Six of the best: meet our most highly cited scholars

The media company’s Highly Cited Researchers list names 3,266 scholars whose research ranked in the top one per cent of most referenced papers in their field from 2004 to 2014.

The university’s six Highly Cited Researchers are: Professor Bruce Armstrong, Professor Adrian Bauman, Professor Robert G Cumming, Professor Manfred Lenzen, Professor Alexander McBratney and Professor Mark Woodward.

“This new distinction highlights the exceptional contribution these eminent scholars are making to their research fields,” said Professor Duncan Ivison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research. “Furthermore, their influence underscores the position of the University of Sydney among the world’s top ranked research institutions, particularly in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.”

The Highly Cited Researcher list is used by The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) to calculate an institution’s Highly Cited score and contributes to its overall institutional score. In August this year, the University of Sydney joined the world’s global top 100 academic institutions, as determined by the ARWU. Learn more about our world rankings here.

Our six Highly Cited Researchers

Professor Bruce Armstrong is Emeritus Professor in the School of Public Health. A leader in cancer research, Professor Armstrong is an authority on the causes and prevention of skin cancer and melanoma. He has made important contributions to understanding the causes and control of other cancers, high blood pressure and heart disease. He has written some 400 scientific publications and has presented at numerous national and international conferences. 

Professor Adrian Bauman is Sesquicentenary Professor of Public Health, Director of the Prevention Research Collaboration and Theme Leader, Physical Activity, Exercise and Energy Expenditure at the Charles Perkins Centre. For more than 30 years Professor Bauman had been a world leader in the study of chronic disease prevention and the development and assessment of prevention research methods. He was instrumental in identifying the health benefits of moderate physical activity and reduced sitting time. His research demonstrates the need for intersectoral contributions to physical activity promotion programs, including sectors such as sports, transport and urban planning.

Professor Robert G Cumming is Professor of Epidemiology and Geriatric Medicine in the School of Public Health. Professor Cumming has an international reputation for his research on osteoporosis, falls and fractures. In the last decade he has expanded his research to include non-communicable diseases and ageing in developing countries in Asia and Africa. He is the Director of the Master of International Public Health program, and has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers. Professor Cumming is one of only 16 highly cited researchers in Social Sciences at an Australian university, and one of only 170 worldwide.

Professor Manfred Lenzen is Professor of Sustainability Research at Integrated Sustainability Analysis in the School of Physics. He has contributed major methodological advances and applications in the areas of embodied energy, greenhouse gas emissions, input-output analysis and life-cycle assessment. Professor Lenzen is Associate Editor of the Journal of Industrial Ecology and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Economic Systems Research.

Professor Alexander McBratney is Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment and Professor of Soil Science. He leads one of the strongest university-based research groups on soil resources assessment internationally and is Chief Editor of the global soil science journal, Geoderma. He has published some 210 refereed scientific journal papers with an h-index of 44. He holds Discovery and Linkage grants from the Australian Research Council and several from the rural research and development corporations, most notably the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Professor Mark Woodward is a Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Sydney and Director of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at The George Institute for Global Health. He has led four major international studies and has directed analytical research on three landmark collaborative studies. His work on cardiovascular risk scores formed the basis of national guidelines in Scotland, and his recent work on kidney disease was used to produce new staging criteria for this disease. His total career grant awards are over $93 million from 39 successful applications. He has written over 400 peer-reviewed publications and two textbooks on statistical methods in medical research.