Highly Cited Researchers 2023

Researchers from the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU) are included in the list of Highly Cited Researchers 2023.

This accolade recognises authors of highly-cited papers in the scientific literature. Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000.

The BSU’s most cited researchers are:

Stephen Burgess

MRC Investigator

Stephen’s main area of research is causal inference and specifically methods for Mendelian randomization: the use of genetic variants to understand whether putative risk factors are causally related to specific disease outcomes (target validation).In 2013, Stephen was awarded a Wellcome Trust entry-level fellowship (Sir Henry Wellcome Post-doctoral Fellowship) to continue theoretical and applied work in the field of Mendelian randomization. In 2017, he moved to the MRC Biostatistics Unit on a Wellcome Trust/Royal Society intermediate fellowship (Sir Henry Dale Fellowship) to establish a research group in the MRC Biostatistics Unit, where he is now a Programme Leader. In 2023, he was given a Career Development Award by the Wellcome Trust to continue work in this area. He leads a small team of researchers split between the MRC Biostatistics Unit and the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit. 

Shaun Seaman

Senior Research Associate

Shaun’s research interests include methodology for drawing causal inferences from observational data and for handling selection biases and missing data.  A causal inference problem that particularly interests Shaun is time-dependent confounding.  This arises when a time-varying exposure (e.g. treatment) is affected by time-varying confounders that are themselves affected by the exposure.  This confounding complicates the estimation of treatment effects and the identification of optimal treatment regimes for individual patients. 

Many congratulations to Stephen and Shaun. It is fantastic to see the impact BSU research is having on the greater scientific research community. 

The list also includes past members of the BSU including; Dan Jackson (now at AstraZeneca) and Simon Thompson (now retired).

Clarivate recognises the true pioneers in their fields over the last decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year. Find out more – Highly Cited Researchers – Clarivate