World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Best Female Scientists
2025
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Biology and Biochemistry
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Best Female Scientists

D-Index
164
Citations
95274
World Ranking
87
National Ranking
51

Neuroscience

D-Index
165
Citations
96477
World Ranking
91
National Ranking
59

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
166
Citations
97205
World Ranking
102
National Ranking
77

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Neuroscience in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Neuroscience in United States Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2012 - German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina - Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Neurosciences
  • 1972 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

Overview

Melitta Schachner is affiliated with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in the United States. Their research spans several fields including Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, and Medicine, with a particular focus on Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, Neurology, Developmental Neuroscience, and Cell Biology.

The work primarily addresses key topics such as neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration mechanisms, nerve injury and regeneration, neuroscience and neuropharmacology research, axon guidance and neuronal signaling, memory and neural mechanisms, and Alzheimer's disease research and treatments.

Recent publications by Schachner include:

  • Adhesion Molecule L1 Agonist Mimetics Protect Against the Pesticide Paraquat-Induced Locomotor Deficits and Biochemical Alterations in Zebrafish, 2020, Frontiers in Neuroscience
  • Hyperfunction of the stress response system and novelty-induced hyperactivity correlate with enhanced cocaine-induced conditioned place preference in NCAM-deficient mice, 2020, Addiction Biology
  • The KDET Motif in the Intracellular Domain of the Cell Adhesion Molecule L1 Interacts with Several Nuclear, Cytoplasmic, and Mitochondrial Proteins Essential for Neuronal Functions, 2023, International Journal of Molecular Sciences
  • The Cytoplasmic Domain of the Large Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein Isoform Is Needed for Proper CNS But Not Peripheral Nervous System Myelination, 2021, UNC Libraries
  • Interaction of L1CAM with LC3 Is Required for L1-Dependent Neurite Outgrowth and Neuronal Survival, 2023, International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Schachner frequently publishes in the following venues:

  • UNC Libraries
  • International Journal of Molecular Sciences
  • Biomolecules
  • Frontiers in Neuroscience
  • Addiction Biology

Notable frequent co-authors include:

  • Patricia F. Maness, with whom Schachner has collaborated on five publications
  • Galina P. Demyanenko, with four joint publications
  • Gabriele Loers, with three collaborations
  • Stanley L. Lin, with two joint publications
  • Ralf Kleene, with two collaborative works

Schachner has received several awards during their career, among them membership in the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina for contributions in Neurosciences in 2012, fellowship of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1972, and membership in the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).

Best Publications

  • Monoclonal antibodies (O1 to O4) to oligodendrocyte cell surfaces: An immunocytological study in the central nervous system

    I. Sommer;M. Schachner

  • Neural recognition molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily: signaling transducers of axon guidance and neuronal migration

    Patricia F Maness;Melitta Schachner;Melitta Schachner;Melitta Schachner

  • Immunocytochemical demonstration of vimentin in astrocytes and ependymal cells of developing and adult mouse nervous system.

    J Schnitzer;WW Franke;M Schachner

  • Immunocytological and biochemical characterization of a new neuronal cell surface component (L1 antigen) which is involved in cell adhesion.

    F.G. Rathjen;M. Schachner

  • Terminal differentiation of myelin-forming oligodendrocytes depends on the transcription factor Sox10

    C. Claus Stolt;Stephan Rehberg;Marius Ader;Petra Lommes

  • Neural adhesion molecule L1 as a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily with binding domains similar to fibronectin.

    Marion Moos;Roland Tacke;Herta Scherer;David Teplow

  • Neural cell adhesion molecules and myelin-associated glycoprotein share a common carbohydrate moiety recognized by monoclonal antibodies L2 and HNK-1.

    J Kruse;R Mailhammer;H Wernecke;A Faissner

  • Glycans and neural cell interactions

    Ralf Kleene;Melitta Schachner

  • Neural stem cells display an inherent mechanism for rescuing dysfunctional neurons

    Jitka Ourednik;Jitka Ourednik;Jitka Ourednik;Václav Ourednik;Václav Ourednik;Václav Ourednik;William P. Lynch;Melitta Schachner;Melitta Schachner

  • Disruption of the mouse L1 gene leads to malformations of the nervous system

    Miriam Dahme;Udo Bartsch;Rudolf Martini;Rudolf Martini;Brigitte Anliker

  • Immunoelectron microscopic localization of neural cell adhesion molecules (L1, N-CAM, and MAG) and their shared carbohydrate epitope and myelin basic protein in developing sciatic nerve.

    R Martini;M Schachner

  • Extracellular matrix molecules and synaptic plasticity

    Alexander Dityatev;Melitta Schachner

  • The J1 glycoprotein--a novel nervous system cell adhesion molecule of the L2/HNK-1 family.

    Jan Kruse;Gerhard Keilhauer;Andreas Faissner;Rupert Timpl

  • The dual role of the extracellular matrix in synaptic plasticity and homeostasis

    Alexander Dityatev;Melitta Schachner;Peter Sonderegger

  • Mouse P0 gene disruption leads to hypomyelination, abnormal expression of recognition molecules, and degeneration of myelin and axons

    Karl Peter Giese;Rudolf Martini;Greg Lemke;Philippe Soriano

  • Differential inhibition of neurone-neurone, neurone-astrocyte and astrocyte-astrocyte adhesion by L1, L2 and N-CAM antibodies.

    Gerhard Keilhauer;Andreas Faissner;Melitta Schachner

  • Prion protein recruits its neuronal receptor NCAM to lipid rafts to activate p59fyn and to enhance neurite outgrowth.

    Antonella Santuccione;Vladimir Sytnyk;Iryna Leshchyns'ka;Melitta Schachner

  • L1 mono- and polyclonal antibodies modify cell migration in early postnatal mouse cerebellum

    J Lindner;F G Rathjen;F G Rathjen;M Schachner

  • Neural cell adhesion molecules influence second messenger systems

    Ulrich Schuch;Martin J. Lohse;Melitta Schachner

  • The L2/HNK-1 carbohydrate of neural cell adhesion molecules is involved in cell interactions.

    V. Kunemund;F. B. Jungalwala;G. Fischer;D. K. H. Chou

Frequent Co-Authors

Udo Bartsch
Udo Bartsch Universität Hamburg
Alexander Dityatev
Alexander Dityatev German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Rudolf Martini
Rudolf Martini University of Würzburg
Zhi-Cheng Xiao
Zhi-Cheng Xiao Monash University
Andreas Faissner
Andreas Faissner Ruhr University Bochum
Dirk Montag
Dirk Montag Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology
Thomas Becker
Thomas Becker University of Edinburgh
Helmut Kettenmann
Helmut Kettenmann Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology
Patricia F. Maness
Patricia F. Maness University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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