Nature Biotechnology collated 200 papers published either online or in print during 2012 that had been highlighted in SciBX, a publication that each week scans the top 50 research journals for papers of particular translational interest. Boutique patent analytics firm IP Checkups provided a listing of patents associated with the corresponding authors and affiliation of these papers, which was then used to provide a ranking of professors (Table 1) and assistant or associate professors (Table 2). Figure 1 highlights institutions (out of a total of 102 research centers) publishing the greatest proportion (four or more) of papers selected to be highlighted by SciBX last year. Because of the methodology, the ranking is clearly biased toward researchers who have remained at their present institution for an extended time.

Table 1 Top translational researchers, ranked by total patents at current affiliation
Table 2 Top translational junior faculty, ranked by total patents at current affiliation
Figure 1
figure 1

Number of 2012's research papers highlighted in SciBX, by institution.

First Rounders Podcast: Una Ryan

Ryan led Avant Therapeutics for 15 years before a stint at the nonprofit Diagnostics for All. Now, she is an angel investor. She has been a strong advocate for biotech, helping in particular to grow the Boston cluster. Nature Biotechnology talked to her about her time running a nonprofit, women in biotech and growing up in the UK. http://www.nature.com/nbt/podcast/index.html.