Harvard's Science Tops List of `Hottest' Research

Harvard scientists are topping the charts.

In the latest issue of Science Watch, five research papers by University scientists were ranked as among the hottest in their field.

The rankings are based on the number of times the papers have been cited in work published over the past two months.

Professor of Medicine Walter C. Willett led a team of researchers that produced the top two papers on the "What's Hot in Medicine" list. The papers also topped the medicine hot list during the previous two-month period.

The studies discuss the link between vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease.

In an interview with ScienceWatch, Willet said that the two papers are noteworthy because they are quite comprehensive.

"This is the largest long-term, detailed study of dietary intake in any population at this point in time," Willett said. "We've also continued to work on refining and improving the methods of dietary assessment."

While the works have been widely lauded for their large samples, there was no systematic process for measuring vitamin E levels in subjects of the studies, according to Science Watch.

Willet's group also claimed the ninth spot on the medicine chart with a paper on the "Intake of trans-fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease among women."

"We've looked at hard disease and found a possible assoication with trans fatty acid consumption," Willet told Science Watch.

Willett explained that trans-fatty acids are "a group of artificial fats [produced when] manufacturers take liquid vegetable oil and [change] the fats from liquid to solid so they can be used in margarine and shortening."

Groups from Harvard also claimed the sixth spot on the "What's Hot in Biology" list and the 10th spot on the "What's Hot in Physics" list.

The biology paper, which discusses hereditary colon cancer, was authored by several Harvard professors and affiliates. It improved three notches on the biology scale, up from number nine in the last period.

The physics paper was written in part by Bertrand I. Halperin, Hollis professor of mathematics and natrual philosophy. The paper, "Theory of the half-filled Landau level," was also number 10 in the last period.