2026 Fergus Shanahan: Medicine Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Medicine	147	1277	1181	5	5	883	84604

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Medicine in Ireland Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Medicine in Ireland Leader Award
2023 - Research.com Medicine in Ireland Leader Award
2022 - Research.com Medicine in Ireland Leader Award
2017 - Member of the Royal Irish Academy
2016 - Gold Medal, Royal Irish Academy Life Sciences

Overview

Fergus Shanahan is affiliated with the National University of Ireland in Ireland. Their research primarily focuses on the gut microbiome and its relationship to health, contributing extensively to the fields of Medicine and Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology.

The main scientific topics covered in their work include:

Gut microbiota and health
Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
Diet and metabolism studies
Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Helicobacter pylori-related gastroenterology studies
Microscopic Colitis
Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Shanahan's subfields of study reflect a strong molecular and physiological approach, including:

Molecular Biology
Physiology
Surgery
Epidemiology
Infectious Diseases

They have collaborated frequently with other researchers such as Paul W. O'Toole, Tarini Shankar Ghosh, Silvia Melgar, Kenneth Nally, and Paul D. Cotter, showcasing a multidisciplinary research network.

Shanahan publishes regularly in well-known venues, with recurrent contributions to:

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Gastroenterology
Gut Microbes
Scientific Reports
International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Notable recent papers include:

The gut microbiome as a modulator of healthy ageing, 2022, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Establishing or Exaggerating Causality for the Gut Microbiome: Lessons from Human Microbiota-Associated Rodents, 2020, Cell
The Healthy Microbiome-What Is the Definition of a Healthy Gut Microbiome?, 2020, Gastroenterology
Questioning the fetal microbiome illustrates pitfalls of low-biomass microbial studies, 2023, Nature
Colonic microbiota is associated with inflammation and host epigenomic alterations in inflammatory bowel disease, 2020, Nature Communications

They have been recognized with distinctions such as the Gold Medal from the Royal Irish Academy in 2016 for Life Sciences and were elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2017.

Best Publications

Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly

Marcus J. Claesson;Ian B. Jeffery;Susana Conde;Susan E. Power

3707
Citations
The gut flora as a forgotten organ

Ann M O'Hara;Fergus Shanahan

3442
Citations
The microbiome-gut-brain axis during early life regulates the hippocampal serotonergic system in a sex-dependent manner

G Clarke;S Grenham;P Scully;P Fitzgerald

2062
Citations
Composition, variability, and temporal stability of the intestinal microbiota of the elderly

Marcus J. Claesson;SiobhÃ¡n Cusack;Orla O'Sullivan;Rachel Greene-Diniz

1952
Citations
Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in irritable bowel syndrome: Symptom responses and relationship to cytokine profiles

Liam O’Mahony;Jane McCarthy;Peter Kelly;George Hurley

1879
Citations
Exercise and associated dietary extremes impact on gut microbial diversity

Siobhan F Clarke;Siobhan F Clarke;Eileen F Murphy;Orla O'Sullivan;Alice J Lucey

1584
Citations
In vitro selection criteria for probiotic bacteria of human origin: correlation with in vivo findings

C Dunne;L O'Mahony;L Murphy;G Thornton

1231
Citations
Enterotypes in the landscape of gut microbial community composition

Paul I. Costea;Falk Hildebrand;Manimozhiyan Arumugam;Fredrik Bäckhed;Fredrik Bäckhed

1133
Citations
The fas counterattack : fas-mediated T cell killing by colon cancer cells expressing fas ligand

J O'Connell;G C O'Sullivan;J K Collins;F Shanahan

1130
Citations
Composition and energy harvesting capacity of the gut microbiota: relationship to diet, obesity and time in mouse models

E. F. Murphy;P. D. Cotter;P. D. Cotter;S. Healy;Tatiana M. Marques;Tatiana M. Marques

1080
Citations
Efficacy of an encapsulated probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 in women with irritable bowel syndrome.

Peter J. Whorwell;Linda Altringer;Jorge Morel;Yvonne Bond

1044
Citations
Microbiota is essential for social development in the mouse

L Desbonnet;G Clarke;F Shanahan;T G Dinan

993
Citations
The role of substance P in inflammatory disease.

Terence M. O'Connor;Joseph O'Connell;Darren I. O'Brien;Triona Goode

950
Citations
Tumour-associated and non-tumour-associated microbiota in colorectal cancer

Burkhardt Flemer;Denise B. Lynch;Jillian R. M. Brown;Ian B. Jeffery

814
Citations
Hypothalamic-pituitary-gut axis dysregulation in irritable bowel syndrome: plasma cytokines as a potential biomarker?

Timothy G. Dinan;Eamonn Martin Quigley;Salah M M Ahmed;Paul Scully

802
Citations
Are we telling patients the truth about surveillance colonoscopy in ulcerative colitis

F. Shanahan;W.M. Weinstein;C.N. Bernstein

770
Citations
Rapid and Noninvasive Metabonomic Characterization of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Julian Roberto Marchesi;Elaine Holmes;Fatima Khan;Sunil Kochhar

750
Citations
Crohn's disease

Fergus Shanahan

718
Citations
A distinct subset of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies is associated with inflammatory bowel disease

Andrew Saxon;Fergus Shanahan;Carol Landers;Tomas Ganz

664
Citations
Probiotics: from myth to reality. Demonstration of functionality in animal models of disease and in human clinical trials.

Colum Dunne;Lisa Murphy;Sarah Flynn;Liam O'Mahony

624
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Eamonn Martin Quigley Cornell University

Liam O'Mahony University College Cork

Orla O'Sullivan Teagasc - The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority

Catherine Stanton Teagasc - The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority

John Kevin Collins University College Cork

Timothy G. Dinan University College Cork

Paul D. Cotter University College Cork

R. Paul Ross University College Cork

Paul W. O'Toole University College Cork

John F. Cryan University College Cork

External Links

Personal website of Fergus Shanahan Google Scholar page

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