Six primary and 16 secondary faculty members from the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis have been recognized as among the most influential and impactful researchers worldwide, according to the 2025 Stanford University–Elsevier World’s Top 2% Scientists List.

Using citation data from the Scopus database, every year Stanford University and Elsevier researchers rank the most-cited scientists in the prior year and over all time. Inclusion on the lists reflects the scientists’ significant global influence and scholarly contributions.

The School of Public Health primary faculty who ranked among the top 2% in 2024, over all time, or both are:

  • Ross Brownson, PhD, the Steven H. and Susan U. Lipstein Distinguished Professor
  • Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, the Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the School of Public Health, Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor, and the vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at WashU
  • Matthew Kreuter, MPH, PhD, the Kahn Family Professor of Public Health
  • Douglas Luke, MA, PhD, the Distinguished Professor in Public Health Systems Science
  • Mary Politi, PhD, a professor of public health
  • Susan Stark, PhD, a professor of public health 

The School of Public Health secondary faculty who were listed on one or both of the top 2% lists:

  • Hillary Anger Elfenbein, MA, PhD, the John K. Wallace, Jr. and Ellen A. Wallace Distinguished Professor at Olin Business
  • Bradley Evanoff, MD, MPH, the Richard A and Elizabeth Henby Sutter Professor of Occupational, Industrial, and Environmental Medicine at WashU Medicine
  • Elvin Geng, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at WashU Medicine
  • Daniel Giammar, PhD, the Walter E. Browne Professor at McKelvey School of Engineering
  • Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor at WashU Medicine
  • Barton Hamilton, PhD, the Robert Brookings Smith Distinguished Professor at Olin Business
  • Mark Huffman, MD, MPH, the William Bowen Endowed Professor of Medicine at WashU Medicine
  • Feng Jiao, PhD, the Lauren and Lee Fixel Distinguished Professor at McKelvey Engineering
  • Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at WashU Medicine
  • Tristram Kidder, PhD, a professor at Arts & Sciences 
  • Margaret Kruk, MD, MPH, the Distinguished Endowed Professor of Health Systems & Medicine at WashU Medicine
  • Chenyang Lu, PhD, the Fullgraf Professor at McKelvey Engineering
  • Mark Manary, MD, the James P. Keating Professor of Pediatrics at WashU Medicine 
  • Mary McKay, PhD, the executive vice provost at WashU and a professor at the Brown School
  • Byron Powell, PhD, an associate professor at the Brown School 
  • Denise Wilfley, PhD, the Scott Rudolph University Professor at WashU Medicine