Five current Tufts researchers have been named to a ranking of the world’s most highly cited researchers. The researchers in the Clarivate 2023 list have a significant impact on the research community, judging by the rate their work is cited by their peers, according to Clarivate, an information and analytics firm focused on research.

The highly cited papers rank in the top 1% by citations for a field or fields and publication year, and only about 1 in 1,000 researchers worldwide qualify.

Named to the list are David Kaplan, Renata Micha, Dariush Mozaffarian, Clifford Rosen, and John Wong. “Their contributions resonate far beyond their individual achievements, strengthening the foundation of excellence and innovation in research,” said David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate.

Also included as a top-cited researcher was Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, a Tufts professor who died in 2019.

For this year’s analysis, the papers surveyed were the most recent available—those published and cited during 2012 to 2022.

“It is a privilege to have our faculty recognized as some of the most highly cited researchers globally,” said Bernard Arulanandam, vice provost for research at Tufts. “This acknowledgment is a testament to their pioneering contributions, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to each of them for this remarkable accomplishment.”

David Kaplan is the Stern Family Professor of Engineering, a professor of biomedical engineering, and Distinguished University Professor, and holds appointments in several other Tufts schools and departments. His research focus is on biopolymer engineering, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and cellular agriculture. He has published more than 1,000 peer-reviewed papers, is editor-in-chief of ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, serves on many editorial boards and programs for journals and universities.

He directs the Kaplan Lab and the Initiative for Neural Science, Disease & Engineering; is co- investigator at the Tissue Engineering Resource Center; and is director of the Cellular Agriculture Program at Tufts. He has received a number of awards for teaching, is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and has received the Columbus Discovery Medal and the Society for Biomaterials’ Clemson Award.

Renata Micha is an adjunct associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She has expertise in nutritional and chronic disease epidemiology—focusing on diet assessment and modeling of impacts on cardiometabolic health—and in nutrition and health policy.

Micha has particular interest and experience in global dietary assessment among various population subgroups, identifying causal diet-disease relationships, quantifying and modeling the impact of dietary habits on cardiometabolic disease outcomes, and evaluating the comparative- and cost-effectiveness of nutrition-sensitive population interventions to address these disease burdens.

Dariush Mozaffarian is director of the Tufts Food Is Medicine Institute, Distinguished Professor, Jean Mayer Professor and dean emeritus of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and professor of medicine at the School of Medicine. His work aims to create the science and translation for a food system that is nutritious, equitable, and sustainable. 

A cardiologist, he has authored more than 550 scientific publications on nutrition and chronic diseases, and on evidence-based policy innovations to reduce these burdens in the United States and globally. He has served in numerous advisory roles including for the U.S. and Canadian governments, and currently serves on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.

Clifford Rosen is a professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. His work seeks to understand the genetic regulation of insulin-like growth factor relative to skeletal metabolism, the relationship between bone marrow adipogenesis and osteoblastogenesis, and the interactions between whole body and skeletal metabolism.

His lab uses age, genetic, environmental, diet, and pharmacologic manipulations in order to understand the complex regulation of bone remodeling. Rosen is also a senior scientist at MaineHealth Institute for Research in Portland and associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.

John B. Wong is vice chair of academic affairs, chief of clinical decision making, and a primary care physician in the Department of Medicine, at Tufts Medical Center and a professor of medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine. He is also the director of comparative effectiveness research at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

His research focuses on the application of decision analysis to help patients, health care professionals, and policymakers choose among alternative tests, treatments, and policies. The aim is to promote rational, evidence-based, efficient, and effective patient-centered care. He has served on national and international committees, including the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Academy of Medicine, and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. 

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos was the former distinguished professor and Robert and Marcy Haber Endowed Professor in Energy Sustainability in the Tufts School of Engineering. She was a world-renowned expert in chemical engineering, a co-recipient of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Catalysis Lectureship Award for the Advancement of Catalytic Science in 2019. In 2014, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of her contributions to clean energy technology, one of the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer.