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University · San Francisco · United States

University of California, San Francisco

In research, University of California, San Francisco stands highest in Medicine (#6 of 10,443 worldwide), Health Sciences (#7 of 11,982 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#17 of 7,800 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Transplantation, Family Practice and Virology — Transplantation is 6.3× its share of world research.

ucsf.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#85
of 28,054 · #37 all time
Rank in United States
#23
of 4,192
Research works
112k
▲ 13% vs 2013–17
Citations
6.5M
57.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
22.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
39%
world 28%

What is University of California, San Francisco 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
MedicineField #6 of 10,443 20.4%7,333 #5
Health SciencesDomain #7 of 11,982 20.8%8,246 #4
Life SciencesDomain #17 of 7,800 25.9%2,361 #6
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthSubfield #3 of 828 23.3%627 #6
NeuroscienceField #7 of 1,168 27.0%540 #5
Health ProfessionsField #15 of 1,928 25.2%752 #8
Pulmonary and Respiratory MedicineSubfield #9 of 1,144 17.9%561 #5
NeurologySubfield #3 of 336 21.4%281 #5
PhysiologySubfield #5 of 548 21.1%349 #2
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #34 of 3,579 26.0%1,328 #6

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of California, San Francisco 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. Medicine#5 #6
  2. Health Sciences#4 #7
  3. Life Sciences#6 #17
  4. Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health#6 #3
  5. Neuroscience#5 #7
  6. Health Professions#8 #15
  7. Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine#5 #9
  8. Neurology#5 #3
  9. Physiology#2 #5
  10. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#6 #34
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 University of California, San Francisco specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Transplantation takes 6.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. TransplantationSubfield · 36.2 works6.3×
  2. Family PracticeSubfield · 33.3 works5.4×
  3. VirologySubfield · 36.5 works4.9×
  4. Developmental NeuroscienceSubfield · 29.4 works4.6×
  5. Emergency MedicineSubfield · 139.4 works4.5×
  6. Psychiatry and Mental healthSubfield · 269.5 works4.2×
  7. GeneticsSubfield · 143.9 works4.1×
← 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: 0.12× its world share, 70 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.94× its world share, 1,328 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 2.76× its world share, 356 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.60× its world share, 540 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.50× its world share, 68 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.07× its world share, 3 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.29× its world share, 59 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.15× its world share, 146 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.03× its world share, 6 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.02× its world share, 3 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.10× its world share, 201 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.23× its world share, 149 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.09× its world share, 38 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.35× its world share, 52 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.20× its world share, 58 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.31× its world share, 82 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 2.23× its world share, 752 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 2.98× its world share, 7,333 worksMedicineNursing: 1.13× its world share, 71 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.48× its world share, 8 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.14× its world share, 52 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.12× its world share, 49 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.32× its world share, 40 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.64× its world share, 174 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.63× its world share, 636 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.33× its world share, 539 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Medicine, 3.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of California, San Francisco?

Ranked on the composite score, Peter A. Kollman, Steven R. Cummings and Julie Ann Sosa lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of California, San Francisco.

  1. 1 Peter A. Kollman United States · #128 worldwide 6.3k citations · 134 works
  2. 2 Steven R. Cummings United States · #1,012 worldwide 1.6k citations · 119 works
  3. 3 Julie Ann Sosa United States · #1,018 worldwide 3k citations · 91 works
  4. 4 Zena Werb United States · #1,172 worldwide 3.3k citations · 93 works
  5. 5 Gregory M. Marcus United States · #1,516 worldwide 2.2k citations · 147 works
  6. 6 Peter R. Carroll United States · #1,798 worldwide 2.5k citations · 236 works
  7. 7 Joe W. Gray United States · #1,845 worldwide 2k citations · 157 works
  8. 8 Stanley B. Prusiner United States · #2,526 worldwide 1.3k citations · 96 works
  9. 9 Lewis L. Lanier United States · #2,567 worldwide 1.3k citations · 83 works
  10. 10 Michael D. Prados United States · #3,126 worldwide 1.2k citations · 99 works
All ranked researchers at University of California, San Francisco

Which keywords describe research at University of California, San Francisco?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Inflammation, Immunotherapy, Quality of Life, Treatment, Risk Factors, Biomarkers and Public Health.

▲ 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. Epidemiology1,300▲ 2.6×135 topics
  2. Inflammation578▲ 2.2×80 topics
  3. Quality of Life478▲ 2.6×53 topics
  4. Treatment412▲ 2.6×51 topics
  5. Public Health395▲ 2.1×61 topics
  6. Oxidative Stress392▲ 1.87×60 topics
  7. Risk Factors387▲ 2.8×37 topics
  8. Immunotherapy380▲ 4.2×19 topics
  9. Mental Health360▲ 1.92×42 topics
  10. Cardiovascular Disease334▲ 2.4×38 topics
  11. Cancer324▲ 1.88×54 topics
  12. Biomarkers315▲ 3.6×17 topics
  13. Diagnosis284▲ 2.4×41 topics
  14. Depression282▲ 2.5×25 topics
  15. Aging277▲ 4.0×17 topics
  16. Chemotherapy265▲ 3.0×25 topics
  17. Clinical Trials264▲ 3.1×19 topics
  18. Neurological Disorders259▲ 3.6×20 topics
  19. Mortality246▲ 3.3×13 topics
  20. Metabolic Syndrome240▲ 2.3×23 topics
  21. Radiotherapy234▲ 4.7×13 topics
  22. Management233▲ 2.3×32 topics
  23. Genetics232▲ 2.6×26 topics
  24. Global Burden210▲ 3.0×12 topics
  25. Genetic Mutations205▲ 3.7×23 topics
  26. Neuroimaging204▲ 5.9×11 topics
  27. Guidelines186▲ 3.1×13 topics
  28. Primary Care182▲ 3.8×15 topics
  29. Antiretroviral Therapy176▲ 8.5×6 topics
  30. Health Disparities176▲ 5.2×8 topics
  31. Neurodegeneration172▲ 4.5×10 topics
  32. Mortality Risk161▲ 5.3×6 topics
  33. Alzheimer's Disease161▲ 4.4×9 topics
  34. Neuroinflammation158▲ 4.3×6 topics
  35. Medical Education154▲ 4.7×13 topics
  36. Cognitive Decline130▲ 8.5×2 topics
  37. Caregiver Burden125▲ 8.9×3 topics
  38. Cognitive Training122▲ 10×2 topics
  39. Dementia118▲ 9.9×2 topics
  40. Mild Cognitive Impairment118▲ 11×1 topic

Which research topics does University of California, San Francisco publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research, Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment, HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions and Diversity and Career in Medicine.

Dementia and Cognitive I…118Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research: 118 fractional worksGlioma Diagnosis and Tre…83Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment: 83 fractional worksHIV/AIDS Research and Interventions: 76 fractional worksDiversity and Career in Medicine: 66 fractional worksInnovations in Medical Education: 63 fractional worksHealth Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life: 62 fractional worksAlzheimer's disease research and treatments: 60 fractional worksCAR-T cell therapy resea…59CAR-T cell therapy research: 59 fractional worksFood Security and Health in Diverse Populations: 54 fractional worksCancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers: 52 fractional works
Psychiatry and Mental healthGeneticsInfectious DiseasesGender Studies5 others

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

  1. 1 Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research Psychiatry and Mental health 118 works
  2. 2 Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment Genetics 83 works
  3. 3 HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions Infectious Diseases 76 works
  4. 4 Diversity and Career in Medicine Gender Studies 66 works
  5. 5 Innovations in Medical Education Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 63 works
  6. 6 Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life Economics and Econometrics 62 works
  7. 7 Alzheimer's disease research and treatments Physiology 60 works
  8. 8 CAR-T cell therapy research Oncology 59 works
  9. 9 Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations General Health Professions 54 works
  10. 10 Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers Oncology 52 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 available38.9%not open61.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors14.1%domestic only85.9%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of California, San Francisco's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 13% 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 San Francisco

All research institutions in San Francisco

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.