By Josie Heimsoth | Bond LSC
Science builds on the work of all those experiments that come before, so it’s no surprise that being frequently cited is an honor that reflects on the quality and importance of a researcher’s work.
Two members of Bond Life Sciences Center once again join a list of the most Highly Cited Researchers for 2022.
Bing Yang and Ron Mittler joined the Clarivate list for “significant and broad influence reflected in their publication of multiple highly cited papers over the last decade,” according to their website. The list recognized 6,938 scientists, only the top one percent from nearly 9 million scientists and scholars.
Mittler, a Bond LSC scientist and MU professor of plant sciences, researches the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the role they play in the regulation of biological processes in plants.
For Yang, a Bond LSC scientist and MU professor of plant sciences, this is his fourth year on the list, and, for Mittler, it is his third. Yang considers a few things once his lab makes a discovery and decides to publish.
“You need to think about the project and what will generate the excitement,” Yang said. “Then when you have this result, you need to decide what journal you want to put it in. Each journal has different readership and visibility, so if you publish in a highly-viewed journal, your paper has the potential to be highly cited.”
Yang works on the development and application of TALEN and CRISPR technologies for targeted genome editing in plant species. His lab works with rice, maize, wheat, sorghum and soybeans.
“I have been doing this research for a long time and it’s fantastic,” Yang said. “Every day there are these new questions and I really want to look for those answers and use tools to understand these topics. It’s exciting.”
Last November, Yang was also elected as an American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellow along with two other members of Bond LSC, Chris Lorson and Henry Wan. AAAS fellows are recognized for achievements in teaching, technology, research as well as excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.
For Yang, dedication to his research and making it useful for all is the most important thing.
“It is a great pleasure and honor to receive this type of nomination,” Yang said. “But, this isn’t about me. It’s about the research that has been done in the lab from current and previous lab members at MU and my previous university.”
Find out more about Clarivate’s Highly Cited Research list at https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers.