World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
102
Citations
30605
World Ranking
1192
National Ranking
465

D. Thirumalai publication distribution in Chemistry in 2026

The chart shows the distribution of publications by all Research.com ranked scientists in the field of Chemistry in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where D. Thirumalai sits on this spectrum.

61–80 publications: 66 scientists 81–100 publications: 302 scientists 101–120 publications: 623 scientists 121–140 publications: 918 scientists 141–160 publications: 1,218 scientists 161–180 publications: 1,350 scientists 181–200 publications: 1,344 scientists 201–220 publications: 1,281 scientists 221–240 publications: 1,216 scientists 241–260 publications: 1,100 scientists 261–280 publications: 979 scientists 281–300 publications: 939 scientists 301–320 publications: 764 scientists 321–340 publications: 643 scientists 341–360 publications: 628 scientists 361–380 publications: 522 scientists 381–400 publications: 459 scientists 401–420 publications: 397 scientists 421–440 publications: 327 scientists 441–460 publications: 270 scientists 461–480 publications: 265 scientists 481–500 publications: 252 scientists 501–520 publications: 201 scientists 521–540 publications: 185 scientists 541–560 publications: 148 scientists 561–580 publications: 148 scientists 581–600 publications: 132 scientists 601–620 publications: 114 scientists 621–640 publications: 104 scientists 641–660 publications: 91 scientists 661–680 publications: 92 scientists 681–700 publications: 73 scientists 701–720 publications: 57 scientists 721–740 publications: 54 scientists 741–760 publications: 67 scientists 761–780 publications: 45 scientists 781–800 publications: 46 scientists 801–820 publications: 39 scientists 821–840 publications: 32 scientists 841–860 publications: 36 scientists 861–880 publications: 29 scientists 881–900 publications: 26 scientists 901–920 publications: 24 scientists 921–940 publications: 14 scientists 941–960 publications: 23 scientists 961–980 publications: 28 scientists 981–1,000 publications: 15 scientists 1,001–1,020 publications: 29 scientists 1,021–1,040 publications: 12 scientists 1,041–1,060 publications: 19 scientists 1,061–1,080 publications: 12 scientists 1,081–1,100 publications: 6 scientists 1,101–1,120 publications: 8 scientists 1,121–1,140 publications: 12 scientists 1,141–1,160 publications: 5 scientists 1,161–1,180 publications: 6 scientists 1,181–1,200 publications: 14 scientists 1,201–1,220 publications: 7 scientists 1,221–1,240 publications: 2 scientists 1,241–1,260 publications: 6 scientists 1,261–1,280 publications: 4 scientists 1,281–1,294 publications: 6 scientists 1,295+ publications: 100 scientists
61 publications 1,295+

This scientist: 360 publications — 75th percentile

75% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 1,295 publications or more.

D. Thirumalai D-index placement in Chemistry in 2026

The chart shows the D-index (discipline H-index) distribution of Chemistry scientists ranked by Research.com in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where D. Thirumalai sits on this spectrum.

40–41 D-Index: 289 scientists 42–43 D-Index: 612 scientists 44–45 D-Index: 808 scientists 46–47 D-Index: 776 scientists 48–49 D-Index: 835 scientists 50–51 D-Index: 861 scientists 52–53 D-Index: 872 scientists 54–55 D-Index: 933 scientists 56–57 D-Index: 1,051 scientists 58–59 D-Index: 930 scientists 60–61 D-Index: 882 scientists 62–63 D-Index: 834 scientists 64–65 D-Index: 731 scientists 66–67 D-Index: 775 scientists 68–69 D-Index: 683 scientists 70–71 D-Index: 646 scientists 72–73 D-Index: 561 scientists 74–75 D-Index: 501 scientists 76–77 D-Index: 437 scientists 78–79 D-Index: 388 scientists 80–81 D-Index: 354 scientists 82–83 D-Index: 292 scientists 84–85 D-Index: 275 scientists 86–87 D-Index: 254 scientists 88–89 D-Index: 235 scientists 90–91 D-Index: 185 scientists 92–93 D-Index: 192 scientists 94–95 D-Index: 155 scientists 96–97 D-Index: 163 scientists 98–99 D-Index: 125 scientists 100–101 D-Index: 105 scientists 102–103 D-Index: 105 scientists 104–105 D-Index: 112 scientists 106–107 D-Index: 88 scientists 108–109 D-Index: 68 scientists 110–111 D-Index: 69 scientists 112–113 D-Index: 65 scientists 114–115 D-Index: 79 scientists 116–117 D-Index: 61 scientists 118–119 D-Index: 44 scientists 120–121 D-Index: 37 scientists 122–123 D-Index: 40 scientists 124–125 D-Index: 33 scientists 126–127 D-Index: 26 scientists 128–129 D-Index: 34 scientists 130–131 D-Index: 35 scientists 132–133 D-Index: 25 scientists 134–135 D-Index: 27 scientists 136–137 D-Index: 17 scientists 138–139 D-Index: 16 scientists 140–141 D-Index: 20 scientists 142–143 D-Index: 20 scientists 144–145 D-Index: 15 scientists 146–147 D-Index: 9 scientists 148–149 D-Index: 9 scientists 150–151 D-Index: 16 scientists 152–153 D-Index: 11 scientists 154–155 D-Index: 9 scientists 156–157 D-Index: 3 scientists 158 D-Index: 3 scientists 159+ D-Index: 98 scientists
40 D-Index 159+

This scientist: 102 D-Index — 94th percentile

94% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 159 D-Index or more.

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2019 - Irving Langmuir Award, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 2018 - Oesper Award, University of Cincinnati and American Chemical Society
  • 2015 - Fellow of American Physical Society (APS) Citation For pioneering applications of concepts from statistical mechanics and polymer physics in developing new computational tools and theoretical models that have greatly advanced our understanding of the behavior of biomacromolecules
  • 1986 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

D. Thirumalai is affiliated with The University of Texas at Austin in the United States. Their research primarily spans the field of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, with a significant focus on Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Materials Chemistry, Atomic and Molecular Physics and Optics, and Condensed Matter Physics.

The main topics of Thirumalai's work include:

  • RNA Research and Splicing
  • Protein Structure and Dynamics
  • RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
  • Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • RNA modifications and cancer
  • Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
  • Microtubule and mitosis dynamics

Their recent publications highlight contributions to both experimental and theoretical perspectives across molecular and cellular biophysics. Selected papers include:

  • "Condensates in RNA repeat sequences are heterogeneously organized and exhibit reptation dynamics," published in 2022 in Nature Chemistry
  • "Theoretical perspectives on biological machines," published in 2020 in Reviews of Modern Physics
  • "Differences in the free energies between the excited states of A β 40 and A β 42 monomers encode their aggregation propensities," published in 2020 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • "Mechanical heterogeneity along single cell-cell junctions is driven by lateral clustering of cadherins during vertebrate axis elongation," published in 2021 in eLife
  • "The Asakura-Oosawa theory: Entropic forces in physics, biology, and soft matter," published in 2022 in The Journal of Chemical Physics

Thirumalai frequently collaborates with a number of researchers, indicating a broad network across interdisciplinary topics. Frequent co-authors include:

  • Xin Li
  • Mauro L. Mugnai
  • Guang Shi
  • Debayan Chakraborty
  • Sumit Sinha

Their work is published across multiple venues with substantial contributions to:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry B
  • Biophysical Journal
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Over the course of their career, Thirumalai has been recognized with multiple awards, including the Irving Langmuir Award from the American Chemical Society in 2019 and the Oesper Award from the University of Cincinnati and the American Chemical Society in 2018. They were named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2015, with a citation highlighting pioneering applications of concepts from statistical mechanics and polymer physics to develop computational tools and theoretical models in biomacromolecular behavior. Additionally, they were a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1986.

Best Publications

  • Scaling concepts for the dynamics of viscous liquids near an ideal glassy state.

    T. R. Kirkpatrick;D. Thirumalai;P. G. Wolynes

  • On the Simulation of Quantum Systems: Path Integral Methods

    Bruce J. Berne;D. Thirumalai

  • Molecular crowding enhances native state stability and refolding rates of globular proteins

    Margaret S. Cheung;Dmitri Klimov;D. Thirumalai

  • p -spin-interaction spin-glass models: Connections with the structural glass problem

    T. R. Kirkpatrick;D. Thirumalai

  • Urea denaturation by stronger dispersion interactions with proteins than water implies a 2-stage unfolding

    Lan Hua;Ruhong Zhou;D. Thirumalai;B. J. Berne

  • Kinetics and thermodynamics of folding in model proteins

    Carlos J. Camacho;D. Thirumalai

  • Dissecting the Assembly of Aβ16–22 Amyloid Peptides into Antiparallel β Sheets

    Dmitri K. Klimov;D. Thirumalai

  • Interactions between Hydrophobic and Ionic Solutes in Aqueous Guanidinium Chloride and Urea Solutions: Lessons for Protein Denaturation Mechanism

    Edward P. O'Brien;Ruxandra I. Dima;Bernard Brooks;D. Thirumalai;D. Thirumalai

  • Monomer adds to preformed structured oligomers of Aβ-peptides by a two-stage dock–lock mechanism

    Phuong H. Nguyen;Mai Suan Li;Gerhard Stock;John E. Straub

  • Emerging ideas on the molecular basis of protein and peptide aggregation.

    D Thirumalai;DK Klimov;RI Dima

  • Pair potentials for protein folding: choice of reference states and sensitivity of predicted native states to variations in the interaction schemes.

    Marcos R. Betancourt;D. Thirumalai

  • Dynamics of the structural glass transition and the p-spin-interaction spin-glass model.

    T. R. Kirkpatrick;D. Thirumalai

  • HYDROPHOBIC INTERACTIONS IN AQUEOUS UREA SOLUTIONS WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MECHANISM OF PROTEIN DENATURATION

    A. Wallqvist;D. G. Covell;D. Thirumalai

  • The nature of folded states of globular proteins

    Unknown

  • From Minimal Models to Real Proteins: Time Scales for Protein Folding Kinetics

    D. Thirumalai

  • RNA and protein folding: common themes and variations.

    D. Thirumalai;Changbong Hyeon

  • Quasifree-scattering model for the imaginary part of the optical potential for electron scattering

    Grażyna Staszewska;David W. Schwenke;Devarajan Thirumalai;Devarajan Thirumalai;Donald G. Truhlar

  • Kinetics of protein folding: Nucleation mechanism, time scales, and pathways

    Unknown

  • Toward a Molecular Theory of Early and Late Events in Monomer to Amyloid Fibril Formation

    John E. Straub;D. Thirumalai

  • Chaperonin-facilitated protein folding: optimization of rate and yield by an iterative annealing mechanism

    Matthew J. Todd;George H. Lorimer;D. Thirumalai

  • Low-frequency normal modes that describe allosteric transitions in biological nanomachines are robust to sequence variations

    Wenjun Zheng;Bernard R. Brooks;D. Thirumalai

  • An iterative scheme for the evaluation of discretized path integrals

    Devarajan Thirumalai;Eric J. Bruskin;Bruce J. Berne

  • Metastability of the folded states of globular proteins.

    Unknown

Frequent Co-Authors

John E. Straub
John E. Straub Boston University
Bernard R. Brooks
Bernard R. Brooks National Institutes of Health
Sarah A. Woodson
Sarah A. Woodson Johns Hopkins University
Bruce J. Berne
Bruce J. Berne Columbia University
George H. Lorimer
George H. Lorimer University of Maryland, College Park
Ron Elber
Ron Elber The University of Texas at Austin
Gilad Haran
Gilad Haran Weizmann Institute of Science
John B. Wallingford
John B. Wallingford The University of Texas at Austin
Eileen M. Lafer
Eileen M. Lafer The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Biman Bagchi
Biman Bagchi Indian Institute of Science

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Pursuing a Chemistry degree in the USA opens doors to diverse career options, especially when combined with interdisciplinary studies. For instance, students interested in applying scientific methods to criminal investigations might explore forensic psychology graduate programs online. These programs blend chemistry’s analytical skills with psychological insights, preparing graduates for niche forensic roles.

Additionally, those curious about science in the justice system should consider a variety of forensic careers. Combining chemistry knowledge with forensic science can lead to work in crime labs, toxicology, or evidence analysis, all vital to solving crimes.

Cost is a significant factor for many students. Understanding the cost of criminal justice degree online helps prospective students weigh options before enrollment. Online pathways may offer more affordable solutions without compromising quality.

For those starting out or seeking a faster entry into the workforce, a 2 year criminal justice degree online offers a practical route. It complements chemistry studies by adding foundational knowledge useful in investigative or regulatory roles.

Best Scientists Citing D. Thirumalai

Trending Scientists

Recently Published Articles