Research Programs: Carcinogenesis & Chemoprevention , Prevention & Etiology
McKnight Presidential Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation

mimiyu@umn.edu
612-626-2902 — office
Preferred method of contact: e-mail

Dr. Yu is a cancer epidemiologist and the McKnight Presidential Professor at the Cancer Center. Dr. Yu received her B.Sc. degree in Mathematics from the University of Toronto, Canada in 1973, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1974 and 1977, respectively.

Dr. Yu was the recipient of an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute in 1992. In 2004, she received a Special Recognition Award from the National Cancer Institute. She served three terms on the National Cancer Institute's Board of Scientific Counselors. She is an associate editor of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. She has published over 250 research articles.

Research Interests

Dr. Yu's research has focused on identifying lifestyle/environmental causes of cancer and how genetic factors modify the level of risk in exposed individuals. She has conducted extensive studies on diet and cancer; viral hepatitis and other risk factors in liver cancer; analgesics and other risk factors in kidney cancer; and exposure to arylamines in bladder cancer. Her current interest centers on the identification of cancer-protective factors in the human diet.

Selected Publications

Yuan J-M, Koh W-P, Van Den Berg D, Lee H-P, Yu MC. Green tea intake, ACE gene polymorphism and breast cancer risk among Chinese women in Singapore. Carcinogenesis 2005;26:1389-1394.

Seow A, Yuan J-M, Koh W-P, Lee H-P, Yu MC. Diabetes mellitus and risk of colorectal cancer in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006;98:135-138.

Yuan J-M, Gao Y-T, Ong C-N, Ross RK, Yu MC. Prediagnostic level of serum retinol in relation to reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006;98:482-490.

Koh-W-P, Yuan J-M, van den Berg D, Ingles SA, Yu MC.  Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ gene polymorphisms and colorectal cancer risk among Chinese in Singapore. Carcinogenesis 2006;27:1797-1802.

Yuan J-M, Gao Y-T, Yang CS, Yu MC. Urinary biomarkers of tea polyphenols and risk of colorectal cancer in the Shanghai Cohort Study. Int J Cancer 2007;120:1344-1350.