PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The University of the West Indies (The UWI) says researchers at its St. Augustine campus here have again been ranked among the top two percent of cited researchers in their respective fields.
The university said the rankings are based on an updated version of the annual global ranking of scientists published by academics from Stanford University and Elsevier.
It said that this year’s edition of the ranking, which recognises the frequency and impact of research citations, named Dr. Mandreker Bahall, Professor Christopher Oura, Dr. Sephra Rampersad, Professor Hazi Azamathulla, Dr. Srikanth Umakanthan, and Dr. Vinod Kumar.
The UWI said that for the ranking, scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 subfields based on the standard Science-Metrix classification and must have published at least five papers.
“Placements are determined by a composite citation score (c-score) which considers various metrics, including total citations, the Hirsch h-index, and authorship positions (single, first, or last author). Researchers ranked within the top 100,000 globally, or representing the top two percent percentile by c-score, are included. ”
It said that the database, which draws on data from Scopus, one of the world’s most reputable academic research databases owned by Elsevier, is updated annually and hosted on the Elsevier Data Repository.
The UWI said among this year’s honourees, Dr Bahall serves as Associate Lecturer at the School of Medicine and The UWI Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business. His clinical background is in internal medicine and cardiology and his scholarly work focuses on patient satisfaction, the quality of life of patients with cardiac disease (with and without depression), access to public health care and equity and systems issues in Trinidad and Tobago’s healthcare environment, such as hospital overcrowding.
His publications include studies on medication non-adherence and caregiver burden in chronic disease contexts, reflecting his patient-centred, psychosocial approach to health systems research.
It said that Professor Oura at the School of Veterinary Medicine has had a distinguished international research career spanning the United Kingdom, Africa and the Caribbean.
“With a strong background in immunology and molecular biology, Professor Oura has contributed extensively to the fields of veterinary virology and parasitology. Since joining The UWI in 2012, Professor Oura has led research and teaching in veterinary virology and immunology and was promoted to full Professor in 2014.”
He currently runs a One Health-based research programme focused on pathogens of regional importance and leads a Caribbean-wide Climate Change and Health Leaders Fellowship Programme. In recognition of his expertise, he was elected to the Biological Standards Commission (BSC) of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in 2021 and re-elected as Vice President of the Commission in 2024.
Dr. Sephra Rampersad is a senior lecturer in Biochemistry in the Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology. Her research applies molecular ecology tools to study population genetics and genetic diversity, develops molecular methods for pathogen characterisation and explores biochemical screening of bioactive compounds.
Her work on plant diseases and pathogen profiling contributes to agricultural pathology and food security across the Caribbean.
Dr. Rampersad was the first individual from the English-speaking Caribbean to receive the TWAS Young Scientist Prize (Latin America & Caribbean) and was named Most Outstanding Researcher (2013/14) in her faculty.
Professor Azamathulla, the head of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, research encompasses water resources engineering, physical hydraulic model studies, hydroinformatics, and the hydrological challenges of climate change.
He has published widely, serves on editorial boards of major water-engineering journals, and was Associate Editor of the Journal of Hydrology (Elsevier). His contributions support sustainable water management and infrastructure resilience across developing regions.
Dr. Umakanthan serves as a lecturer and consultant in Anatomical Pathology at the Faculty of Medical Sciences. His research interests include oncopathology, infectious disease, and the global burden of disease. He is a Senior Research Collaborator with the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Collaborator Network, coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
Dr. Umakanthan currently leads research focused on systematic, quantitative analysis of risk factors and the magnitude of health loss from diseases, injuries, and cancers in the Caribbean region through the GBD Caribbean initiative.
Dr. Kumar, a lecturer in Renewable Energy in the Department of Physics of the Faculty of Science & Technology has extensive international research and teaching experience across France, the United States, India, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
His work focuses on advanced solar-cell technologies—particularly perovskite, organic, and dye-sensitized solar cells. His research explores light-harvesting optimization and device architecture to enhance solar-cell efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs, contributing to global energy sustainability goals.
“The inclusion of these The UWI St. Augustine researchers in this prestigious global ranking underscores the University’s ongoing commitment to advancing impactful research and innovation that address critical challenges across science, health, technology, and sustainable development, both regionally and globally,” the UWI said in a statement.
