Five faculty members from Stony Brook University have been named to the 2025 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list, placing them among the top one percent of researchers worldwide. The honorees are Paolo Boffetta, MD, Christopher Gobler, James Lattimer, Roman Kotov, and Ping Liu. All five were also recognized on last year’s list.
The Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list includes 6,868 individuals from 60 countries and regions. Selection is based on the number of highly cited papers authored by each researcher over the past 11 years in the Web of Science Core Collection. The evaluation process combines quantitative metrics with qualitative analysis and expert judgment.
“Stony Brook researchers are catalyzing and contributing to the creation and application of new knowledge in a wide variety of fields, including artificial intelligence, climate science, quantum, health and medicine,” said Carl Lejuez, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Stony Brook University. “I am pleased to see five of our researchers recognized for their efforts and their contributions to their fields on this year’s Clarivate list.”
Paolo Boffetta is associate director for population sciences at the Stony Brook Cancer Center and professor in the Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine. He was honored in Cross-Field research for his work on environmental factors behind cancer.
Christopher Gobler serves as SUNY Distinguished Professor and Endowed Chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), as well as director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology. He was recognized in Plant and Animal Science for research into climate change impacts such as harmful algal blooms and ocean acidification.
Roman Kotov is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Renaissance School of Medicine. He received recognition in Psychiatry and Psychology for work that advances classification systems for mental disorders using molecular genetics, neuroscience, and quantitative modeling.
James Lattimer is a SUNY Distinguished Professor in Physics and Astronomy within the College of Arts and Sciences. His recognition in Cross-Field research comes from contributions to nuclear astrophysics—including studies on neutron stars that have influenced theories about heavy elements’ origins.
Ping Liu is a theorist at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s chemistry division and adjunct professor in Stony Brook’s Department of Chemistry. She was recognized in Cross-Field research for her theoretical studies on materials used in energy production, conversion, storage—including nanostructures.
Clarivate has updated its evaluation criteria to address trends such as hyper-authorship or excessive self-citation while maintaining high standards for research integrity.
“As the need for high-quality data from rigorously selected sources is becoming ever more important, we have adapted and responded to technological advances and shifts in the publishing landscape,” said David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information. “Just as we have applied stringent standards and transparent selection criteria to identify trusted journals in the Web of Science, we continue to refine our evaluation and selection policies for our annual Highly Cited Researchers program to address the challenges of an increasingly complex and polluted scholarly record.”
