29 Carolina faculty named ‘highly cited researchers’
Clarivate’s 2025 international list of trailblazers includes scholars from across the University.
UNC-Chapel Hill has 29 faculty on Clarivate’s 2025 list of Highly Cited Researchers, recognizing those who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields of study.
Each researcher has authored multiple papers that rank in the top 1% by citation for their field and publication year in Clarivate’s Web of Science platform over the past 11 years. The list is then refined using quantitative metrics, as well as qualitative analysis and expert judgment.
This year, 6,868 individuals across 60 countries earned the distinction.
The University’s most-cited researchers include:
Biology and biochemistry
Xi-Ping Huang, UNC School of Medicine
Clinical medicine
Dr. John B. Buse, UNC School of Medicine
Dr. Lisa A. Carey, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dr. Sidney C. Smith Jr., UNC School of Medicine
Cross-field
Gianpietro Dotti, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Rachel L. Graham, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Sarah R. Leist, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Nigel Mackman, UNC School of Medicine
Evan Mayo-Wilson, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Alexandra Schafer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Jenny P.Y. Ting, UNC School of Medicine
Chao Wang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Wei You, UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Yuling Zhao, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Engineering, environment and ecology, materials science, and physics
Jinsong Huang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Immunology
David van Duin, UNC School of Medicine
Mathematics
David Wells, UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Microbiology
Ralph Baric, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Lisa E. Gralinski, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Timothy P. Sheahan, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Nutrition
Barry M. Popkin, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Pharmacology
Bryan L. Roth, UNC School of Medicine, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Pharmacology and toxicology
Alexander V. Kabanov, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Plant and animal science
Jeffery L. Dangl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Hans W. Paerl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Psychiatry and psychology
Margaret A. Sheridan, UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Social sciences
Noel T. Brewer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Stephen R. Cole, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Yan Song, UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Nine additional researchers were also cited for work conducted while at UNC-Chapel Hill:
Cross-field
Bo Chen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences
John McCorvy, formerly with UNC School of Medicine
Zhenyi Ni, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Dinggang Shen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Qi Wang, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Haotong Wei, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Xun Xiao, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Elena V. Batrakova, emeritus, UNC School of Medicine
Social Sciences
Byron J. Powell, formerly with UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
