Astrophysicist Marica Branchesi, whose work helped lead to the detection of gravitational waves last year, and surgeon Giuliano Testa, who led a groundbreaking trial of uterus transplants, were both honoured in the prestigious ranking. Branchesi was partly responsible for the Nobel Prize-winning detection of gravitational waves, an achievement the US-based news magazine described as "monumental".

"It took Albert Einstein to predict the existence of gravitational waves-ripples in space-time that occur when objects like black holes collide. It took Marica Branchesi to make sure we actually saw the evidence of such a crack-up," wrote Time journalist Jeffrey Kluger in his profile of the Italian.