World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Best Female Scientists
2025
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Neuroscience
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Best Female Scientists

D-Index
145
Citations
78641
World Ranking
184
National Ranking
112

Neuroscience

D-Index
146
Citations
81759
World Ranking
163
National Ranking
103

Medicine

D-Index
146
Citations
81418
World Ranking
1337
National Ranking
774

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Neuroscience in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Neuroscience in United States Leader Award
  • 2012 - Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health, National Academy of Medicine
  • 2011 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2004 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2000 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 1994 - Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)

Overview

Huda Akil is affiliated with the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in the United States. Their research spans primarily the fields of neuroscience and biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. With a focus on molecular biology and behavioral neuroscience, their work also encompasses genetics, cellular and molecular neuroscience, and biological psychiatry.

Their research topics include stress responses and cortisol, tryptophan and brain disorders, neuroendocrine regulation and behavior, receptor mechanisms and signaling, neurotransmitter receptor influence on behavior, genetic associations and epidemiology, as well as neuroscience and neuropharmacology research.

Huda Akil has authored numerous papers across reputable journals and publication venues. Notable recent papers include:

  • Rare coding variants in ten genes confer substantial risk for schizophrenia, 2022, Nature
  • Revisiting the Stress Concept: Implications for Affective Disorders, 2020, Journal of Neuroscience
  • The neurobiology of stress: Vulnerability, resilience, and major depression, 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Endogenous Opioids at the Intersection of Opioid Addiction, Pain, and Depression: The Search for a Precision Medicine Approach, 2020, Annual Review of Neuroscience
  • Mitochondria DNA copy number, mitochondria DNA total somatic deletions, Complex I activity, synapse number, and synaptic mitochondria number are altered in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, 2022, Translational Psychiatry

Frequent publication venues for Akil's work include bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Biological Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry, Journal of Neuroscience, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Collaborations have been significant in their academic output, with frequent co-authors including Stanley J. Watson, Megan Hastings Hagenauer, Elaine K. Hebda-Bauer, William E. Bunney, and R Myers.

Recognition for Akil's scientific contributions comes with various awards and honors, such as:

  • Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health, National Academy of Medicine (2012)
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004)
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2000)
  • Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) (1994)

Best Publications

  • Genetic relationship between five psychiatric disorders estimated from genome-wide SNPs

    S. Hong Lee;Stephan Ripke;Stephan Ripke;Benjamin M. Neale;Benjamin M. Neale;Stephen V. Faraone

  • Endogenous Opioids: Biology and Function

    H Akil;S J Watson;E Young;M E Lewis

  • Genome-wide association study identifies 30 loci associated with bipolar disorder

    Eli A. Stahl;Eli A. Stahl;Gerome Breen;Andreas J. Forstner;Andrew McQuillin

  • Opioid-receptor mRNA expression in the rat CNS: anatomical and functional implications

    Alfred Mansour;Charles A. Fox;Huda Akil;Stanley J. Watson

  • Anatomy of CNS opioid receptors

    Alfred Mansour;Henry Khachaturian;Michael E. Lewis;Huda Akil

  • Large-scale genome-wide association analysis of bipolar disorder identifies a new susceptibility locus near ODZ4

    Pamela Sklar;Pamela Sklar;Stephan Ripke;Stephan Ripke;Laura J. Scott;Ole A. Andreassen

  • Inhibition of morphine tolerance and dependence by the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801.

    Keith A. Trujillo;Huda Akil

  • Genomic Relationships, Novel Loci, and Pleiotropic Mechanisms across Eight Psychiatric Disorders

    Phil H. Lee;Verneri Anttila;Hyejung Won;Yen-Chen A. Feng

  • Pattern and time course of immediate early gene expression in rat brain following acute stress.

    W.E. Cullinan;J.P. Herman;D.F. Battaglia;H. Akil

  • Autoradiographic differentiation of mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptors in the rat forebrain and midbrain

    A. Mansour;H. Khachaturian;M. E. Lewis;Huda Akil

  • A selective role for dopamine in stimulus–reward learning

    Shelly B. Flagel;Jeremy J. Clark;Terry E. Robinson;Leah Mayo

  • Rare coding variants in ten genes confer substantial risk for schizophrenia

    Unknown

  • Mu, Delta, and Kappa Opioid Receptor mRNA Expression in the Rat CNS: An In Situ Hybridization Study

    Alfred Mansour;Charles A. Fox;Sharon Burke;Fan Meng

  • Antagonism of stimulation-produced analgesia by naloxone, a narcotic antagonist

    Huda Akil;David J. Mayer;John C. Liebeskind

  • Analgesia from Electrical Stimulation in the Brainstem of the Rat

    David J. Mayer;Thomas L. Wolfle;Huda Akil;Brooks Carder

  • Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes

    Douglas M. Ruderfer;Stephan Ripke;Stephan Ripke;Stephan Ripke;Andrew McQuillin;James Boocock

  • Altered cortical glutamatergic and GABAergic signal transmission with glial involvement in depression

    Prabhakara V Choudary;M. Molnar;S. J. Evans;H. Tomita

  • Psychiatric genome-wide association study analyses implicate neuronal, immune and histone pathways

    Colm O'Dushlaine;Lizzy Rossin;Phil H. Lee;Laramie Duncan;Laramie Duncan

  • Stress-induced parallel changes in central opioid levels and pain responsiveness in the rat.

    J. Madden;H. Akil;R. L. Patrick;J. D. Barchas

  • Circadian patterns of gene expression in the human brain and disruption in major depressive disorder

    Jun Z. Li;Blynn G. Bunney;Fan Meng;Megan H. Hagenauer

  • Cloning and pharmacological characterization of a rat kappa opioid receptor.

    Fan Meng;Guo-Xi Xie;Robert C. Thompson;Alfred Mansour

Frequent Co-Authors

Stanley J. Watson
Stanley J. Watson University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Jack D. Barchas
Jack D. Barchas Cornell University
William E. Bunney
William E. Bunney University of California, Irvine
Richard M. Myers
Richard M. Myers HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
Alan F. Schatzberg
Alan F. Schatzberg Stanford University
Robert C. Thompson
Robert C. Thompson University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Jun Li
Jun Li University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Alfred Mansour
Alfred Mansour University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Edward G. Jones
Edward G. Jones University of California, Davis
Shelly B. Flagel
Shelly B. Flagel University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

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