Three senior George Institute researchers have once again been recognised for their work as part of a strong contingent of Australians in the global list of most highly cited, released this week.

Executive Director Professor Bruce Neal, Professorial Fellow and Dean of Medicine, UNSW Professor Vlado Perkovic and Senior Professorial Fellow Mark Woodward were all included in the 2020 Highly Cited Researchers by leading global insights and analytics company Clarivate.

The highly anticipated annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top one percent by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science™ citation index. 

Professor Bruce Neal said it was a testament to the work of The George Institute that its research continues to have significant global reach.

“Its very gratifying to be recognised in the most cited list again this year, as researchers we hope our work will make a difference so its good to see that this work continues to be referenced by our peers,” he said.

According to Clarivate, Australian research institutes continue to punch above their weight with a total of 305 researchers recognized in 2020 out of a population of just 25 million.

They also commented that Australian research institutions appeared to have recruited a significant number of Highly Cited Researchers in recent years while also increasing their number of homegrown talent. 

David Pendlebury, Senior Citation Analyst at the Institute for Scientific Information, said: “In the race for knowledge, it is human capital that is fundamental and this list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers who are having a great impact on the research community as measured by the rate at which their work is being cited by others.”

A project partnership between The George Institute and UNSW has been awarded just over $536,000 to find new ways of helping parents ensure the safety of children in cars.

Incorrect use of child restraints and inappropriate use of adult seat belts are widespread and have caused longstanding problems around the world, with road traffic injury being the fifth leading cause of childhood death worldwide. In Australia more than two million children are at increased risk of injury due to a lack of understanding about how to solve these problems.

Associate Professor Julie Brown says the Australian Research Council funding will allow the team to solve problems necessary to further reduce rates of injury, ultimately leading to reduced burden on families and societal cost savings.

“By law every Australian child must use a restraint when travelling in a car and more than 90 percent of children under 12 years old use restraints but more than 50 percent continue to use them incorrectly putting them at three times the risk of injury in a crash,” she said.

“Children under seven use dedicated child restraints but for those aged seven and older, parents must decide if their child needs a booster seat or can use an adult seat belt – this is where there can be some confusion.”

“There is an urgent need to find tangible solutions to the incorrect use of child or adult restraints to reduce the unacceptably high number of Australian children at increased risk of road traffic injury,” she added.

The project, conducted in collaboration with Prof Lynne Bilston from NeuRA, aims to deliver new understanding about:

(i) how to communicate with parents to ensure behaviours and decisions about restraint optimise safety, and

(ii) how user-driven design can solve problems inhibiting optimal protection of children in cars.

Importantly this work will also deliver real solutions to some of the world’s longest standing child passenger safety problems.

The Australian Research Council funding is part of Discovery Projects scheme.