Many Faculty researchers among the world's most cited

Advanced positions in rankings of the world's universities and individual scientists are gaining increasingly more attention and providing valuable tools to attract new students, leading researchers and important funding. We continuously have reason to report on our faculty’s progress in these contexts, and in the Academic Ranking of World Universities - often referred to as the Shanghai ranking - primarily evaluating research related data, Uppsala University reaches an honorable 38th place within Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, just below Ivy League member Columbia University. In the QS World Ranking, emphasising higher education and academic reputation, Uppsala University reaches position 36 in Pharmacy & Pharmacology (checking in four places above Columbia).

If we shift our focus to individual researchers, Stanford and Elsevier have just announced the 2024 ranking of the world's most cited scientists. In total, only the top two percent are reported on a list containing numerous familiar names: Highest among our faculty's researchers we find Hans Lennernäs, Professor of Biopharmacy, whose CV contains 300+ publications and close to 20,000 citations.

“Conducting research at the Faculty of Pharmacy comes with several decisive advantages. Not least it’s close proximity to Uppsala's clinical environments, which was a key success factor in our development of the Biopharmaceutics Classification System that is currently used by the WHO and regulatory authorities worldwide, and which today forms the basis for our work to develop new tools against primary liver cancer,” says Hans Lennernäs.

High on the list we also find our Professors Lena Friberg, Per Artursson and Björn Wettermark as well as Mats Karlsson, Professor of Pharmacometrics, who earlier this year received the Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award. Present is also Robert Fredriksson, Professor of Pharmacology who in January made headlines when sending 50 million stem cells into space, and Christel Bergström, Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics who, among other things, is leading the highly publicized work to design of 3D-printed drugs for seriously ill children.

“This is an incredibly inspiring project that would not be possible anywhere else but in Uppsala. Here we have all our necessary partners within a few minutes' walking distance, providing us a life science hub at the highest international class that, properly packaged, gives us an offer hard to beat in the global competition for excellence and attractive,” states Christel Bergström.

Several, in this context, younger researchers are also climbing the list. Here we find Christian Benedict, sleep researcher who in a current article introduces conclusions indicating that a good night’s sleep have a protective effect against Alzheimer's disease. Among the top two percent are also our faculty's two newest professors: Olof Eriksson, a central force in advancing Uppsala's already strong position in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and radiotherapy, and Thomas Dorlo, who is committed to the development of new treatments against tropical diseases.

“These diseases, defined by the World Health Organization as neglected, primarily affect poor patient groups in countries where healthcare systems generally face challenges providing the few drugs that are available. Thus, the industry's incentives to engage are quite weak, and that Uppsala University with my Professorship shows that they want to continue to invest in a discipline where academic research is absolutely necessary is very positive,” says Thomas Dorlo.

We congratulate the many researchers at our faculty who are rewarded with a position on the list: Well-deserved and excellent work!

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt a o