Food engineer Juming Tang and catalysis researcher Yong Wang are the newest Washington State University faculty to be added to the 2023 list of the world’s most Highly Cited Researchers. They join five other WSU faculty who have been on the list recognizing researchers whose studies are most often cited in their fields: Dan “Annie” Du, Dogan Gursoy, Kris Kowdley, Yuehe Lin, and Nathan McDowell.
This recognition means these researchers have authored multiple papers which rank in the top 1% by citations for their fields and publication year in the Web of Science over the past decade. Of the world’s population of scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000.
Clarivate, the analytics company that runs the Web of Science research platform, creates the Highly Cited Researchers List every year using both quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify researchers who have demonstrated significant influence in their fields.
Dan “Annie” Du
Research professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Voiland College of Engineering
Du’s research focuses on using nanomaterials for biosensing and drug delivery as well as immunosensors and microchips for biomarker detection. She is currently leading a project to develop a quick test to detect wildfire smoke exposure. Her past work includes an early detection method for Alzheimer’s disease and functional gold and platinum nanoparticles for cancer therapy.
Dogan Gursoy
Taco Bell Distinguished Professor in Hospitality Business Management
Carson College of Business
A leading hospitality and tourism researcher, Gursoy focuses on topics such as use of artificially intelligent devices in service delivery, sustainability, services management, tourist behavior, and hospitality and tourism marketing. His research includes a study of how people’s desire to travel increased the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccination.
Kris Kowdley
Professor
Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Director
Liver Institute Northwest
Kowdley is an internationally recognized liver disease expert and researcher. He has led several international clinical trials of new treatments for hepatitis C, hereditary hemochromatosis, primary biliary cholangitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. He has a longstanding research interest on the role of iron as a co-factor in many liver diseases. Kowdley is first author on a New England Journal of Medicine article on elafibranor for treatment of primary biliary cholangitis.
Yuehe Lin
Professor in School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Voiland College of Engineering
Lin is a leader in both fields of materials science and chemistry, and has been on the Highly-Cited Researchers list since 2014. His work focuses on nanotechnology for disease diagnosis, drug delivery, and energy storage and conversion. Among his many notable studies are the development of a low-cost glyphosate sensor, a breakthrough in water-splitting, and a new drug delivery technology for cancer treatment.
Nathan McDowell
Earth Scientist
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with a
joint appointment in WSU’s School of Biological Sciences
McDowell is an international expert on forest function and disturbance under global environmental change. His recent work focuses on causes and consequences of tree mortality due to drought, fire, insect attack, and sea level rise. Among his many publications, he was lead author on articles on woody plant mortality in Nature Reviews, Earth & Environment and Global Change Biology.
Juming Tang
Regents Professor and Distinguished Chair of Food Engineering
Biological Systems Engineering, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resources
Tang holds 15 US and international patents leading to global commercialization of microwave-assisted thermal processing technologies for production of shelf-stable, chilled, or frozen meals free from pathogens. His research has led to understanding and development for pathogen control in low-moisture foods, such as baby formula, spice, nuts, and chocolates. He has conducted research on food drying technologies for improved energy efficiency and quality as well as preserving ready-to-eat meals for future space programs.
Yong Wang
Regents Professor and Voiland Distinguished Professor
The Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering
Laboratory Fellow and Associate Director of the Institute of Integrated Catalysis
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Yong Wang is best known for his leadership in the development of novel catalytic materials and reaction engineering to address the issues related to energy and atom efficiency for converting fossil and biomass feedstocks to fuels and chemicals. His recent work includes a study on the oscillations of the Fischer-Tropsch reaction published in Science and confined “nanoglue” catalysts published in Nature.
