to the science of beauty enables Pernodet to combine her extensive background in biophysics and biology to better understand skin bionetworks to amplify benefits and to approach research through an interdisciplinary lens.

Pernodet has published more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific publications/chapters in journals and is a co-inventor on more than 33 patent families with over 300 worldwide submissions.

Prior to ELC, Pernodet was a tenure-track assistant professor at Stony Brook University in Materials Science & Engineering, Molecular and Chemical Engineering. She now serves as an adjunct professor for the Chemical Engineering program at the University.

Pernodet received her PhD with distinction in Physical Chemistry from Louis Pasteur University.