2026 Donald B. DeFranco: Biology and Biochemistry Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Biology and Biochemistry	67	8326	7682	3758	3375	203	13901

Overview

Donald B. DeFranco is a researcher affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh in the United States. Their scholarly work spans multiple areas within medicine, focusing particularly on pulmonary and respiratory medicine, urology, pediatrics, perinatology, child health, molecular biology, and endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism.

The research topics addressed by DeFranco include:

Neonatal Respiratory Health Research
Urinary Bladder and Prostate Research
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
Infant Development and Preterm Care
Hormonal and reproductive studies
Birth, Development, and Health
Health and Medical Research Impacts

DeFranco has contributed to a body of work reflected in various peer-reviewed journals with frequent publications in:

Journal of the Endocrine Society (9 publications)
The Prostate (4 publications)
The Journals of Gerontology Series A (2 publications)
Endocrinology (2 publications)
Academic Medicine (1 publication)

Notable recent papers include:

"Residency Program Directors' Views on Research Conducted During Medical School: A National Survey" (2023), Academic Medicine
"Tight junction protein claudin-1 is downregulated by TGF-β1 via MEK signaling in benign prostatic epithelial cells" (2020), The Prostate
"Pten-NOLC1 fusion promotes cancers involving MET and EGFR signalings" (2020), Oncogene
"Differential impact of paired patient-derived BPH and normal adjacent stromal cells on benign prostatic epithelial cell growth in 3D culture" (2020), The Prostate
"Prostate-Specific Deletion of Cdh1 Induces Murine Prostatic Inflammation and Bladder Overactivity" (2020), Endocrinology

DeFranco has collaborated frequently with several coauthors, including:

Laura E. Pascal
Rajiv Dhir
Zhou Wang
Naoki Yoshimura
William A. Ricke

Best Publications

Sequence-specific binding of glucocorticoid receptor to MTV DNA at sites within and upstream of the transcribed region.

Farhang Payvar;Donald DeFranco;Gary L. Firestone;Bruce Edgar

794
Citations
Persistent Activation of ERK Contributes to Glutamate-induced Oxidative Toxicity in a Neuronal Cell Line and Primary Cortical Neuron Cultures

Madalina Stanciu;Ying Wang;Ruth Kentor;Nancy Burke

666
Citations
International Union of Pharmacology. LXV. The Pharmacology and Classification of the Nuclear Receptor Superfamily: Glucocorticoid, Mineralocorticoid, Progesterone, and Androgen Receptors

Nick Z. Lu;Suzanne E. Wardell;Kerry L. Burnstein;Donald Defranco

535
Citations
Role of hsp90 and the hsp90-binding immunophilins in signalling protein movement.

William B Pratt;Mario D Galigniana;Jennifer M Harrell;Donald B DeFranco

372
Citations
Oxidative neuronal injury: The dark side of ERK1/2

Charleen T. Chu;David J. Levinthal;Scott M. Kulich;Elisabeth M. Chalovich

347
Citations
Glucocorticoid receptor physiology.

Marjet D. Heitzer;Irene M. Wolf;Irene M. Wolf;Edwin R. Sanchez;Selma F. Witchel

308
Citations
Direct G Protein Modulation of Cav2 Calcium Channels

H. William Tedford;Gerald W. Zamponi

305
Citations
Bidirectional transport of glucocorticoid receptors across the nuclear envelope.

Anuradha P. Madan;Donald B. Defranco

213
Citations
Internal control regions for transcription of eukaryotic tRNA genes.

Stephen Sharp;Donald Defranco;Theodor Dingermann;Paul Farrell

211
Citations
Proteasomal inhibition enhances glucocorticoid receptor transactivation and alters its subnuclear trafficking.

Bonnie J. Deroo;Claudia Rentsch;Sowmini Sampath;Janel Young

209
Citations
Protein phosphatase types 1 and/or 2A regulate nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of glucocorticoid receptors.

Donald B. DeFranco;Ming Qi;Kristina C. Borror;Michael J. Garabedian

207
Citations
Cell death triggered by polyglutamine-expanded huntingtin in a neuronal cell line is associated with degradation of CREB-binding protein

Haibing Jiang;Frederick C. Nucifora;Christopher A. Ross;Donald B. DeFranco

202
Citations
Prolonged nuclear retention of activated extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase promotes cell death generated by oxidative toxicity or proteasome inhibition in a neuronal cell line.

Madalina Stanciu;Donald B. DeFranco

202
Citations
Interaction of the τ2 Transcriptional Activation Domain of Glucocorticoid Receptor with a Novel Steroid Receptor Coactivator, Hic-5, Which Localizes to Both Focal Adhesions and the Nuclear Matrix

Lan Yang;Jennifer Guerrero;Heng Hong;Donald B. DeFranco

195
Citations
Molecular chaperones function as steroid receptor nuclear mobility factors

Cem Elbi;Dawn A. Walker;Guillermo Romero;William P. Sullivan

195
Citations
Hypothermic Reperfusion After Cardiac Arrest Augments Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Activation

Brian J D'Cruz;Kristofer C Fertig;Anthony J Filiano;Shawn D Hicks

194
Citations
Hypothermia during reperfusion after asphyxial cardiac arrest improves functional recovery and selectively alters stress-induced protein expression.

Shawn D. Hicks;Donald B. DeFranco;Clifton W. Callaway

178
Citations
Cell cycle regulation of glucocorticoid receptor function.

S C Hsu;M Qi;D B DeFranco

167
Citations
Opposing roles for ERK1/2 in neuronal oxidative toxicity: distinct mechanisms of ERK1/2 action at early versus late phases of oxidative stress.

Yue Luo;Donald B. DeFranco

163
Citations
Review article Role of hsp90 and the hsp90-binding immunophilins in signalling protein movement

William B. Pratt;Mario D. Galigniana;Jennifer M. Harrell;Donald B. DeFranco

1
Citations