2026 Michael Houghton: Immunology Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Immunology	107	539	499	7	6	373	57823
Medicine	107	6131	5765	239	228	370	57777

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Immunology in Canada Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Immunology in Canada Leader Award
2020 - Nobel Prize for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus
1994 - William Beaumont Prize, American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)
1993 - Robert Koch Prize
1992 - Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award, American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)

Overview

Michael Houghton is affiliated with the University of Alberta in Canada and has an extensive publication record primarily in the field of Medicine, with a focus on Infectious Diseases, Hepatology, Molecular Biology, Epidemiology, and Computational Theory and Mathematics.

The scientist's recent papers reflect a diverse research scope covering viral infections and computational drug discovery. Notable recent publications include:

"Differential expression of interferon-lambda receptor 1 splice variants determines the magnitude of the antiviral response induced by interferon-lambda 3 in human immune cells" (2020), PLoS Pathogens
"SARS-COV-2 recombinant Receptor-Binding-Domain (RBD) induces neutralizing antibodies against variant strains of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1" (2021), Vaccine
"Chlorcyclizine Inhibits Viral Fusion of Hepatitis C Virus Entry by Directly Targeting HCV Envelope Glycoprotein 1" (2020), Cell chemical biology
"A structure-based computational workflow to predict liability and binding modes of small molecules to hERG" (2020), Scientific Reports
"A Fibrosis-Independent Hepatic Transcriptomic Signature Identifies Drivers of Disease Progression in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis" (2020), Hepatology

The scientist has published prominently in journals such as the Journal of Hepatology and Preprints.org, and also contributed to PLoS Pathogens, Vaccine, and Cell chemical biology.

Michael Houghton's main research topics include:

Hepatitis C virus research
SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
Computational Drug Discovery Methods
Hepatitis B Virus Studies
HIV Research and Treatment
Immune Cell Function and Interaction
Bacillus and Francisella bacterial research

Frequent co-authors collaborating with Michael Houghton include:

D. Lorne Tyrrell (17 joint publications)
Michael Joyce (7 joint publications)
Michael Logan (6 joint publications)
John Lok Man Law (4 joint publications)
Abdolamir Landi (4 joint publications)

The scientist's contributions have been recognized with multiple awards:

Nobel Prize in 2020 for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus
William Beaumont Prize from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) in 1994
Robert Koch Prize in 1993
Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award from the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) in 1992

Best Publications

Isolation of a cDNA clone derived from a blood-borne non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome

Qui-Lim Choo;George Kuo;Amy J. Weiner;Lacy R. Overby

9899
Citations
An assay for circulating antibodies to a major etiologic virus of human non-A, non-B hepatitis

G. Kuo;Q.-L. Choo;H.J. Alter;G.L. Gitnick

4489
Citations
Binding of Hepatitis C Virus to CD81

Piero Pileri;Yasushi Uematsu;Susanna Campagnoli;Giuliano Galli

2834
Citations
Detection of antibody to hepatitis C virus in prospectively followed transfusion recipients with acute and chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis

Harvey J. Alter;Robert H. Purcell;James W. Shih;Jacqueline C. Melpolder

2174
Citations
A proposed system for the nomenclature of hepatitis C viral genotypes

P Simmonds;A Alberti;H J Alter;F Bonino

1333
Citations
Hepatitis C virus antibodies among risk groups in Spain.

J.I. Esteban;L. Viladomiu;A. Gonzalez;M. Roget

1197
Citations
Molecular biology of the hepatitis C viruses: Implications for diagnosis, development and control of viral disease

Michael Houghton;Amy Weiner;Jang Han;George Kuo

1111
Citations
Analysis of a successful immune response against hepatitis C virus

Stewart Cooper;Ann L Erickson;Erin J Adams;Joe Kansopon

1034
Citations
Detection of hepatitis C viral sequences in non-A, non-B hepatitis.

A. J. Weiner;G. Kuo;D. W. Bradley;F. Bonino

893
Citations
Structure, sequence and expression of the hepatitis delta ( δ ) viral genome

Kang-Sheng Wang;Qui-Lim Choo;Amy J. Weiner;Jing-Hsiung Ou

831
Citations
Different clinical behaviors of acute hepatitis C virus infection are associated with different vigor of the anti-viral cell-mediated immune response.

Gabriele Missale;Roberto Bertoni;Vincenzo Lamonaca;Antonietta Valli

831
Citations
PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES TO HEPATITIS C VIRUS IN ITALIAN PATIENTS WITH HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

M. Colombo;Q.L. Choo;E. Del Ninno;N. Dioguardi

829
Citations
Variable and hypervariable domains are found in the regions of HCV corresponding to the flavivirus envelope and NS1 proteins and the pestivirus envelope glycoproteins.

Amy J. Weiner;Matthew J. Brauer;Jody Rosenblatt;Kathy H. Richman

789
Citations
Memory CD8+ T Cells Are Required for Protection from Persistent Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Naglaa H. Shoukry;Arash Grakoui;Michael Houghton;David Y. Chien

788
Citations
Global surveillance and control of hepatitis C

D. Lavanchy;R. Purcell;F.B. Hollinger;C. Howard

744
Citations
Confirmation of hepatitis C virus infection by new four-antigen recombinant immunoblot assay

C.L. van der Poel;H.W. Reesink;J.J.P. van Boven;H.T.M. Cuypers

645
Citations
Intrahepatic cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for hepatitis C virus in persons with chronic hepatitis.

M J Koziel;D Dudley;J T Wong;J Dienstag

585
Citations
Hepatitis C virus: the major causative agent of viral non-A, non-B hepatitis.

Q L Choo;A J Weiner;L R Overby;G Kuo

575
Citations
Characterization of the terminal regions of hepatitis C viral RNA: identification of conserved sequences in the 5' untranslated region and poly(A) tails at the 3' end.

J H Han;V Shyamala;K H Richman;M J Brauer

572
Citations
The outcome of hepatitis C virus infection is predicted by escape mutations in epitopes targeted by cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

Ann L Erickson;Yoichi Kimura;Suzu Igarashi;Jennifer Eichelberger

527
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

George Kuo Novartis (United States)

D. Lorne Tyrrell University of Alberta

Sergio Abrignani University of Milan

Ferruccio Bonino National Research Council (CNR)

Tatsuo Miyamura National Institutes of Health

Daniel W. Bradley Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Derek O'hagan GlaxoSmithKline (United Kingdom)

Gerd R. Pape Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Izumu Saito University of Tokyo

Reinhart Zachoval Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

External Links

Wikipedia of Michael Houghton Personal website of Michael Houghton

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