The Hottest Research of 1998

The Hottest Research of 1998

Scientists Ranked by Number of Hot Papers

Rank

Name

Institution

Field

No. of
Hot
Papers

1	John C. Reed	Burnham Institute	Cell Biology	9
2	Hans-Joachim Gabius	University of Munich	Biochemistry	8
3	Bert Vogelstein Kenneth W. Kinzler	HHMI, Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University	Molecular Biology Molecular Biology	7 7
4	J. Craig Venter Ronald M. Evans	Institute for Genomic Research HHMI, Salk Institute	Genomics Genetics	6 6
5	Xiaodong Wang Mark D. Adams Scott M. Hammer Hamilton O. Smith Granger G. Sutton Christopher K. Glass Douglas D. Richman Richard A. Flavell Laszlo Nagy Gillian P. Bates Stephen W. Davies Guy Salvesen Sharon L. Rogers Lawrence T. Friedhoff	UT Southwestern Med. Cntr. Institute for Genomic Research Harvard University Johns Hopkins University Institute for Genomic Research U. Calif., San Diego U. Calif., San Diego HHMI, Yale University Salk Institute Guys Hospital University College London Burnham Institute Eisai Inc. Eisai Inc	Cell Biology Genomics Virology Genomics Genomics Cell Biology Virology Immunology Genetics Molecular Genetics Molecular Genetics Cell Biology Pharmacology Pharmacology	5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

See "The Red Hot Research Papers of 1998."
SOURCE: ISI's Hot Papers Database, Nov./Dec. 1996-Nov./Dec. 1998

Time once again for Science Watch to take its customary look back at the citation highlights of last year’s research. Above are the researchers who, at the end of 1998, had published at least five highly cited reports during the preceding two years, according to the latest update of ISI’s Hot Papers Database. The table on page 2 lists the papers published in 1998 (excluding reviews) that collected the most citations by year’s end.

Among the hot scientists, John C. Reed of the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California, vaults from last spot in the 1997 roundup to the top of this year’s ranking. Over the last two years, Reed has fielded nine highly cited reports on cytochrome c, Bcl-2, and other aspects of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Among the coauthors on one of those papers is Reed’s Burnham Institute colleague Guy S. Salvesen, who earned a spot on the list by virtue of his four additional hot reports on caspases, a protein family involved in apoptosis.

A name new to Science Watch takes the #2 spot in this year’s honor roll: Hans-Joachim Gabius of the University of Munich. Gabius appears on eight hot papers on the cell-agglutinating proteins known as lectins. Among other topics, Gabius's papers discuss the use of lectins for research into protein-carbohydrate interaction, tumor formation, and drug design.

The #3 spot, meanwhile, returns two familiar names to these pages: Bert Vogelstein, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator, and his colleague at Johns Hopkins, Kenneth W. Kinzler. Vogelstein and Kinzler are among the coauthors on seven hot papers on the p53 tumor-suppressor gene and other aspects of cancer in general and colorectal cancer in particular. Both researchers were featured in Science Watch’s year-end summaries for 1993, 1994, and 1995 (with Vogelstein topping the rankings each time), but this marks their first appearance in two years.

In the #4 position are two scientists returning from last year’s roundup. J. Craig Venter of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), in Rockville, Maryland, has coauthored six highly cited reports presenting complete genomic sequences or describing techniques for sequencing. Joining Venter on the list are coauthors of five of those papers: TIGR colleagues Mark D. Adams and Granger G. Sutton, along with 1978 Nobel laureate Hamilton O. Smith of Johns Hopkins University. One of their hot papers, on the Helicobactor pylori genome, currently ranks among Science Watch’s Biology Top Ten (see page 8 paper #5).

The scientist who topped last year’s list, Ronald M. Evans, an HHMI researcher based at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, returns with six highly cited reports. These include papers on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-GAMMA (PPAR-GAMMA), investigating its role in diabetes. Evans’s Salk colleague Laszlo Nagy contributed to five of the hot reports. PPAR receptors are also among the topics investigated by Christopher K. Glass of UC San Diego in his five hot papers.

Other researchers who fielded five hot papers (the order within the #5 tier is determined by total citations) include Xiadong Wang of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Three of his reports on caspases and apoptosis are currently parked in the Biology Top Ten (see page 8, paper #3, #6, and #7). Investigations of HIV and antiretroviral therapy bring Douglas D. Richman of UC San Diego and Harvard’s Scott M. Hammer to the list (Hammer is lead author on the paper currently ranked #1 in medicine—see page 5, paper #1). The hot papers by HHMI’s Richard Flavell of Yale University examine apoptosis, interleukins, and autoimmune diabetes. Rounding out the list are two sets of coauthors: Gillian P. Bates of Guys Hospital and Stephen W. Davies of University College London, who examine gene mutations in Huntington’s disease; and Sharon L. Rogers and Lawrence T. Friedhoff of Eisai Inc., Teaneck, New Jersey, who report on the anti-Alzheimer’s agent donepezil. One of their1998 papers ranked 11th for the year and is currently among medicine’s most cited (see page 5, paper #4). See "The Red Hot Research Papers of 1998."