Raul Gainetdinov, the Director of the Institute of Translational Biomedicine at St Petersburg University, has become one of the most respected scientists in the field of pharmacology in the world

Raul Gainetdinov, the Director of the Institute of Translational Biomedicine at St Petersburg University, has been included in the Web of Science (WOS) Highly Cited Researchers 2018 list. The list represents 6,000 of the most cited scientists from all over the world. The importance of their scientific work is measured by the number of highly cited publications presented in the Web of Science database for a decade (2006–2016).
The Web of Science (WOS), the most authoritative scientometric agency in the world, has selected the most cited scientists of the world. This year, the list represents 0.1% of the world's scientists and includes 17 Nobel Prize laureates. Most researchers included in the Highly Cited Researchers 2018 list are from the United States (2,600) and the United Kingdom and China (500 from each country). From Russia, only 10 scientists were able to get on this list. Four of them reside permanently in Russia including Raul Gainetdinov, the Director of the Institute of Translational Biomedicine at St Petersburg University. The Web of Science displays more than 230 professor's publications, 12 of which are marked as the most highly cited in the field of pharmacology and toxicology during 2006–2016. All in all, there are 161 researchers on the list of pharmacologists.
To get on the WOS Highly Cited Researchers 2018 list is a high reward for any scientist. In fact, it is a worldwide recognition of scientific achievements.
Raul Gainetdinov, the Director of the Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St Petersburg University
“For me, this is a great honour. It opens up new opportunities, as now a lot of scientific and educational institutions from all over the world will be interested in cooperation. But I have developed the most fruitful and warm relations with St Petersburg University. So, I am sure that I will continue to conduct research at Russia's oldest university,” said Raul Gainetdinov, the Director of the Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St Petersburg University.
The main direction of research activities in the Laboratory of Neuroscience and Molecular Pharmacology at St Petersburg University under the supervision of Raul Gainetdinov is the development of new drugs for psychiatric and neurological diseases of the brain. These include schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's Disease and others. Prior to working at St Petersburg University, Raul Gainetdinov held the position of senior researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology. Also, he worked at Duke University in the USA, where he is still an Adjunct Associate Professor.
The status of a scientist who has been recognised by the WOS Highly Cited Researcher also affects the credibility of the educational institution where he works. Thus, this indicator is taken into account in many world university rankings, including The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), which is considered to be one of the most respected global rankings of universities.