The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
Students and researchers now have a fast and reliable way to find influential thinkers from 24 disciplines and 300 sub-disciplines (and growing). If you want to find history’s most influential philsosophers, or the world’s most influential mathematicians currently, now you can.
We also provide custom rankings of people by discipline as well as interviews with influential academics who are currently active.
To use this tool, select the discipline (and optional subdiscipline) relevant to your research, and specify influential academics by history, world, or US. Even results that are counterintuitive are often enlightening (our algorithm always picks up a signal).
Methodology: How and Why We Rank by Influence …
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List of the most influential people in Virology,
#201
David Prangishvili
#99481
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
David Prangishvili is a virologist, Professor at the Pasteur Institute of Paris, and foremost authority on viruses infecting Archaea. Biography David Prangishvili gained a Master of Science degree in 1971 at Tbilisi State University, Georgia, and a PhD and Habilitation from Institute of Molecular Biology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow. He pioneered research on Archaea, the third domain of life, in the USSR and in 1986-1991 was a head of the department of Molecular Biology of Archaea at the Georgian Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi. In 1991-2004 he has worked in Germany, at Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry and at Regensburg University.
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Bruce L. Levine
#133424
Overall Influence
#203
Tadashi Mori
#133464
Overall Influence
#204
Keith R. Jerome
#114538
Overall Influence
Keith R. Jerome is an American virologist whose research focuses on viruses such as herpes simplex, HIV and hepatitis B that persist in their hosts. He published on the first known case of COVID-19 in the United States detecting SARS-CoV-2 in Washington State and helped forge the nation's COVID-19 testing. In 2021, Jerome and Alexander Greninger shared the Washington Innovator of the Year award for developing the laboratory based assay for detecting COVID-19. He was senior author on a research article published in Science describing the cryptic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 alongside Trevor Bedford, Alexander Greninger, Jay Shendure, and Helen Chu.
Go to Profile#205
Theodore Friedmann
#133896
Overall Influence
#206
Raul Andino
#103015
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Raul Andino is a virologist and professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is noted for leading a team of researchers that developed the first new oral polio vaccine in 50 years.
Go to Profile#207
Arsène Burny
#134151
Overall Influence
#208
Craig j. Gerard
#134356
Overall Influence
#209
Morris. Pollard
#134849
Overall Influence
#210
William Paul Duprex
#98865
Overall Influence
William Paul Duprex is a British scientist and advocate for vaccines and global health. He serves as Director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Vaccine Research and Regional Biocontainment Laboratory. Duprex holds the Jonas Salk Chair in Vaccine Research. He is also a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of General Virology, which is published by the Microbiology Society, and a senior editor of mSphere, published by the American Society for Microbiology. Duprex is an expert i...
Go to Profile#211
Takaji Wakita
#135262
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
#212
Hilton c. Whittle
#135564
Overall Influence
#213
Nelson Michael
#50356
Overall Influence
Nelson L. Michael is an American infectious disease researcher. He has served for nearly 30 years in the United States Army and been directly involved with significant advancements in understanding the pathology of and vaccine development for diseases like HIV, Zika, Ebola and more. Much of his career has been spent at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Go to Profile#214
Francis A. Ennis
#136064
Overall Influence
#215
R. Lance Miller
#136212
Overall Influence
#216
Mark E. Nesbit
#136534
Overall Influence
#217
Annika Linde
#100102
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
Gerda Annika Linde is a Swedish physician, virologist and retired civil servant. From 2005 to 2013 she served as State Epidemiologist at the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control. Biography Linde was born in Skövde and grew up there. She was inspired by the novel Exodus by Leon Uris to study medicine. She enrolled at Gothenburg University in 1968, studying medicine and sociology, obtaining a medical degree in 1974. After her internship at Danderyd Hospital she went on to work as an infectious disease specialist at the presently defunct Roslagstull Hospital in Stockholm. In 1979 s...
Go to Profile#218
Mary Collins
#31913
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Mary Katharine Levinge Collins, Lady Hunt is a British Professor of virology and the director of the Queen Mary University of London Blizard Institute. She served as Provost at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. Formerly, Collins taught in the Division of Infection and Immunity at University College London, and was the head of the Division of Advanced Therapies at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, and the Director of the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Molecular Virology. Her research group studies the use of viruses as vectors for ...
Go to Profile#219
Deenan Pillay
#137120
Overall Influence
#220
Christian Bréchot
#58770
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (74 years)
Christian Bréchot is a French physician and scientist who has been serving as president of the Global Virus Network since 2017. He previously served as president of the Institut Pasteur from 2013 until 2017 and as chief executive officer of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research from 2001 to 2007.
Go to Profile#221
Paul B. Mccray
#138529
Overall Influence
#222
Peter Sarnow
#44472
Overall Influence
Hans-Peter Sarnow is a German virologist. He is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University. Early life and education Sarnow was born and raised in Konstanz, Germany. He completed his Master's degree at the University of Konstanz in 1979 before moving to the United States for his PhD at Stony Brook University. Upon earning his doctorate degree in 1982, Sarnow completed his postdoctoral research with David Baltimore at the Whitehead Institute.
Go to Profile#223
Robert F. Garry
#138715
Overall Influence
#224
Joel D. Meyers
#138764
Overall Influence
#225
Koichi Yamanishi
#138882
Overall Influence
#226
Michael Emerman
#139027
Overall Influence
#227
Julie Overbaugh
#134559
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Julie M. Overbaugh is an American virologist. She is a professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Overbaugh is best known for her translational approach to studying HIV transmission and pathogenesis and studies of how the antibody response evolves to recognize viruses. Her work in maternal and infant HIV transmission helped make clear the risk posed by breastfeeding and highlighted unique characteristics of an infant immune response that could inform vaccine development. Major scientific contributions to the understanding of HIV transmission and pathogenesis also include: identif...
Go to Profile#228
William Paul Glezen
#139458
Overall Influence
#229
Michael J. Feldman
#139583
Overall Influence
#230
Riccardo Cortese
#139848
Overall Influence
#231
David T. Purtilo
#139959
Overall Influence
#232
Amiya K. Banerjee
#140045
Overall Influence
#233
Anna Marie Ann Skalka
#141012
Overall Influence
#234
Deborah Persaud
#31226
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
Deborah Persaud is a Guyanese-born American virologist who primarily works on HIV/AIDS at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Biography Persaud was born on 23 August 1960 in Port Mourant, East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana. At age 16 she moved to Brooklyn. Persaud attended the New York University School of Medicine after receiving her undergraduate degree from York College CUNY. She also earned a master's degree at the New York University School of Medicine. She started residency at the Babies Hospital of New York and finished her chief residency at the same hospital. Persaud later was a fellow at the New York University School of Medicine.
Go to Profile#235
William E. Rawls
#142141
Overall Influence
#236
Sherif R. Zaki
#142362
Overall Influence
#237
Gary L. Davis
#142519
Overall Influence
#238
N. E. Nathanson
#142809
Overall Influence
#239
Pat Nuttall
#61505
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (73 years)
Patricia Anne Nuttall, OBE is a British virologist and acarologist known for her research on tick-borne diseases. Her discoveries include the fact that pathogens can be transmitted between vectors feeding on a host without being detectable in the host's blood. She is also a science administrator who served as the director of the Natural Environment Research Council Centre for Ecology & Hydrology . As of 2015, she is professor of arbovirology in the Department of Zoology of the University of Oxford.
Go to Profile#240
Andrea Marzi
#91836
Overall Influence
Andrea Marzi is a German-American virologist. She is chief of the immunobiology and molecular virology unit at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories. Marzi investigates the pathogenesis of filoviruses and vaccine development. She received the in recognition of her research.
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Dominic Dwyer
#96730
Overall Influence
Dominic E. Dwyer is an Australian microbiologist and Clinical Professor of Medicine for Immunology and Infectious Diseases at The University of Sydney's School of Medicine. He came from Saint Joseph's College school, that is also located at Sydney, before going to university.
Go to Profile#242
Raymond V. Gilden
#144180
Overall Influence
#243
Kathrin Jansen
#50754
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
Kathrin U. Jansen is the former Head of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer. She previously led the development of the HPV vaccine and newer versions of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine , and is working with BioNTech to create a COVID-19 vaccine using mRNA that was approved for Emergency Use Authorization in the United States on December 11, 2020.
Go to Profile#244
Elodie Ghedin
#51882
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Elodie Ghedin is a Canadian parasitologist and virologist as well as a professor at the New York University Center for Genomics and Systems Biology. Her work focuses on the molecular biology and genomics of the parasites that cause diseases such as elephantiasis, and river blindness, and on the evolution of the influenza virus. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow, a 2012 Kavli Frontier of Science Fellow, and a 2017 American Academy of Microbiology Fellow. She also was Awarded the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award in 2010.
Go to Profile#245
Arvind Varsani
#144871
Overall Influence
#246
Stephanos J. Hadziyannis
#144959
Overall Influence
#247
Kenneth Ira Berns
#145052
Overall Influence
#248
Laimonis Laimins
#137824
Overall Influence
Laimonis A. Laimins is an American microbiologist currently the Guy and Anne Youmans Professor at Northwestern University and an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Go to Profile#249
Geoffrey C. Schild
#145769
Overall Influence
#250
Yvonne Cossart
#104909
Overall Influence
1934 - 2014 (80 years)
Yvonne Edna Cossart was an Australian virologist, who discovered the parvovirus B19 in 1975. Cossart graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science in 1957 and MB BS in 1959. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to medicine as a specialist in infectious diseases, especially in the areas of virological research, epidemiology and disease prevention, and to education".
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