Zafra Lerman is a scientist, educator and humanitarian. She developed an innovative approach of teaching science through art, music, drama, dance and rap which was successful with underprivileged students around the globe. She worked on human rights cases in the former Soviet Union, Russia, China, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, and South Africa and was successful in preventing executions, releasing prisoners from jail and bringing dissidents to freedom.
She is the President of the Malta Conferences Foundation which uses science diplomacy as a bridge to peace in the Middle East. She received over forty international awards, including Presidential Award for Mentoring from President Clinton (1999), AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy (2015), APS Andrei Sakharov Prize for Human Rights (2016), Peace and Justice prize from the UN NOVUS summit (2016), and she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by a member of the US Congress and a member of the French Parliament (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023).
