UF diabetes researcher Mark Atkinson ranks among most cited in diabetes literature
Results of a worldwide survey of scientific publications on diabetes reveal University of Florida Professor Mark Atkinson ranks first for the largest number of literature citations per research article.
Atkinson, who is the Sebastian Family/American Diabetes Association professor for diabetes research at UF’s College of Medicine, also placed fifth among more than 65,700 diabetes investigators for citations in the scientific literature.
“Recognition by peers for the quality and overall impact of one’s research is perhaps the highest accolade a scientist can receive,” said Douglas Barrett, M.D., UF vice president for health affairs. “We are extraordinarily proud of Dr. Atkinson and his diabetes research collaborators here at UF.”
The new rankings were compiled by Thomson ISI through a 10-year retrospective survey of published journal articles on diabetes research worldwide. During the decade, Atkinson published 48 papers, which generated 2,724 citations in papers published by other researchers. The data showed an average of 56.75 citations per article by Atkinson.
The findings are published, along with a short feature article on Atkinson, in ISI’s online editorial service called “Special Topics.” The survey encompassed 38,378 published papers by authors in 141 countries and represented 10,205 research institutions.
Atkinson’s most-cited papers included those evaluating immune system components believed to be key to the formation of type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, uncovering the role of infant diets in the disease, and identifying potential methods for disease prevention. Engaged in diabetes research for nearly 20 years, Atkinson is research director for the Center for Immunology and Transplantation based in the UF medical school’s department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine. He also directs the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gene Therapy Center for the Prevention of Diabetes and Its Complications at the University of Florida and the University of Miami.
Diabetes researchers at UF are conducting pioneering studies of genetic and immunologic markers for disease activity, newborn screening programs to assess risks for type 1 diabetes, animal studies of gene therapy and stem cell transplantation for potential diabetes treatment, as well as basic investigations of immune tolerance and new pharmaceuticals. The UF team recently was selected by the National Institutes of Health to be part of a 14-center nationwide network that will conduct studies of various medications to prevent type 1 diabetes, which afflicts close to 1 million people in the United States.