World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Raffaele De Francesco

Raffaele De Francesco

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Biology and Biochemistry
Italy
2023

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
76
Citations
17591
World Ranking
1446
National Ranking
38

Raffaele De Francesco publication distribution in Microbiology in 2026

The chart shows the distribution of publications by all Research.com ranked scientists in the field of Microbiology in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Raffaele De Francesco sits on this spectrum.

55–64 publications: 8 scientists 65–74 publications: 29 scientists 75–84 publications: 55 scientists 85–94 publications: 112 scientists 95–104 publications: 137 scientists 105–114 publications: 190 scientists 115–124 publications: 235 scientists 125–134 publications: 234 scientists 135–144 publications: 288 scientists 145–154 publications: 264 scientists 155–164 publications: 264 scientists 165–174 publications: 253 scientists 175–184 publications: 276 scientists 185–194 publications: 190 scientists 195–204 publications: 233 scientists 205–214 publications: 207 scientists 215–224 publications: 198 scientists 225–234 publications: 155 scientists 235–244 publications: 161 scientists 245–254 publications: 160 scientists 255–264 publications: 146 scientists 265–274 publications: 139 scientists 275–284 publications: 148 scientists 285–294 publications: 115 scientists 295–304 publications: 96 scientists 305–314 publications: 88 scientists 315–324 publications: 106 scientists 325–334 publications: 65 scientists 335–344 publications: 76 scientists 345–354 publications: 64 scientists 355–364 publications: 62 scientists 365–374 publications: 65 scientists 375–384 publications: 61 scientists 385–394 publications: 34 scientists 395–404 publications: 44 scientists 405–414 publications: 36 scientists 415–424 publications: 35 scientists 425–434 publications: 29 scientists 435–444 publications: 33 scientists 445–454 publications: 34 scientists 455–464 publications: 25 scientists 465–474 publications: 26 scientists 475–484 publications: 20 scientists 485–494 publications: 19 scientists 495–504 publications: 16 scientists 505–514 publications: 17 scientists 515–524 publications: 23 scientists 525–534 publications: 14 scientists 535–544 publications: 14 scientists 545–554 publications: 18 scientists 555–564 publications: 12 scientists 565–574 publications: 7 scientists 575–584 publications: 9 scientists 585–594 publications: 9 scientists 595–604 publications: 9 scientists 605–614 publications: 7 scientists 615–624 publications: 9 scientists 625–634 publications: 7 scientists 635–644 publications: 4 scientists 645–654 publications: 5 scientists 655–664 publications: 6 scientists 665–674 publications: 7 scientists 675–678 publications: 3 scientists 679+ publications: 99 scientists
55 publications 679+

This scientist: 178 publications — 40th percentile

40% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 679 publications or more.

Raffaele De Francesco D-index placement in Microbiology in 2026

The chart shows the D-index (discipline H-index) distribution of Microbiology scientists ranked by Research.com in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Raffaele De Francesco sits on this spectrum.

40 D-Index: 30 scientists 41 D-Index: 86 scientists 42 D-Index: 90 scientists 43 D-Index: 117 scientists 44 D-Index: 122 scientists 45 D-Index: 123 scientists 46 D-Index: 108 scientists 47 D-Index: 110 scientists 48 D-Index: 106 scientists 49 D-Index: 109 scientists 50 D-Index: 129 scientists 51 D-Index: 111 scientists 52 D-Index: 116 scientists 53 D-Index: 127 scientists 54 D-Index: 134 scientists 55 D-Index: 134 scientists 56 D-Index: 111 scientists 57 D-Index: 136 scientists 58 D-Index: 162 scientists 59 D-Index: 151 scientists 60 D-Index: 139 scientists 61 D-Index: 122 scientists 62 D-Index: 126 scientists 63 D-Index: 144 scientists 64 D-Index: 109 scientists 65 D-Index: 103 scientists 66 D-Index: 124 scientists 67 D-Index: 112 scientists 68 D-Index: 103 scientists 69 D-Index: 131 scientists 70 D-Index: 93 scientists 71 D-Index: 93 scientists 72 D-Index: 96 scientists 73 D-Index: 92 scientists 74 D-Index: 80 scientists 75 D-Index: 66 scientists 76 D-Index: 87 scientists 77 D-Index: 60 scientists 78 D-Index: 73 scientists 79 D-Index: 59 scientists 80 D-Index: 57 scientists 81 D-Index: 55 scientists 82 D-Index: 47 scientists 83 D-Index: 77 scientists 84 D-Index: 50 scientists 85 D-Index: 45 scientists 86 D-Index: 42 scientists 87 D-Index: 41 scientists 88 D-Index: 32 scientists 89 D-Index: 38 scientists 90 D-Index: 35 scientists 91 D-Index: 34 scientists 92 D-Index: 27 scientists 93 D-Index: 26 scientists 94 D-Index: 33 scientists 95 D-Index: 22 scientists 96 D-Index: 37 scientists 97 D-Index: 22 scientists 98 D-Index: 21 scientists 99 D-Index: 22 scientists 100 D-Index: 30 scientists 101 D-Index: 16 scientists 102 D-Index: 20 scientists 103 D-Index: 17 scientists 104 D-Index: 19 scientists 105 D-Index: 16 scientists 106 D-Index: 19 scientists 107 D-Index: 18 scientists 108 D-Index: 14 scientists 109 D-Index: 10 scientists 110 D-Index: 9 scientists 111 D-Index: 7 scientists 112 D-Index: 11 scientists 113 D-Index: 6 scientists 114 D-Index: 15 scientists 115 D-Index: 10 scientists 116 D-Index: 12 scientists 117 D-Index: 7 scientists 118 D-Index: 10 scientists 119 D-Index: 10 scientists 120 D-Index: 11 scientists 121 D-Index: 2 scientists 122 D-Index: 7 scientists 123 D-Index: 12 scientists 124 D-Index: 5 scientists 125 D-Index: 9 scientists 126 D-Index: 6 scientists 127+ D-Index: 95 scientists
40 D-Index 127+

This scientist: 76 D-Index — 75th percentile

75% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 127 D-Index or more.

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2023 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Italy Leader Award

Overview

Raffaele De Francesco is affiliated with the University of Milan in Italy and has an extensive publication record in the field of medicine, focusing primarily on infectious diseases. Their research portfolio includes a strong emphasis on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, covering clinical research, immunoinformatics approaches in vaccine development, and immune response mechanisms.

The main fields of study represented in their work are Medicine, with significant research contributions in Infectious Diseases, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Neurology, and Epidemiology. Their involvement in these subfields is reflected in the diversity of topics addressed in their papers.

Among the topics addressed in De Francesco's research are:

  • SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
  • COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
  • Vaccines and Immunoinformatics Approaches
  • Hepatitis C Virus Research
  • Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
  • Interferon and Immune Responses
  • Viral Gastroenteritis Research and Epidemiology

Notable recent papers authored or co-authored by Raffaele De Francesco include:

  • Integrated longitudinal immunophenotypic, transcriptional, and repertoire analyses delineate immune responses in patients with COVID-19 (2021, Science Immunology)
  • Administration of aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 to K18-hACE2 mice uncouples respiratory infection from fatal neuroinvasion (2022, Science Immunology)
  • Exosomes Recovered From the Plasma of COVID-19 Patients Expose SARS-CoV-2 Spike-Derived Fragments and Contribute to the Adaptive Immune Response (2022, Frontiers in Immunology)
  • COVID-eVax, an electroporated DNA vaccine candidate encoding the SARS-CoV-2 RBD, elicits protective responses in animal models (2021, Molecular Therapy)
  • Memory CD8+ T cell diversity and B cell responses correlate with protection against SARS-CoV-2 following mRNA vaccination (2022, Nature Immunology)

Frequent co-authors contributing to De Francesco's research include:

  • Lorena Donnici
  • Lara Manganaro
  • Matteo Conti
  • Matteo Iannacone
  • Luca G. Guidotti

De Francesco has commonly published in venues such as:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Science Immunology
  • Frontiers in Immunology
  • Nature Immunology
  • Pharmacological Research

Best Publications

  • Crystal structure of a eukaryotic zinc-dependent histone deacetylase, human HDAC8, complexed with a hydroxamic acid inhibitor

    Alessandro Vannini;Cinzia Volpari;Gessica Filocamo;Elena Caroli Casavola

  • Transcriptional Landscape of Human Tissue Lymphocytes Unveils Uniqueness of Tumor-Infiltrating T Regulatory Cells

    Marco De Simone;Alberto Arrigoni;Grazisa Rossetti;Paola Gruarin

  • Challenges and successes in developing new therapies for hepatitis C

    Raffaele De Francesco;Giovanni Migliaccio

  • Structural Analysis of the Hepatitis C Virus RNA Polymerase in Complex with Ribonucleotides

    Stéphane Bressanelli;Licia Tomei;Félix A. Rey;Raffaele De Francesco

  • The crystal structure of the quorum sensing protein TraR bound to its autoinducer and target DNA

    Alessandro Vannini;Cinzia Volpari;Cesare Gargioli;Ester Muraglia

  • Inhibition of Hepatitis C Virus RNA Replication by 2′-Modified Nucleoside Analogs

    Steven S. Carroll;Joanne E. Tomassini;Michele Bosserman;Krista Getty

  • Human CD1c+ dendritic cells secrete high levels of IL-12 and potently prime cytotoxic T-cell responses.

    Giulia Nizzoli;Jana Krietsch;Anja Weick;Svenja Steinfelder

  • Structural and Functional Analysis of the Human HDAC4 Catalytic Domain Reveals a Regulatory Structural Zinc-binding Domain

    Matthew J. Bottomley;Paola Lo Surdo;Paolo Di Giovine;Agostino Cirillo

  • Characterization of Resistance to Non-obligate Chain-terminating Ribonucleoside Analogs That Inhibit Hepatitis C Virus Replication in Vitro

    Giovanni Migliaccio;Joanne E. Tomassini;Steven S. Carroll;Licia Tomei

  • The long intergenic noncoding RNA landscape of human lymphocytes highlights the regulation of T cell differentiation by linc-MAF-4

    Valeria Ranzani;Grazisa Rossetti;Ilaria Panzeri;Alberto Arrigoni

  • Approaching a new era for hepatitis C virus therapy: inhibitors of the NS3-4A serine protease and the NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

    Raffaele De Francesco;Licia Tomei;Sergio Altamura;Vincenzo Summa

  • Distinct microRNA signatures in human lymphocyte subsets and enforcement of the naive state in CD4 + T cells by the microRNA miR-125b

    Riccardo L Rossi;Grazisa Rossetti;Lynn Wenandy;Serena Curti

  • Product inhibition of the hepatitis C virus NS3 protease.

    Christian Steinkühler;Gabriella Biasiol;Mirko Brunetti;Andrea Urbani

  • Substrate binding to histone deacetylases as shown by the crystal structure of the HDAC8-substrate complex.

    Alessandro Vannini;Cinzia Volpari;Paola Gallinari;Philip Jones

  • Potent peptide inhibitors of human hepatitis C virus NS3 protease are obtained by optimizing the cleavage products.

    P Ingallinella;S Altamura;E Bianchi;M Taliani

  • Multiple Enzymatic Activities Associated with Recombinant NS3 Protein of Hepatitis C Virus

    Paola Gallinari;Debra Brennan;Chiara Nardi;Mirko Brunetti

  • Effects of pH and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) on PCSK9-dependent LDL Receptor Regulation

    Timothy S. Fisher;Paola Lo Surdo;Shilpa Pandit;Marco Mattu

  • Mechanism of Action and Antiviral Activity of Benzimidazole-Based Allosteric Inhibitors of the Hepatitis C Virus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase

    Licia Tomei;Sergio Altamura;Linda Bartholomew;Antonino Biroccio

  • Interdomain Communication in Hepatitis C Virus Polymerase Abolished by Small-Molecule Inhibitors Bound to a Novel Allosteric Site

    Stefania Di Marco;Cinzia Volpari;Licia Tomei;Sergio Altamura

  • Phosphorylation of hepatitis C virus NS5A nonstructural protein: a new paradigm for phosphorylation-dependent viral RNA replication?

    Ying Huang;Kirk Staschke;Raffaele De Francesco;Seng-Lai Tan

Frequent Co-Authors

Sergio Abrignani
Sergio Abrignani University of Milan
Elisabetta Bianchi
Elisabetta Bianchi Institut Pasteur
Riccardo Cortese
Riccardo Cortese Schering-Plough
Michael Rowley
Michael Rowley Pharmaron (United Kingdom)
Massimo Colombo
Massimo Colombo Humanitas University
Andrea Carfi
Andrea Carfi Novartis (Switzerland)
Anna Tramontano
Anna Tramontano Sapienza University of Rome
Andrea Urbani
Andrea Urbani University of Padua
Luca Valenti
Luca Valenti University of Milan

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