Top 20 translational researchers of 2016

Our ranking of biotech's top translational researchers for 2016 (Table 1) includes the researcher's most-cited patent for the prior five years and their H index, which measures the impact of a scientist's body of published work (higher means more impact). The top spot is occupied by MIT's Robert Langer, a frequent entrant on this list, and Karl Deisseroth at Stanford. Ningshao Xia, of Xiamen University in China, is a notable newcomer. Table 2 lists the most-cited patents for 2012–2016, with the inventor and number of citations. A breakdown of the 50 most-cited patents for 2012–2016 reveals interest in nucleic acid therapy and delivery (Fig. 1).

Table 1 Top 20 translational researchers in 2016

Table 2 Most-cited patents, 2012–2016

Figure 1

Focus area for 50 most-cited US patents, 2012–2016.