World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Award Badge
Best Female Scientists
2025

D-Index & Metrics

Best Female Scientists

D-Index
126
Citations
76788
World Ranking
412
National Ranking
247

Genetics

D-Index
119
Citations
73041
World Ranking
386
National Ranking
196

Medicine

D-Index
125
Citations
77452
World Ranking
3028
National Ranking
1669

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2018 - Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
  • 2009 - Nobel Prize for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase
  • 2006 - Gruber Prize in Genetics
  • 2000 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 1993 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1992 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • 1991 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Overview

Elizabeth H. Blackburn is affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco in the United States. Their research focuses primarily on Medicine, with a range of work spanning subfields such as Infectious Diseases, Physiology, Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, as well as Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health.

The scientist's main topics of research encompass Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence; Birth, Development, and Health; Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum; Health disparities and outcomes; SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research; COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies; and Animal Virus Infection Studies.

Frequent co-authors include:

  • Jue Lin
  • Elissa S. Epel
  • Glenn Verner
  • Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen
  • Eero Kajantie

Publication venues where they have frequently contributed are:

  • Scientific Reports
  • American Journal of Psychiatry
  • Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation
  • Circulation
  • Frontiers for Young Minds

Recent publications include:

  • Maternal Psychological Resilience During Pregnancy and Newborn Telomere Length: A Prospective Study, 2020, American Journal of Psychiatry
  • Predictors of long-term neutralizing antibody titers following COVID-19 vaccination by three vaccine types: the BOOST study, 2023, Scientific Reports
  • Shorter telomere length predicts poor antidepressant response and poorer cardiometabolic indices in major depression, 2023, Scientific Reports
  • Abstract 02: Brain Regions Activation During Stress and Accelerated Biological Aging, 2020, Circulation
  • #2866 The CompAct-HD trial reports a persistent inflammatory profile in patients undergoing haemodialysis, acutely exacerbated with each treatment, 2024, Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation

Elizabeth H. Blackburn has received several awards recognizing their scientific contributions, including the Nobel Prize in 2009 for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase. Other honors include the Gruber Prize in Genetics (2006), Fellowship of the National Academy of Inventors (2018), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2000), Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1993), Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom (1992), and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991).

Best Publications

  • Structure and function of telomeres

    Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • Identification of a specific telomere terminal transferase activity in tetrahymena extracts

    Carol W. Greider;Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress

    Elissa S. Epel;Elizabeth H. Blackburn;Jue Lin;Firdaus S. Dhabhar

  • Switching and Signaling at the Telomere

    Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • A telomeric sequence in the RNA of Tetrahymena telomerase required for telomere repeat synthesis.

    Carol W. Greider;Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • Dynamic Imaging of Genomic Loci in Living Human Cells by an Optimized CRISPR/Cas System

    Baohui Chen;Luke A. Gilbert;Beth A. Cimini;Joerg Schnitzbauer

  • Telomere states and cell fates

    Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • The telomere terminal transferase of tetrahymena is a ribonucleoprotein enzyme with two kinds of primer specificity

    Carol W. Greider;Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • A tandemly repeated sequence at the termini of the extrachromosomal ribosomal RNA genes in Tetrahymena

    Elizabeth H. Blackburn;Joseph G. Gall

  • An alternative pathway for yeast telomere maintenance rescues est1− senescence

    Victoria Lundblad;Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • Human telomere biology: A contributory and interactive factor in aging, disease risks, and protection

    Elizabeth H. Blackburn;Elissa S. Epel;Jue Lin

  • Telomeres and telomerase: the path from maize, Tetrahymena and yeast to human cancer and aging.

    Elizabeth H Blackburn;Carol W Greider;Jack W Szostak

  • Telomeres and telomerase: their mechanisms of action and the effects of altering their functions.

    Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • The telomere syndromes

    Mary Armanios;Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • TELOMERES AND THEIR CONTROL

    Michael J McEachern;Anat Krauskopf;Elizabeth H Blackburn

  • Telomeric DNA oligonucleotides form novel intramolecular structures containing guanine-guanine base pairs

    Eric Henderson;Charles C. Hardin;Steven K. Walk;Ignacio Tinoco

  • THE MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF CENTROMERES AND TELOMERES

    Blackburn Eh

  • In vivo alteration of telomere sequences and senescence caused by mutated Tetrahymena telomerase RNAs.

    Guo-Liang Yu;John D. Bradley;Laura D. Attardi;Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • Cloning yeast telomeres on linear plasmid vectors

    Jack W. Szostak;Elizabeth H. Blackburn

  • The Rate of Telomere Sequence Loss in Human Leukocytes Varies with Age

    Robert W. Frenck;Elizabeth H. Blackburn;Kevin M. Shannon

Frequent Co-Authors

Elissa S. Epel
Elissa S. Epel University of California, San Francisco
Owen M. Wolkowitz
Owen M. Wolkowitz University of California, San Francisco
Claudia Buss
Claudia Buss University of California, Irvine
Nancy E. Adler
Nancy E. Adler University of California, San Francisco
Eli Puterman
Eli Puterman University of British Columbia
Elisa T. Lee
Elisa T. Lee University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Aoife O'Donovan
Aoife O'Donovan University of California, San Francisco
Mary A. Whooley
Mary A. Whooley University of California, San Francisco
Synthia H. Mellon
Synthia H. Mellon University of California, San Francisco
Barbara V. Howard
Barbara V. Howard MedStar Health

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

If you're interested in genetics, there are several related online degrees and career pathways that can expand your expertise in healthcare and science. Many professionals begin their journey with nursing programs—such as the rn to bsn with no clinical hours—which allow students to advance their credentials entirely online, offering flexibility for busy schedules.

For those aiming for leadership roles, a 12-month online dnp programs can be a fast track to a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. There are also options for students seeking a quicker entry into the workforce, such as medical assistant certification programs that can be completed in as little as six weeks.

If you're concerned about program difficulty, some schools offer the easiest dnp program online to help students balance work, study, and life. These educational paths not only complement a background in genetics but also enhance your employability across many healthcare fields.

Best Scientists Citing Elizabeth H. Blackburn

Trending Scientists

Recently Published Articles