Science Explorer Interactive view Map
University · Guangzhou · China

Southern Medical University

In research, Southern Medical University stands highest in Life Sciences (#49 of 7,800 worldwide), Medicine (#94 of 10,443 worldwide) and Health Sciences (#109 of 11,982 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Biological Psychiatry, Cancer Research and Nephrology — Biological Psychiatry is 8.3× its share of world research.

smu.edu.cnROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#222
of 28,054 · #996 all time
Rank in China
#85
of 3,058
Research works
25k
▲ 30% vs 2013–17
Citations
386k
15.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
27.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
44%
world 28%

What is Southern Medical University known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Life SciencesDomain #49 of 7,800 28.2%2,262 #409
MedicineField #94 of 10,443 25.5%3,639 #428
Health SciencesDomain #109 of 11,982 25.8%3,900 #482
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #64 of 3,579 27.6%1,481 #446
Molecular BiologySubfield #42 of 2,175 28.3%904 #328
Pulmonary and Respiratory MedicineSubfield #27 of 1,144 23.5%392 #205
SurgerySubfield #54 of 1,816 24.0%395 #317
Immunology and MicrobiologyField #26 of 682 31.1%346 #241
OncologySubfield #33 of 772 28.0%324 #210
EpidemiologySubfield #45 of 976 26.4%305 #314

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Southern Medical University sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Life Sciences#409 #49
  2. Medicine#428 #94
  3. Health Sciences#482 #109
  4. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#446 #64
  5. Molecular Biology#328 #42
  6. Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine#205 #27
  7. Surgery#317 #54
  8. Immunology and Microbiology#241 #26
  9. Oncology#210 #33
  10. Epidemiology#314 #45
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Southern Medical University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Biological Psychiatry takes 8.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Biological PsychiatrySubfield · 33.3 works8.3×
  2. Cancer ResearchSubfield · 235.4 works7.4×
  3. NephrologySubfield · 102.7 works6.5×
  4. ImmunologySubfield · 290.3 works5.8×
  5. HepatologySubfield · 74.7 works5.3×
  6. Immunology and MicrobiologyField · 346.0 works4.7×
  7. GeneticsSubfield · 87.3 works4.4×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.23× its world share, 81 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 3.81× its world share, 1,481 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 4.71× its world share, 346 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.40× its world share, 284 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 2.72× its world share, 70 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.24× its world share, 6 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.73× its world share, 83 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.18× its world share, 103 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.03× its world share, 3 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.09× its world share, 6 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.30× its world share, 324 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.34× its world share, 123 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.65× its world share, 164 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.23× its world share, 20 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.19× its world share, 30 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 2.47× its world share, 88 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.51× its world share, 97 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 2.59× its world share, 3,639 worksMedicineNursing: 1.99× its world share, 71 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.51× its world share, 5 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.07× its world share, 14 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.04× its world share, 10 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.13× its world share, 10 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.14× its world share, 22 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.60× its world share, 134 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.09× its world share, 79 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Immunology and Microbiology, 4.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Southern Medical University?

Ranked on the composite score, Gang Wang, Fan Fan Hou and Meijun Chen lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Southern Medical University.

  1. 1 Gang Wang China · #13,165 worldwide 527 citations · 72 works
  2. 2 Fan Fan Hou China · #41,174 worldwide 451 citations · 58 works
  3. 3 Meijun Chen China · #41,555 worldwide 1.5k citations · 30 works
  4. 4 Li Zhan China · #60,067 worldwide 1.7k citations · 26 works
  5. 5 Wei Yang China · #61,770 worldwide 257 citations · 44 works
  6. 6 Qing Wang China · #72,713 worldwide 408 citations · 51 works
  7. 7 Guangchuang Yu China · #74,544 worldwide 2.2k citations · 24 works
  8. 8 Lin Li China · #79,906 worldwide 294 citations · 31 works
  9. 9 Nan Xiang China · #108,619 worldwide 183 citations · 35 works
  10. 10 Qianjin Feng China · #126,420 worldwide 246 citations · 46 works
All ranked researchers at Southern Medical University

Which keywords describe research at Southern Medical University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Cancer, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, Epidemiology, Tumor Microenvironment, Gene Expression, Biomarkers and Immunotherapy.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Inflammation778▲ 5.1×83 topics
  2. Cancer685▲ 7.0×58 topics
  3. Epidemiology579▲ 2.0×128 topics
  4. Oxidative Stress464▲ 3.9×61 topics
  5. Tumor Microenvironment287▲ 8.9×8 topics
  6. Cardiovascular Disease262▲ 3.2×37 topics
  7. Gene Expression248▲ 5.6×18 topics
  8. Biomarkers235▲ 4.7×18 topics
  9. Immunotherapy231▲ 4.5×19 topics
  10. Metabolic Syndrome203▲ 3.4×22 topics
  11. Nanoparticles192▲ 2.1×35 topics
  12. Immunity188▲ 6.4×11 topics
  13. Treatment185▲ 2.1×50 topics
  14. Chemotherapy178▲ 3.5×25 topics
  15. Cell Death172▲ 10×6 topics
  16. Reactive Oxygen Species162▲ 5.5×14 topics
  17. Metabolism160▲ 4.3×32 topics
  18. Angiogenesis158▲ 6.6×16 topics
  19. Immune Response157▲ 3.8×23 topics
  20. Cancer Therapy153▲ 3.7×20 topics
  21. Drug Delivery148▲ 3.8×14 topics
  22. Metastasis144▲ 5.8×12 topics
  23. Biogenesis141▲ 11×3 topics
  24. Innate Immunity132▲ 5.7×11 topics
  25. Clinical Practice Guidelines132▲ 3.3×14 topics
  26. Regulation130▲ 3.3×17 topics
  27. Apoptosis127▲ 5.8×21 topics
  28. Insulin Resistance123▲ 3.7×10 topics
  29. Diabetes122▲ 3.4×22 topics
  30. Photodynamic Therapy121▲ 7.5×6 topics
  31. Tumor Targeting114▲ 8.8×3 topics
  32. Regeneration113▲ 7.9×6 topics
  33. Cancer Progression109▲ 8.1×8 topics
  34. Cytokines107▲ 5.2×8 topics
  35. Epigenetic Regulation103▲ 6.6×6 topics
  36. Lipid Peroxidation100▲ 13×3 topics
  37. Inflammatory Diseases99▲ 7.5×6 topics
  38. Ferroptosis96▲ 17×1 topic
  39. GPX496▲ 17×1 topic
  40. Macrophages95▲ 7.5×7 topics

Which research topics does Southern Medical University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis, Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics, Gut microbiota and health and Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers.

Ferroptosis and cancer p…96Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis: 96 fractional worksNanoplatforms for cancer…78Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics: 78 fractional worksGut microbiota and health: 72 fractional worksCancer Immunotherapy and…68Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers: 68 fractional worksCancer-related molecular…68Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research: 68 fractional worksRNA modifications and cancer: 60 fractional worksExtracellular vesicles in disease: 58 fractional worksRadiomics and Machine Le…56Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging: 56 fractional worksImmune cells in cancer: 56 fractional worksMicroRNA in disease regulation: 50 fractional works
Pulmonary and Respiratory MedicineBiomedical EngineeringMolecular BiologyOncology3 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine 96 works
  2. 2 Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics Biomedical Engineering 78 works
  3. 3 Gut microbiota and health Molecular Biology 72 works
  4. 4 Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers Oncology 68 works
  5. 5 Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research Cancer Research 68 works
  6. 6 RNA modifications and cancer Molecular Biology 60 works
  7. 7 Extracellular vesicles in disease Molecular Biology 58 works
  8. 8 Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging 56 works
  9. 9 Immune cells in cancer Immunology 56 works
  10. 10 MicroRNA in disease regulation Cancer Research 50 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available43.9%not open56.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors11.2%domestic only88.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Southern Medical University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 30% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Guangzhou

All research institutions in Guangzhou

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.