SAN ANTONIO (August 5, 2014) – Russel J. Reiter, Ph.D., and Charles L. Bowden, M.D., of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, are on Thomson Reuters’ list of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014.”
Dr. Reiter, professor in the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, is one of the world’s leading experts on the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin, the pineal gland and circadian rhythms. He is recognized in the Biology & Biochemistry category.
Dr. Bowden, clinical professor in the departments of psychiatry and pharmacology who occupies the Nancy U.Karren Endowed Chair in Psychiatry, is an internationally respected authority on bipolar disorder and mood-stabilizing medications. He is recognized in the Psychiatry/Psychology category.
Dr. Reiter studies the effects of free radicals on disease processes and aging. Free radicals are unstable molecules that damage cells. Dr. Reiter is particularly interested in defining the role of oxygen derivatives in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and in studying the function of the derivatives in the degeneration of neurons. Neurons are the cells of the central nervous system.
Dr. Bowden’s research has defined the symptoms and biology of bipolar disorders, and he has contributed major new understandings about the effectiveness and biochemical and physiological effects of mood-stabilizing drugs. He has studied many of the newest treatments for bipolar disorder in tightly designed, randomized, controlled clinical trials that have allowed their approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and wide dissemination to patients.
A key indicator of a scientist’s influence in his field is the number of times his publications are cited in others’ publications. The honorees, including Drs. Reiter and Bowden, published the greatest number of highly cited papers in 21 broad fields between 2002 and 2012. Highly cited papers rank in the top 1 percent by citations for their field and year of publication, according to Thomson Reuters.
“It is precisely this type of recognition, recognition by peers in the form of citations, that makes their status meaningful,” according to the introduction of the report. “The identification of these individuals is rooted in the collective, objective opinions of the scientific community. Fellow scientists, through their citations, give credit to these people and their work.
“Everyone acknowledged in this book is a person of influence in the sciences and social sciences. They are the people who are on the cutting edge of their fields. They are performing and publishing work that their peers recognize as vital to the advancement of their science. These researchers are, undoubtedly, among the most influential scientific minds of our time.”
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 29,000 graduates. The $765 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.