Eleven Malta-based scientists – seven of whom are University of Malta academics – are among the top two per cent most cited scientists worldwide, according to a Stanford University study.
The research, led by Prof. John Ioannidis, analysed scientists from 22 fields whose work was cited between 1965 and 2019.
Joseph N Grima, Georgios N Yannakakis, Godfrey Baldacchino, Albert Caruana, Michael A Borg, Giuseppe di Giovanni and Ruben Gatt from the University of Malta; Carmelo Scarpignato from the United Campus of Malta, Birkirkara, Victor Grech and David Pace from Mater Dei Hospital and MCAST’s Mario Balzan have made it in the database of top scientists.
For David Mizzi, editor of the university’s magazine Think, which often flags research by UoM academics, the results are quite an achievement.
“Research is a collective endeavour – we build upon the work by other researchers to corroborate and expand our current theories. Being cited by many sources means research has had an impact on that field. It means that academics and scientists from across the world are using the research in Malta to develop their own theories,” Mizzi, from the university’s communications office, told Times of Malta.
He added there are plenty of female academics conducting exciting and groundbreaking research at the university: “I hope that in the future there will be a greater number of female researchers who will make it into the top percentages.”
Prof. Giuseppe Di Giovanni, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery
Photos: Matthew MirabelliDi Giovanni’s research journey kicked off in the 1980s, when as a biology student in Palermo, he started looking into serotonin, “the magic molecule of happiness”.
Among others, he has looked into the involvement of serotonin in personality disorders such as schizophrenia, mood disorders like depression and anxiety and epilepsy.
Di Giovanni studies the electrical activity of neural cells “to understand what goes wrong in the brain” in such disorders.
“I have always been completely fascinated by these studies – while reading for my doctorate I spent days in the lab and nights reading papers about serotonin discoveries.
“It is incredible, but about 100 years from its discovery, serotonin is still a mystery. Since we do not understand the whole picture behind the causes of psychiatric disorders, patients end up receiving inadequate treatment. We still do not understand how many psychoactive drugs actually work, meaning that more serotonin research is needed.”
Recently, he spoke to Times of Malta about research showing that boosting our own natural marijuana – known as endocannabinoids – is safer than using cannabis to block epileptic seizures.
Research, he admits, is a long journey, so such recognition encourages him to invest more in meaningful studies.
Prof. Ruben Gatt, Metamaterials Unit, Faculty of Science
Gatt, who has been publishing research for 16 years, believes that being among the topmost cited shows that local research is being internationally recognised as valuable work.
In 2017, Gatt spoke about research looking into ways of creating ‘artificial muscle’ that can imitate precise human gestures and even lift heavy objects.
Gatt noted that his work often includes the collaboration of other researchers, colleagues and students. He was recently involved in research together with another topmost cited scientist, Joseph Grima, which saw the development of an innovative protective foam that “could make the difference between life and death should one be involved in a traffic accident”.
He is currently helping develop a “game-changing” method where large blocks of this material, known as auxetic foam, can be produced in a relatively cheap way.
Prof. Michael Borg, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery
Borg was first published in 2003, when he flagged the impact of overcrowding on MRSA hospital infections, and that study remains one of his most cited.
His publications range from antibiotic resistance in Europe to preventing and controlling hospital infections; however, he is especially keen on understanding the role of cultural influences on prescribing antibiotics.
Some of his ground-breaking research has shed light on why regions like the Mediterranean have such high levels of superbugs like MRSA and CRE.
In late 2018, Borg had told Times of Malta that at least two out of five people taking antibiotics in Malta do not need to do so. This practice increases the risk of treatment not working when a patient has a bacterial infection.
“Pleasantly surprised” to make it in the top two per cent, he said it was satisfying for an academic to come up with a research idea that contributes to scientific knowledge and then see their efforts acknowledged by peers and published in international journals.