UT Southwestern Ranks No. 1 In Clinical Medicine, Biology/Biochemistry; Tops Other U.S. Universities in Biological Sciences Research Impact

News provided by

Sep 16, 2010, 06:40 ET

DALLAS, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UT Southwestern Medical Center ranked first among major universities in an analysis of the impact of published research in clinical medicine and in biology and biochemistry, according to an independent analysis by Science Watch.

No other institution was ranked at the top of more than one of the six biological sciences surveyed.

Science Watch, a publication that reports on trends and performance in basic research, also reported that UT Southwestern's research impact ranked second in the field of neuroscience and behavior and ranked third in molecular biology and genetics among all federally funded U.S. universities and medical centers.

The most recent rankings appear in the September/October issue of Science Watch and cover research publications from 2005 to 2009.

"Our stellar rankings among the very best academic institutions in the country underscore the impact our faculty members are having in the advancement of science and, ultimately, the practice of medicine worldwide," said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern. "These rankings specifically illustrate how our research in four broad areas of the biological sciences is driving the advancement of knowledge in those fields."

For UT Southwestern's biology and biochemistry program, the latest ranking marks a decade of investigational pre-eminence, as the medical center also was ranked No. 1 in this category in the publication's previous survey.

"That our clinical and basic science research teams ranked so competitively is a fitting reflection of the excellence of our staff and trainees – particularly the people at the lab bench who are making discoveries in the old-fashioned, 'hands-on' manner," said Dr. Steven McKnight, chairman of biochemistry at UT Southwestern.

Science Watch has published its survey – based on scientific papers published and then cited by other researchers during a given time period – since 1994. To arrive at its current rankings, Science Watch calculated the citations per paper for each university, based on papers published and cited between 2005 and 2009. It then compared that to a worldwide baseline number, resulting in a "relative impact" score.

In addition to UT Southwestern, only three other institutions – Harvard University, the University of California, San Francisco, and Johns Hopkins University – ranked among the top 10 in four or more fields.

This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at

http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html

To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via e-mail,

subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews

SOURCE UT Southwestern Medical Center