MCRI researchers make highly cited list

Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) Professors John Carlin and George Patton are among the most highly cited researchers in the world in 2021.

The Highly Cited Researchers 2021 list from Clarivate identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence through the publication of multiple highly cited papers, as measured by the fact their research papers ranked in the top 1 per cent by citations in the Web of Science citation index. 

Professor Patton has appeared in the highly cited list for two consecutive years, while Professor Carlin was previously also listed in 2019.  

For most researchers, their ranking is determined by the papers within their chosen field, but Professor Carlin's and Patton's classifications are 'cross-field,' reflecting how they contribute to many different fields of research. 

As head of the Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit at MCRI, Professor Carlin has led the development of one of Australia's most successful biostatistical centres. This unit has a broad program of work encompassing contributions to a wide range of clinical and population health research, including both clinical trials and observational studies. 

Professor Carlin and his group's collaborative work is underpinned by an internationally recognised program of methodological research, which ensures that the team remains at the cutting edge of biostatistics, the science of developing and applying statistical methods to problems in the health and medical space. This field is increasingly recognised as fundamental to modern research because it provides a theoretical framework for deriving sound conclusions from data. This is particularly important in the context of the rapidly increasing technological capacity to collect and manipulate large volumes of data. 

Complementing this work in developing and evaluating biostatistical methods, Professor Carlin has made fundamental contributions as a collaborator in numerous areas of child and adolescent health including rotavirus disease, vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, neonatal intensive care, asthma and other allergic diseases, mental health and obesity. 

Professor Patton is a medically qualified epidemiologist with a clinical background in child and adolescent psychiatry, and he leads the MCRI Adolescent Health group, which has been the first to document patterns of adolescent health across the globe. 

He is a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Principal Research Fellow. His research is based at MCRI and the Royal Children's Hospital Centre for Adolescent Health. 

Professor Patton has been extensively involved in both child and adolescent mental health research and global adolescent health work. He has been a consultant around research to WHO, UN Population Division, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank. He has previously coordinated two special series on adolescent health for the Lancet and is currently Chair of a Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well-being'. 

The Commission brings together some of the world's leading universities including the University of Melbourne, Columbia University, University College London, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University Washington.