DDBS lands three in top worldwide researcher list

The high quality of MUSC pharmacy is known all over the globe, thanks to the far-reaching impact of its research faculty. Data recently released by research.com shows that John Lemasters, Danyelle Townsend, and Mark Hamann were among the most cited Biology and Biochemistry scientists in the world!

With more than 72,000 citations, SmartState endowed professor Lemasters topped the college's representatives at No. 386 (No. 269 national), followed by SmartState endowed professor Hamann and interim co-department chair Townsend.

“We take great pride in the influence and impact of our esteemed research faculty,” said Yuri Peterson, interim co-chair of the Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences. “The importance of their work is reflected by its reach and utilization in the global scientific community. They are luminaries in our very important research program.”

The list was created using a study of 166,880 scientists, from which more than 88,978 scientists were examined. The ranking is based on data combined from various data sources including OpenAlex and CrossRef. Position in the ranking is based on a scholar’s D-index (Discipline H-index), which includes exclusively publications and citation values for an examined discipline.

The work of late faculty members Pat Woster and Craig Beeson also continues to influence, with both making the list as well.

Research interests

John Lemasters is professor and GlaxoSmithKline Distinguished Endowed Chair in Cancer Drug Discovery. His research interests concern the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying toxic, hypoxic and ischemia-reperfusion injury to liver and heart. His laboratory applies new techniques of laser scanning confocal and multiphoton microscopy to characterize the physiology of single living cells, including the assessment of ion homeostasis, chelatable iron, mitochondrial function, electrical potentials, oxygen and nitrogen free radical formation, membrane permeability, and other biochemical parameters during the pathogenesis of lethal cell injury).

Danyelle Townsend is professor and interim co-chair of the Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences. Her lab combines proteomics and drug metabolism with analytical biochemistry to identify molecular targets of oxidative and nitrosative stress and determine how redox signaling impacts cellular response. This research led to the discovery that S-glutathionylation is not a spontaneous redox event, rather it is enzyme-mediated through GSTP activity, which differs in human populations through functional polymorphisms.

Mark Hamann is Charles and Carol Cooper/SmartState Endowed Chair of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences. He has published more than 250 scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters. His group is actively involved in the isolation, structure determination and optimization through synthesis of natural products and toxins with a focus on plant and invertebrate microbiomes.  His group is currently working on the preclinical development of a small pipeline of natural products with activity against cancer, emerging infectious diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders.