Highlights of Hope Spring/Summer 23

RESEARCH
Two VAI scientists named to elite
Highly Cited Researchers list
Van Andel Institute scientists Dr. Russell Jones and Dr. Peter W. Laird were named to the 2022 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list,
a distinction marking them as leaders in their respective fields.
This greatly anticipated annual list identifies researchers who have demonstrated significant influence in their chosen area or areas of
study through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that
rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index.
Citations, or references, to a scientist’s published work by other researchers are universally considered a measure of influence and impact
in the scientific community. Jones and Laird were also included on the 2021 list.
Russell Jones, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming,
Van Andel Institute
Dr. Jones investigates metabolism at the cellular level to understand
how it affects cell behavior and health, with a specific eye on
cancer and the immune system. By revealing how cancer cells
use metabolic processes to fuel their growth and spread, he
hopes to develop new treatments that help patients by changing
the standard of care for cancer. He is an elected member of
the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal
Society of Canada and an Allen Distinguished Investigator in
Immunometabolism.
Peter W. Laird, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Epigenetics,
Van Andel Institute
Dr. Laird is an expert in epigenetics, a field that explores when
and how the instructions in our genetic code are carried out.
Epigenetic mistakes play major roles in cancer and, as such,
serve as important targets for new treatments. Laird has
developed several cutting-edge technologies, which he leverages
to identify crucial epigenetic alterations that convert otherwise
healthy cells into cancer cells. He is a principal investigator for
the National Cancer Institute’s Genome Data Analysis Network
and served in a leadership role for The Cancer Genome Atlas, a
now-completed multi-institutional effort to molecularly map 33
different types of cancer.
2 | VAN ANDEL INSTITUTE HIGHLIGHTS OF HOPE