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Emmanuel Onaivi, professor of biology at William Paterson University, has been recognized as a “Highly Ranked Scholar” by ScholarGPS, placing him among the top 0.5 percent of scholars worldwide for his lifetime body of research. In addition to his overall ranking, Professor Onaivi is ranked No. 27 worldwide for his work on cannabinoid receptor research.
The ScholarGPS rankings are derived from public data on close to 30 million scholars and 120,000 institutions worldwide. Scholars are evaluated across 14 broad fields, 177 disciplines, and more than 350,000 specialties.
“This honor highlights Dr. Onaivi’s pioneering contributions to advancing knowledge in the field of neuropharmacology, cannabinoid science, and drug discovery,” says WP College of Science and Health Dean Venkat Sharma. “This is an extraordinary achievement reflecting his research productivity, impact, and scholarly quality.”
Onaivi has published more than 120 research articles (journal papers and book chapters) since 1987, with citations of his work in others’ academic studies estimated to be at over 9,600, per ScholarGPS. He also edited three books on the biology of marijuana and cannabinoid research methods.
His work has led to breakthroughs on numerous topics such as the potential role of cannabinoid receptors in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders; dopamine dysregulation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; the regulation of neural systems underlying addiction; and the comorbidity of medical and psychiatric disorders with addiction. He has presented his work before the United States Congress on Capitol Hill and has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse, among others.
Onaivi has mentored dozens of students in his on-campus laboratory – postdoctoral fellows, doctoral, master’s, undergraduate, and even high school students –who have gone on to successful careers as medical doctors, pharmacists, and scientists.
He is particularly fond of mentoring younger students, as he gets to watch more of their academic journeys unfold. Also, he often finds their contributions to his work to be the most valuable.
“These students have the distinct advantages of having minds free from pre-cut answers that we all acquire in our twenties,” Onaivi says of high school and undergraduate students. “They are willing to ask the kind of naïve questions that drive change and new direction.”
Onaivi proudly displays a photo of one of his former WP undergraduate research students, Monika Chung ’17, at her graduation from medical school last year. She went on to a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, studying the metastasis of breast cancer to the brain, and is currently a resident in Combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.
A Fulbright Scholar, guest scientist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and editor-in-chief for the journal Drug and Alcohol Research, Professor Onaivi has been a member of the William Paterson faculty since 2000. He received the University’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship in 2007, 2015, and 2021.
