World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Rebecca Richards-Kortum

Rebecca Richards-Kortum

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Best Female Scientists
2025

D-Index & Metrics

Best Female Scientists

D-Index
111
Citations
38449
World Ranking
865
National Ranking
522

Medicine

D-Index
108
Citations
37130
World Ranking
6065
National Ranking
3246

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2017 - SPIE Fellow
  • 2016 - Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation
  • 2015 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2015 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2014 - OSA Fellows Rebecca Richards-Kortum Rice University, U.S.A. For pioneering diagnostic technologies based on optical sensing and imaging of disease and for developments that enable these technologies to impact the delivery of health care in resource-limited environments.
  • 2014 - Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
  • 2008 - Member of the National Academy of Engineering For pioneering research on diagnosis and treatment of cancer in women; and for excellent, innovative teaching coupled with leadership in bioengineering education.
  • 2008 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2000 - Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE)

Overview

Rebecca Richards-Kortum is affiliated with Rice University in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on the field of Medicine, with specific contributions across subfields such as Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Epidemiology, Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, Molecular Biology, and Biomedical Engineering.

Their recent scholarly publications include:

  • In vivo lensless microscopy via a phase mask generating diffraction patterns with high-contrast contours, 2022, Nature Biomedical Engineering
  • Deep learning extended depth-of-field microscope for fast and slide-free histology, 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Advances in optical gastrointestinal endoscopy: a technical review, 2020, Molecular Oncology
  • Neonatal inpatient dataset for small and sick newborn care in low- and middle-income countries: systematic development and multi-country operationalisation with NEST360, 2023, BMC Pediatrics
  • An integrated isothermal nucleic acid amplification test to detect HPV16 and HPV18 DNA in resource-limited settings, 2023, Science Translational Medicine

The frequent co-authors who collaborated extensively with Richards-Kortum include Jennifer Carns, Kathleen M. Schmeler, Richard A. Schwarz, Jackson B. Coole, and Mila Pontremoli Salcedo.

The scientist's publications are commonly found in journals such as BMC Pediatrics, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Scientific Reports, The Lancet Global Health, and the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.

Key topics addressed in their work encompass Cervical Cancer and HPV Research, Global Maternal and Child Health, Biosensors and Analytical Detection, Infant Development and Preterm Care, Neonatal Respiratory Health Research, SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing, and Esophageal Cancer Research and Treatment.

Throughout their career, Rebecca Richards-Kortum has received several awards and honors:

  • SPIE Fellow (2017)
  • Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation (2016)
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2015)
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2015)
  • OSA Fellow (2014), recognized for pioneering diagnostic technologies based on optical sensing and imaging of disease enabling impactful healthcare delivery in resource-limited environments
  • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (2014)
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2008)
  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2008), acknowledged for pioneering research on diagnosis and treatment of cancer in women and leadership in bioengineering education
  • Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) (2000)

Best Publications

  • QUANTITATIVE OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY FOR TISSUE DIAGNOSIS

    Rebecca Richards-Kortum;Eva Sevick-Muraca

  • Real-Time Vital Optical Imaging of Precancer Using Anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Antibodies Conjugated to Gold Nanoparticles

    Konstantin Sokolov;Michele Follen;Jesse Aaron;Ina Pavlova

  • Colposcopy for the diagnosis of squamous intraepithelial lesions : A meta-analysis

    Michele Follen Mitchell;David Schottenfeld;Guillermo Tortolero-Luna;Scott B. Cantor

  • Fiber optic probes for biomedical optical spectroscopy.

    Urs Utzinger;Urs Utzinger;Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum;Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum

  • Raman spectroscopy for the detection of cancers and precancers

    Anita Mahadevan-Jansen;Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum

  • Spectroscopic method and apparatus for optically detecting abnormal mammalian epithelial tissue

    Rebecca Richards-Kortum;Nirmala Ramanujam;Anita Mahadevan;Michele Follen Mitchell

  • A method for laser induced fluorescence of tissue.

    Carter Kittrell;Robert M. Cothren;Michael S. Feld;Joseph J. Baraga

  • Gastrointestinal tissue diagnosis by laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy at endoscopy.

    R.M. Cothren;R. Richards-Kortum;M.V. Sivak;M. Fitzmaurice

  • Near-infrared Raman spectroscopy for in vitro detection of cervical precancers.

    Anita Mahadevan-Jansen;Anita Mahadevan-Jansen;Michele Follen Mitchell;Nirmala Ramanujam;Nirmala Ramanujam;Anais Malpica

  • Understanding the contributions of NADH and collagen to cervical tissue fluorescence spectra: Modeling, measurements, and implications

    Rebekah A. Drezek;Konstantin V. Sokolov;Urs Utzinger;Iouri Boiko

  • In vivo diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia using 337-nm-excited laser-induced fluorescence

    N Ramanujam;M F Mitchell;A Mahadevan;S Warren

  • Three-dimensional computation of light scattering from cells

    A. Dunn;R. Richards-Kortum

  • Spectroscopic diagnosis of colonic dysplasia

    R. Richards-Kortum;R. P. Rava;R. E. Petras;M. Fitzmaurice

  • Self-assembly synthesis, tumor cell targeting, and photothermal capabilities of antibody-coated indocyanine green nanocapsules.

    Jie Yu;David Javier;Mohammad A. Yaseen;Nitin Nitin

  • Light scattering from cervical cells throughout neoplastic progression: influence of nuclear morphology, DNA content, and chromatin texture

    Rebekah A. Drezek;Martial Guillaud;Thomas G. Collier;Iouri Boiko

  • Near-Infrared Raman Spectroscopy for in vivo Detection of Cervical Precancers:

    Urs Utzinger;Douglas L. Heintzelman;Anita Mahadevan-Jansen;Anais Malpica

  • A paper and plastic device for performing recombinase polymerase amplification of HIV DNA

    Brittany A. Rohrman;Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum

  • Fluorescence spectroscopy of turbid media: Autofluorescence of the human aorta.

    Marleen Keijzer;Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum;Steven L. Jacques;Michael S. Feld

  • Cervical Precancer Detection Using a Multivariate Statistical Algorithm Based on Laser‐Induced Fluorescence Spectra at Multiple Excitation Wavelengths

    Nirmala Ramanujam;Michele Folien Mitchell;Anita Mahadevan-Jansen;Sharon L. Thomsen

  • Plasmonic nanosensors for imaging intracellular biomarkers in live cells.

    Sonia Kumar;Nathan Harrison;Rebecca Richards-Kortum;Konstantin V Sokolov

Frequent Co-Authors

Konstantin V Sokolov
Konstantin V Sokolov The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Adel K. El-Naggar
Adel K. El-Naggar The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Rebekah A. Drezek
Rebekah A. Drezek Rice University
Anais Malpica
Anais Malpica The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Carter Kittrell
Carter Kittrell Rice University
Arjun G. Yodh
Arjun G. Yodh University of Pennsylvania
Savitri Krishnamurthy
Savitri Krishnamurthy The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Reuben Lotan
Reuben Lotan The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Zhongping Chen
Zhongping Chen University of California, Irvine

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