Clarivate Reveals Citation Laureates 2026 Recognizing Transformative Scientific Breakthroughs

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17 Sep, 2026, 12:35 IST

22 researchers honored for Nobel-class discoveries, including pioneers of GLP-1 medicines and other world-changing advances

LONDON, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT), a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, today announced the Citation Laureates 2026, a distinguished group of 22 researchers whose work is of Nobel class. Selected by experts at the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) at Clarivate, these individuals have made pioneering contributions that continue to shape science and society.

Since the program's inception, 89 Citation Laureates have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes, often years after their initial recognition by Clarivate.

Bar Veinstein, President, Academia & Government at Clarivate, said: "For more than two decades, Citation Laureates has been among the world's most closely watched data-led indicators of exceptional research influence. The Citation Laureates program recognizes researchers whose discoveries demonstrate the extraordinary value of fundamental research. Many of the advances we honor this year, from GLP-1 medicines to precision gene editing and optical medical imaging, began as scientific questions explored decades ago. Today, they are improving lives, informing policy and helping shape the future. We are proud to recognize these researchers and the lasting impact of their work."

Citation Laureates' foundational research papers rank among the most highly cited in their fields, reflecting exceptional influence across disciplines and borders. This year's Laureates have advanced knowledge in fields of profound societal importance, including:

Physiology or Medicine: GLP-1 biology and obesity treatment, optical imaging, and immune system research
Physics: Advanced OLED displays, energy-efficient computing materials, and quantum electronics
Chemistry: Self-assembled nanomaterials, biological electron transfer, and precision gene editing
Economics: The digital economy, monetary policy and central banking, and organizational innovation and economic dynamism

The Citation Laureates program helps researchers, institutions, funders and policymakers identify highly influential research, while offering science media, Nobel observers and the wider public insight into discoveries shaping the future.

Among this year's most visible discoveries are the scientific advances underpinning GLP-1 medicines, recognizing Daniel J. Drucker, Jens Juul Holst and Svetlana Mojsov. Their foundational discoveries helped enable GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines, which have transformed the treatment of diabetes and obesity for millions of people worldwide and continue to demonstrate benefits across a growing range of health conditions.

Daniel J. Drucker, Senior Investigator at Sinai Health's Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and University Professor, Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre-Novo Nordisk Chair in Incretin Biology, University of Toronto, said: "It is an honor to be recognized as a Citation Laureate. The story of GLP-1 medicines demonstrates the power of curiosity-driven research. What began as a quest to understand how gut hormones regulate metabolism has led to therapies that are improving the lives of millions of people worldwide. It is a reminder that fundamental science can have impacts far beyond what researchers initially imagine."

The 2026 Laureates are affiliated with leading academic institutions in seven countries/regions, reflecting the global nature of Nobel-class research. Sixteen are based in the United States, and one each in Canada, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mainland China, and Switzerland.

Since 2002, ISI analysts have used publication and citation data from the Web of Science Core Collection to identify researchers whose work is of Nobel class. Out of more than 67 million articles and proceedings indexed since 1970, less than 0.02% have been cited more than 2,000 times. Citation Laureates are selected from this elite group through rigorous citation analysis and expert insight.

The Citation Laureates 2026 are:

Physiology or Medicine

Daniel J. Drucker, Senior Investigator at Sinai Health's Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research
Institute; University Professor, Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, the
Banting and Best Diabetes Centre-Novo Nordisk Chair in Incretin Biology, University of
Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Jens Juul Holst, Professor of Medical Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences,
and Senior Group Leader, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic
Research, The Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Svetlana Mojsov, Lulu Chow Wang and Robin Chemers Neustein Research Professor,
Rockefeller University, New York, New York, United States

"for identification and characterization of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) and studies of
its biological activity"

James G. Fujimoto, Elihu Thomson Professor of Electrical Engineering, Research
Laboratory of Electronics and Department Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

David Huang, Director of Research & Associate Director, Casey Eye Institute; Wold
Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmic Imaging; Professor of Ophthalmology &
Biomedical Engineering, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United
States; Director, Center for Ophthalmic Optics & Lasers (COOL Lab)

Eric A. Swanson, Affiliate of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, United States

"for the development of optical coherence tomography, a new imaging modality in
medicine, biomedical research, and other applications"

Timothy A. Springer, Latham Family Professor, Boston Children's Hospital / Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

"for identifying key adhesion receptors in the immune system"

Physics

Chihaya Adachi, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Organic
Photonics and Electronics Research (OPERA), Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Stephen R. Forrest, Peter A. Franken Distinguished University Professor and Paul G.
Goebel Professor of Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Mark E. Thompson, University Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and
Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United
States

"for pioneering research on phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs)
and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), enabling ultrahigh-efficiency
organic light-emitting diodes"

Nicola A. Spaldin, Professor, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

"for fundamental theoretical developments leading to the establishment of room-
temperature magnetoelectric multiferroics, which are enabling new energy-efficient
device paradigms"

Qikun Xue, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, President of Southern
University of Science and Technology, Professor of Tsinghua University, Beijing,
Mainland China

"for experimental observation of the quantum anomalous Hall Effect"

Chemistry

David L. Allara, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and
Materials and Engineering, Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, State College,
Pennsylvania, United States

Ralph G. Nuzzo, G. L. Clark Research Professor of Analytical Chemistry, and Research
Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois,
United States

Jacob Sagiv, Professor, Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science Department,
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

"for development of self-assembled monolayers (SAMS)"

Harry B. Gray, Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, California, United States

Jay R. Winkler, Member of the Beckman Institute and Faculty Associate in Chemistry,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, United States

"for advancing understanding of long-range electron transfer in proteins"

David R. Liu, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States; Richard Merkin Professor, Broad
Institute; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

"for developing base editing and prime editing, precision gene editing technologies that
directly edit DNA in living systems, revolutionizing the life sciences and enabling life-
saving programmable medicines"

Economics

Susan C. Athey, The Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford Graduate School of
Business, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States

Hal R. Varian, Formerly Chief Economist, Google, and Professor Emeritus at the School
of Information, Haas School of Business, and the Department of Economics, University of
California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States

"for pioneering analysis of the economics of information technology"

Michael D. Woodford, John Bates Clark Professor of Political Economy, Columbia
University, New York, New York, United States

"for contributions to the theory and practice of monetary policy"

Sidney G. Winter, Deloitte and Touche Professor Emeritus of Management, The
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

"for studies of economic dynamism and organizational behavior inspired by evolutionary
theory"

While the Citation Laureates program does not aim to predict Nobel Prize recipients in a specific year, it highlights researchers whose work is of Nobel class and merits global recognition.

Notes to editors:

View the full list of Citation Laureates 2026 and their recognized discoveries.
Explore the research behind this year's Citation Laureates and discover how today's breakthroughs were decades in the making on the Clarivate blog.
View the full list of Citation Laureates named since 2002 in the Hall of Citation Laureates.
David Pendlebury, Head of Research Analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, is available for interviews.
The 2026 Nobel Prize announcements will take place from 5-12 October and will be streamed live at www.nobelprize.org.

About Clarivate
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