2021 Research Leaders: Leading healthcare institutions

The 2021 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Share 2019–2020
1 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern Medical Center), United States of America (USA) 139.01 149.35 311
7.4%
2 Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), CU, United States of America (USA) 115.11 124.59 410
8.2%
3 Michigan Medicine, U-M, United States of America (USA) 93.46 113.15 318
21.1%
4 UC San Diego Health Sciences, United States of America (USA) 113.67 103.84 400
-8.6%
5 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), United States of America (USA) 105.47 96.95 349
-8.1%
6 Duke University Health System, United States of America (USA) 106.02 94.49 293
-10.9%
7 Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), United States of America (USA) 102.45 91.12 639
-11.1%
8 NYU Langone Health, United States of America (USA) 78.77 85.80 266
8.9%
9 UW Medicine, United States of America (USA) 101.93 83.92 341
-17.7%
10 Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), United States of America (USA) 70.88 83.75 257
18.2%
11 Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS), United States of America (USA) 62.43 82.50 376
32.1%
12 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States of America (USA) 73.41 76.15 328
3.7%
13 Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), United States of America (USA) 66.38 70.20 521
5.8%
14 UCLA Health, United States of America (USA) 94.47 70.01 308
-25.9%
15 Mayo Clinic, United States of America (USA) 40.89 59.99 192
46.7%
16 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), United States of America (USA) 46.25 59.35 506
28.3%
17 Boston Children's Hospital (BCH), United States of America (USA) 51.37 55.20 414
7.5%
18 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, United States of America (USA) 42.62 46.46 223
9.0%
19 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (St. Jude), United States of America (USA) 41.26 45.80 108
11.0%
20 UCSF Health, United States of America (USA) 44.62 45.69 227
2.4%
21 Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), Italy 46.24 44.64 244
-3.5%
22 Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Germany 35.79 40.66 354
13.6%
23 Health Sciences Center (HSC), Utah, United States of America (USA) 43.81 38.06 120
-13.1%
24 Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands 41.34 37.98 216
-8.1%
25 University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz), United States of America (USA) 47.22 37.20 149
-21.2%
26 Renji Hospital, SJTU, China 23.73 37.06 139
56.2%
27 Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), United States of America (USA) 35.10 34.16 97
-2.7%
28 The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), U of T, Canada 25.80 33.83 155
31.1%
29 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), United States of America (USA) 29.16 32.79 174
12.5%
30 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), United States of America (USA) 27.58 32.75 305
18.7%
31 Rutgers Health, United States of America (USA) 31.63 30.87 100
-2.4%
32 Cleveland Clinic, United States of America (USA) 22.84 30.09 109
31.7%
33 West China School of Medicine/West China Hospital of Sichuan University (WCSM/WCH), SCU, China 29.82 29.42 81
-1.3%
34 UC Davis Health, United States of America (USA) 17.96 27.52 97
53.2%
35 Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Netherlands 22.07 27.41 150
24.2%
36 Stanford Medicine, United States of America (USA) 32.97 26.86 210
-18.5%
37 University Health Network (UHN), U of T, Canada 28.63 24.84 116
-13.2%
38 Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC), Netherlands 20.98 23.96 152
14.2%
39 University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), UR, United States of America (USA) 19.41 23.89 81
23.1%
40 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), United States of America (USA) 23.91 23.70 157
-0.9%
41 City of Hope, United States of America (USA) 19.23 22.48 119
16.9%
42 Radboud University Medical Centre (Radboudumc), RU, Netherlands 21.45 22.44 175
4.6%
43 University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), UHH, Germany 28.96 22.42 139
-22.6%
44 Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), France 17.67 21.88 236
23.8%
45 Heidelberg University Hospital at Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Uni Heidelberg, Germany 12.50 21.20 168
69.6%
46 University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), RUG, Netherlands 19.99 21.16 110
5.9%
47 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), United States of America (USA) 16.66 21.12 68
26.8%
48 University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht), Netherlands 22.78 19.83 145
-13.0%
49 University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), United States of America (USA) 10.81 19.01 43
75.9%
50 University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), United States of America (USA) 18.88 18.13 102
-4.0%
51 University Hospital Tübingen (UKT), Uni Tübingen, Germany 14.60 17.20 106
17.8%
52 Hannover Medical School (MHH), Germany 14.76 16.99 106
15.1%
53 McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Canada 16.19 16.78 87
3.6%
54 UTMB Health, United States of America (USA) 13.23 16.71 58
26.3%
55 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Cedars-Sinai), United States of America (USA) 14.27 16.62 76
16.5%
56 University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Germany 17.74 16.50 97
-7.0%
57 H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, United States of America (USA) 14.79 16.30 49
10.2%
58 UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, United States of America (USA) 13.59 15.82 97
16.4%
59 Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), Netherlands 20.90 15.65 101
-25.1%
60 Ruijin Hospital, SJTU, China 7.10 15.59 58
119.4%
61 University Hospital of Erlangen, FAU, Germany 11.52 14.76 52
28.1%
62 University Hospital Zurich (UHZ), Switzerland 10.54 14.75 72
39.9%
63 Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC), United States of America (USA) 11.45 14.10 75
23.1%
64 Yonsei University Health System (YUHS), South Korea 11.23 14.00 54
24.7%
65 The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China 8.45 13.17 53
55.9%
66 University Hospital Bonn (UKB), Uni Bonn, Germany 15.08 13.16 88
-12.7%
67 UConn Health, United States of America (USA) 15.36 13.16 57
-14.3%
68 University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), United States of America (USA) 7.25 12.21 55
68.5%
69 Houston Methodist, United States of America (USA) 8.89 11.98 47
34.8%
70 Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), SYSU, China 12.93 11.91 40
-7.9%
71 Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, SYSU, China 7.28 11.52 49
58.3%
72 University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany 11.61 10.53 72
-9.3%
73 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), United States of America (USA) 15.75 10.51 90
-33.3%
74 The People's Liberation Army General Hospital (PLAGH), China 8.03 10.48 129
30.6%
75 Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Spain 10.01 10.46 51
4.5%
76 Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUH), United Kingdom (UK) 8.16 10.43 132
27.9%
77 Advocate Health, United States of America (USA) 11.25 10.05 59
-10.7%
78 University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), UNIL, Switzerland 9.27 10.03 67
8.3%
79 Sinai Health System, U of T, Canada 8.37 9.86 80
17.9%
80 Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation (JHHS), United States of America (USA) 12.88 9.82 118
-23.8%
81 University Hospital of Münster (UKM), WWU, Germany 6.73 9.69 47
43.9%
82 University of Florida Health (UF Health), United States of America (USA) 8.67 9.59 47
10.7%
83 Texas Children's Hospital, BCM, United States of America (USA) 7.68 9.29 117
21.1%
84 The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China 6.00 8.94 50
49.0%
85 University Medical Center Mainz, JGU, Germany 8.69 8.85 59
1.9%
86 University Hospital Basel (USB), UB, Switzerland 8.81 8.73 68
-0.9%
87 Oslo University Hospital (OUS), Norway 10.19 8.73 64
-14.4%
88 Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, SJTU, China 4.84 8.57 35
77.0%
89 National Cancer Center (NCC), Japan 7.45 8.55 44
14.8%
90 TUM University Hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar (MRI), Germany 5.18 8.50 98
64.2%
91 University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), United States of America (USA) 9.56 8.41 35
-12.0%
92 Xiangya Hospital, CSU, China 9.70 8.31 45
-14.3%
93 Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), Canada 9.82 8.29 63
-15.6%
94 University Hospital of Munich (KUM), LMU, Germany 11.31 8.16 100
-27.9%
95 Rady Children’s Health (RCH), United States of America (USA) 7.54 8.10 84
7.5%
96 Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, SJTU, China 7.87 8.05 34
2.3%
97 Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden 8.29 7.98 82
-3.7%
98 Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), United States of America (USA) 5.33 7.88 37
47.9%
99 Seattle Children's Hospital, United States of America (USA) 10.42 7.36 62
-29.4%
100 Tongji Hospital (TJH), HUST, China 5.40 7.29 38
35.0%
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Footnote

Each year, the Nature Index publishes tables based on counts of high-quality research outputs in the previous calendar year. Users please note:

  1. The data behind the tables are based on a relatively small proportion of total research papers, they cover the natural sciences only and outputs are non-normalized (that is, they don’t reflect the size of the country or institution, or its overall research output).
  2. The Nature Index is one indicator of institutional research performance. The metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are based on an institution’s or country/territory’s publication output in 82 high-quality natural science publications. The publications were chosen by an independent group of researchers. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added.
  3. Nature Index recognizes that many other factors must be taken into account when considering research quality and institutional performance; Nature Index metrics alone should not be used to assess institutions or individuals.
  4. Nature Index data and methods are transparent and the data in the above table is published under a creative commons licence at nature.com/nature-index/.
  5. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The Nature Index database undergoes regular updating, corrections, adjustment of institutional hierarchies, and removal of retracted papers and thus the live website can differ from the research leaders tables.

Research Leaders tables from previous years are also updated annually to reflect any changes to the database. This means rankings and metrics may differ from the table when first released.


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