Four Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Amongthe 400 Most Highly Influential Biomedical Researchers in the World

Newswise — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is pleased to announce four of its world-renowned physician-scientists are on the new list of the 400 most highly influential biomedical scientists in the world, published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The four researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai selected from among more than 15 million scientists include:

•Dennis S. Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System;•Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, the Richard Gorlin, MD/Heart Research Foundation Professor, Director of Mount Sinai Heart, Physician-in-Chief, and Director of the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health;•Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, the Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience, who is also the Director of the Friedman Brain Institute;•Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD, PhD, the Irene Heinz Given & John LaPorte Given Professor and Chairman, Department of Pathology; Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Oncological Sciences.

The top 400 most highly influential biomedical scientist list was created from analysis by SciTech Strategies with Stanford University School of Medicine and Temple University School of Medicine of the 15,153,100 identified authors in Scopus, the largest available abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed research publications.

Authors were ranked according to the number of his or her total published research articles and total citations of those articles in other published research work during 1996 – 2011. The data was then counted and used to create each author’s “h-index”, which measures a researcher’s published work’s overall impact factor. The final selected most influential 400 researchers were chosen based on their calculated “score” which measured their total citations and h-index.

“These metrics show the great importance, worldwide impact and reach of the work of our scientists here at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,” said Dr. Dennis S. Charney, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who was among the 400 most highly influential biomedical researchers. “I am so honored to be in such good company with my fellow researchers, especially Dr. Valentin Fuster, Dr. Eric Nestler, and Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo at Mount Sinai. I couldn’t be more proud of our research accomplishments and combined contributions to the evolution of science. We really have the world’s leading researchers right here at Mount Sinai.” Dr. Dennis S. Charney had a total of 376 papers published from 1996-2011, with 25,079 total citations, making his h-index 88, and overall score 0.406. Dr. Charney is a world expert in the neurobiology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, making fundamental contributions to the understanding of the causes of human anxiety, fear and depression and the discovery of new treatment for mood and anxiety disorders. His research studies on human resilience have culminated in the identification of ten key resilience factors for building the strength to weather and bounce back from stress and trauma. Dr. Valentin Fuster, had a total of 580 papers between 1996-2011, with 36,142 total citations, making his h-index 97, and overall score 0.490. As the next Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) and one of the top researchers in the U.S., Dr. Fuster is also the most influential researcher in Spain according to this new listing. Dr. Fuster is a global leader in the field of cardiovascular medicine and his research publications have elevated knowledge and treatment of acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis. His significant and enduring research contributions on a broad spectrum of cardiovascular medicine has accelerated progress toward conquering heart disease. Also, Dr. Fuster has a keen interest in striking out the global epidemic of obesity and its impact on cardiovascular health, especially in children. Also, his research focuses on the unique challenges of treating patients diagnosed with both diabetes and heart disease who have an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.

Dr. Eric J. Nestler published 315 papers between 1996-2011, with a total of 28,100 citations, making his h-index 89, with an overall score of 0.424. As a leading neuroscientist, molecular biologist, and psychiatrist Dr. Nestler’s research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of addiction and depression. Dr. Nestler’s research uses animal models of these disorders to identify the ways in which drugs or stress structurally alter the brain, leading to molecular scarring and an increased risk for addiction and depression. Once these mechanisms are mapped out, treatments can be developed to block certain molecular pathways or interfere with particular molecular processes in order to reduce the risk of addiction and depression. Dr. Nestler aims to better understand the molecular mechanisms of addiction and depression to identify the ways in which long-term exposure to drugs of abuse or stress changes the brain to lead to addiction- or depression-like syndromes. A major focus of his work is on drug- and stress-induced changes in gene expression and chromatin structure within the brain's reward regions.

Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo had a total of 339 papers published from 1996-2011, with 27, 297 total citations, making his h-index 84, and overall score 0.404. Dr. Cordon-Cardo is recognized internationally for his groundbreaking research in experimental pathology and molecular oncology. As a leader in the mechanisms of tumor suppression, particularly in bladder and prostate cancers, and soft tissue sarcomas, his research has focused on the analyses of multidrug resistance and alteration of tumor suppression genes in human cancer. He’s developed and implemented an oncologic molecular pathology discipline and helped create the “systems pathology” platform, an approach which uses systems biology to form mathematical models of the interaction and behavior of cancer cells with the goal of determining tumor pathogenesis and clinical outcomes. More recently, innovative research from his laboratory has provided novel insights into adult stem cells and cancer, through the recent discovery of a subpopulation of cancer stem cells. Dr. Cordon-Cardo has helped establish a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of human cancers and new targets for cancer therapeutics, enhancing the vision of personalized medicine.

About the Mount Sinai Health SystemThe Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven member hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians, 12-minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers, over 45 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, as well as 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

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