Biography
David S. Yu, MD, PhD, is the Jerome Landry MD Chair of Cancer Biology and a professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. He also serves as director of the Division of Cancer Biology and Vice Chair for Biology Research. A board certified radiation oncologist, Dr. Yu specializes in the treatment of head and neck cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer. As a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Clinician and Scientist, Dr. Yu's goal is to translate insights gained from interactions with his patients and his research in the laboratory to innovative therapies to improve the quality of care for patients with cancer. Dr. Yu is a member of the Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He is a member of the Emory Graduate Programs in Cancer Biology and Genetics and Molecular Biology, and the Emory MD/PhD Program. Dr. Yu received his MD from the University of Texas at Southwestern Medical School and PhD from the University of Cambridge prior to completing residency training in Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During his residency training, Dr. Yu was an American Board of Radiology Holman Research Pathway fellow.Education
Titles & Roles
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Jerome Landry MD Chair of Cancer Biology and Professor, Department of Radiation OncologyEmory University School of Medicine
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Director, Division of Cancer Biology, Department of Radiation OncologyEmory University School of Medicine
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Vice Chair for Biology Research, Department of Radiation OncologyEmory University School of Medicine
Professional Memberships
Dr. Yu is a member of the ASTRO Radiation and Cancer Biology Committee Research Council, ASTRO Research Evaluation Committee Research Council, American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, Radiation Research Society and Radiological Society of North America among others.
Research
Dr. Yu is actively engaged in both clinical and science research, including, understanding how cells respond to replication stress and how to utilize this knowledge for improvements in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
In his laboratory at Emory, Dr. Yu is examining the role of sirtuin deacetylases, and more generally the acetylome, in orchestrating the replication stress response. He is working to identify novel components of the replication stress response, which mediate sensitivity of cancer cells to DNA damaging agents, utilizing high throughput loss of function genetic screens. His lab is also focused on understanding mechanistically how novel replication stress response proteins function using cell biological, genetic, and biochemical approaches to define the functions of these proteins. He hopes to translate insights gained from mechanistic analyses to improvements in the clinic. By exploiting defects in the replication stress response, he hopes to utilize novel replication stress response proteins as biomarkers for clinical response and outcome to specific cancer treatments and as novel therapeutic targets to personalize cancer therapy.
Grants
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Publications
Dr. Yu has authored a number of publications in high impact journals, including Nature, Cell, Molecular Cell, Cell Reports, and PNAS. He is associate editor of International Journal of Radiation Biology.
Title/Journal Authors Publication Date Exploration of an adaptive proton therapy strategy using CBCT with the concept of digital twins.
Physics in medicine and biology
CW Chang, Z Tian, RLJ Qiu, HS McGinnis, DH Bohannon, P Patel, Y Wang, DS Yu, SA Patel, J Zhou, X Yang 01/06/2025 Medical physics
Z Eidex, M Safari, RLJ Qiu, DS Yu, HK Shu, H Mao, X Yang 12/23/2024 ArXiv
J Peng, T Wang, H Xie, RLJ Qiu, CW Chang, J Roper, DS Yu, X Tang, X Yang 12/18/2024 Unsupervised Bayesian generation of synthetic CT from CBCT using patient-specific score-based prior.
Medical physics
J Peng, Y Gao, CW Chang, R Qiu, T Wang, A Kesarwala, K Yang, J Scott, D Yu, X Yang 12/12/2024 Physics in medicine and biology
C Ma, X Yang, J Setianegara, Y Wang, Y Gao, D Yu, P Patel, J Zhou 12/03/2024 Clinical epigenetics
SK Rath, G Nyamsuren, B Tampe, DS Yu, MS Hulshoff, D Schlösser, S Maamari, M Zeisberg, EM Zeisberg 08/27/2024 Nature communications
Z Shu, B Dwivedi, JM Switchenko, DS Yu, X Deng 08/09/2024 Unsupervised Bayesian Generation of Synthetic CT from CBCT Using Patient-Specific Score-Based Prior.
ArXiv
J Peng, Y Gao, CW Chang, R Qiu, T Wang, A Kesarwala, K Yang, J Scott, D Yu, X Yang 06/21/2024 Journal of applied clinical medical physics
CW Chang, D Bohannon, Z Tian, Y Wang, MW Mcdonald, DS Yu, T Liu, J Zhou, X Yang 05/01/2024 Streamlined pin-ridge-filter design for single-energy proton FLASH planning.
Medical physics
C Ma, J Zhou, CW Chang, Y Wang, PR Patel, DS Yu, S Tian, X Yang 04/01/2024 Synthetic CT generation from MRI using 3D transformer-based denoising diffusion model.
Medical physics
S Pan, E Abouei, J Wynne, CW Chang, T Wang, RLJ Qiu, Y Li, J Peng, J Roper, P Patel, DS Yu, H Mao, X Yang 04/01/2024 Research square
Y Shen, E Connolly, M Aiello, C Zhou, P Chappa, H Song, P Tippitak, T Clark, M Cardenas, N Prokhnevska, A Mariniello, MS Pagadala, VR Dhere, S Rafiq, AH Kesarwala, A Orthwein, SN Thomas, MK Khan, J Brandon Dixon, GB Lesinski, MC Lowe, H Kissick, DS Yu, CM Paulos, NC Schmitt, ZS Buchwald 03/06/2024 CBCT-Based synthetic CT image generation using conditional denoising diffusion probabilistic model.
Medical physics
J Peng, RLJ Qiu, JF Wynne, CW Chang, S Pan, T Wang, J Roper, T Liu, PR Patel, DS Yu, X Yang 03/01/2024 NAR cancer
W Daddacha, D Monroe, AJ Schlafstein, AE Withers, EB Thompson, D Danelia, NC Luong, F Sesay, SK Rath, ER Usoro, ME Essien, AT Jung, JG Jiang, J Hu, B Mahboubi, A Williams, JE Steinbeck, X Yang, ZS Buchwald, WS Dynan, JM Switchenko, B Kim, MK Khan, DL Jaye, DS Yu 03/01/2024 The Journal of biological chemistry
JL de Amorim, SW Leung, R Haji-Seyed-Javadi, Y Hou, DS Yu, H Ghalei, S Khoshnevis, B Yao, AH Corbett 02/01/2024 International journal of radiation biology
NC Luong, H Kawamura, H Ikeda, RT Roppongi, A Shibata, J Hu, JG Jiang, DS Yu, KD Held 01/01/2024 Streamlined Pin-Ridge-Filter Design for Single-energy Proton FLASH Planning.
ArXiv
C Ma, J Zhou, CW Chang, Y Wang, PR Patel, DS Yu, S Tian, X Yang 10/03/2023 International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
CW Chang, D Bohannon, Z Tian, Y Wang, MW McDonald, DS Yu, T Liu, J Zhou, X Yang 10/01/2023 Nucleic acids research
PE Head, P Kapoor-Vazirani, GP Nagaraju, H Zhang, SK Rath, NC Luong, R Haji-Seyed-Javadi, F Sesay, SY Wang, DM Duong, W Daddacha, EV Minten, B Song, D Danelia, X Liu, S Li, EA Ortlund, NT Seyfried, DM Smalley, Y Wang, X Deng, WS Dynan, B El-Rayes, AJ Davis, DS Yu 08/25/2023 Author Correction: YB1 modulates the DNA damage response in medulloblastoma.
Scientific reports
LF McSwain, CE Pillsbury, R Haji-Seyed-Javadi, SK Rath, V Chen, T Huang, SW Shahab, H Kunhiraman, J Ross, GA Price, A Dey, D Hambardzumyan, T MacDonald, DS Yu, CC Porter, AM Kenney 06/15/2023 YB1 modulates the DNA damage response in medulloblastoma.
Scientific reports
LF McSwain, CE Pillsbury, R Haji-Seyed-Javadi, SK Rath, V Chen, T Huang, SW Shahab, H Kunhiraman, J Ross, GA Price, A Dey, D Hambardzumyan, T MacDonald, DS Yu, CC Porter, AM Kenney 05/19/2023 The RNA helicase DDX1 associates with the nuclear RNA exosome and modulates R-loops.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
JL de Amorim, SW Leung, R Haji-Seyed-Javadi, Y Hou, DS Yu, H Ghalei, S Khoshnevis, B Yao, AH Corbett 04/17/2023 Deformable CT image registration via a dual feasible neural network.
Medical physics
Y Lei, Y Fu, Z Tian, T Wang, X Dai, J Roper, DS Yu, M McDonald, JD Bradley, T Liu, J Zhou, X Yang 12/01/2022 Nature communications
P Kapoor-Vazirani, SK Rath, X Liu, Z Shu, NE Bowen, Y Chen, R Haji-Seyed-Javadi, W Daddacha, EV Minten, D Danelia, D Farchi, DM Duong, NT Seyfried, X Deng, EA Ortlund, B Kim, DS Yu 11/07/2022 Protocol for in vitro lysine deacetylation to test putative substrates of class III deacetylases.
STAR protocols
EV Minten, DS Yu 06/17/2022 Journal for immunotherapy of cancer
NM Tannir, DC Cho, A Diab, M Sznol, MA Bilen, AV Balar, G Grignani, E Puente, L Tang, D Chien, U Hoch, A Choudhury, D Yu, SL Currie, MA Tagliaferri, J Zalevsky, AO Siefker-Radtke, ME Hurwitz 04/01/2022 Quantitative proteomic analysis of the lysine acetylome reveals diverse SIRT2 substrates.
Scientific reports
H Zhang, EB Dammer, DM Duong, D Danelia, NT Seyfried, DS Yu 03/09/2022 The Journal of biological chemistry
NE Bowen, J Temple, C Shepard, A Oo, F Arizaga, P Kapoor-Vazirani, M Persaud, CH Yu, DH Kim, RF Schinazi, DN Ivanov, F Diaz-Griffero, DS Yu, Y Xiong, B Kim 10/01/2021 SIRT2 promotes BRCA1-BARD1 heterodimerization through deacetylation.
Cell reports
EV Minten, P Kapoor-Vazirani, C Li, H Zhang, K Balakrishnan, DS Yu 03/30/2021 Oncogene
AE Koyen, MZ Madden, D Park, EV Minten, P Kapoor-Vazirani, E Werner, NT Pfister, R Haji-Seyed-Javadi, H Zhang, J Xu, N Deng, DM Duong, TJ Pecen, Z Frazier, ZD Nagel, JB Lazaro, KW Mouw, NT Seyfried, CS Moreno, TK Owonikoko, X Deng, DS Yu 06/01/2020 The Journal of biological chemistry
H Wang, X Wang, G Chen, X Zhang, X Tang, D Park, FA Cucinotta, DS Yu, X Deng, WS Dynan, PW Doetsch, Y Wang 05/01/2020 Replication stress and FOXM1 drive radiation induced genomic instability and cell transformation.
PloS one
Z Li, DS Yu, PW Doetsch, E Werner 01/01/2020 Ionizing Radiation induction of cholesterol biosynthesis in Lung tissue.
Scientific reports
E Werner, A Alter, Q Deng, EB Dammer, Y Wang, DS Yu, DM Duong, NT Seyfried, PW Doetsch 08/29/2019 Cancer
S Tian, JM Switchenko, J Jhaveri, RJ Cassidy, MJ Ferris, RH Press, NT Pfister, MR Patel, NF Saba, MW McDonald, KA Higgins, DS Yu, WJ Curran, TW Gillespie, JJ Beitler 08/15/2019 Acetylation regulates ribonucleotide reductase activity and cancer cell growth.
Nature communications
G Chen, Y Luo, K Warncke, Y Sun, DS Yu, H Fu, M Behera, SS Ramalingam, PW Doetsch, DM Duong, M Lammers, WJ Curran, X Deng 07/19/2019 Disparities in Postoperative Therapy for Salivary Gland Adenoid Cystic Carcinomas.
The Laryngoscope
RJ Cassidy, JM Switchenko, MW El-Deiry, RH Belcher, J Zhong, CE Steuer, NF Saba, MW McDonald, DS Yu, TW Gillespie, JJ Beitler 02/01/2019 Targeting Mcl-1 enhances DNA replication stress sensitivity to cancer therapy.
The Journal of clinical investigation
G Chen, AT Magis, K Xu, D Park, DS Yu, TK Owonikoko, GL Sica, SW Satola, SS Ramalingam, WJ Curran, PW Doetsch, X Deng 01/02/2018 International journal of breast cancer
AJ Schlafstein, AE Withers, S Rudra, D Danelia, JM Switchenko, D Mister, S Harari, H Zhang, W Daddacha, S Ehdaivand, X Li, MA Torres, DS Yu 01/01/2018 SAMHD1 Promotes DNA End Resection to Facilitate DNA Repair by Homologous Recombination.
Cell reports
W Daddacha, AE Koyen, AJ Bastien, PE Head, VR Dhere, GN Nabeta, EC Connolly, E Werner, MZ Madden, MB Daly, EV Minten, DR Whelan, AJ Schlafstein, H Zhang, R Anand, C Doronio, AE Withers, C Shepard, RK Sundaram, X Deng, WS Dynan, Y Wang, RS Bindra, P Cejka, E Rothenberg, PW Doetsch, B Kim, DS Yu 08/22/2017 Sirtuin 2 mutations in human cancers impair its function in genome maintenance.
The Journal of biological chemistry
PE Head, H Zhang, AJ Bastien, AE Koyen, AE Withers, WB Daddacha, X Cheng, DS Yu 06/16/2017 SIRT2 orchestrates the DNA damage response.
Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.)
H Zhang, PE Head, DS Yu 08/17/2016 TNFRSF10C copy number variation is associated with metastatic colorectal cancer.
Journal of gastrointestinal oncology
DG Tanenbaum, WA Hall, LE Colbert, AJ Bastien, DJ Brat, J Kong, S Kim, B Dwivedi, J Kowalski, JC Landry, DS Yu 06/01/2016 World journal of gastrointestinal oncology
CS Seldon, LE Colbert, WA Hall, SB Fisher, DS Yu, JC Landry 04/15/2016 ATRIP Deacetylation by SIRT2 Drives ATR Checkpoint Activation by Promoting Binding to RPA-ssDNA.
Cell reports
H Zhang, PE Head, W Daddacha, SH Park, X Li, Y Pan, MZ Madden, DM Duong, M Xie, B Yu, MD Warren, EA Liu, VR Dhere, C Li, I Pradilla, MA Torres, Y Wang, WS Dynan, PW Doetsch, X Deng, NT Seyfried, D Gius, DS Yu 02/16/2016 Practical radiation oncology
DG Tanenbaum, WA Hall, P Mittal, DC Nickleach, JL Mikell, LE Colbert, CC Moreno, MH Squires, SB Fisher, DS Yu, DA Kooby, SK Maithel, JC Landry 01/01/2016 Quantitative Ultrasonic Nakagami Imaging of Neck Fibrosis After Head and Neck Radiation Therapy.
International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
X Yang, E Yoshida, RJ Cassidy, JJ Beitler, DS Yu, WJ Curran, T Liu 06/01/2015 Radiotherapy patterns of care in gastric adenocarcinoma: a single institution experience.
Journal of gastrointestinal oncology
J Cheng, MH Squires, JL Mikell, SB Fisher, CA Staley, DA Kooby, BF El-Rayes, WJ Curran, WA Hall, LE Colbert, JW Shelton, SK Maithel, J Landry, DS Yu 06/01/2015 The 21-gene recurrence score and locoregional recurrence in breast cancer patients.
Annals of surgical oncology
NK Jegadeesh, S Kim, RS Prabhu, GM Oprea, DS Yu, KG Godette, AB Zelnak, D Mister, JM Switchenko, MA Torres 04/01/2015 International journal of breast cancer
S Rudra, DS Yu, ES Yu, JM Switchenko, D Mister, MA Torres 01/01/2015 International journal of breast cancer
S Kandula, JM Switchenko, S Harari, C Fasola, D Mister, DS Yu, AB Zelnak, MA Torres 01/01/2015 International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
X Yang, N Wu, G Cheng, Z Zhou, DS Yu, JJ Beitler, WJ Curran, T Liu 12/01/2014 Oncogene
WA Hall, AV Petrova, LE Colbert, CW Hardy, SB Fisher, B Saka, JW Shelton, MD Warren, BG Pantazides, K Gandhi, J Kowalski, DA Kooby, BF El-Rayes, CA Staley, N Volkan Adsay, WJ Curran, JC Landry, SK Maithel, DS Yu 11/20/2014 Academic radiology
X Yang, S Tridandapani, JJ Beitler, DS Yu, Z Chen, S Kim, DW Bruner, WJ Curran, T Liu 10/01/2014 A gemcitabine sensitivity screen identifies a role for NEK9 in the replication stress response.
Nucleic acids research
SC Smith, AV Petrova, MZ Madden, H Wang, Y Pan, MD Warren, CW Hardy, D Liang, EA Liu, MH Robinson, S Rudra, J Wang, S Ehdaivand, MA Torres, Y Wang, DS Yu 10/01/2014 Photodiagnosis and photodynamic therapy
CS Shemesh, CW Hardy, DS Yu, B Fernandez, H Zhang 06/01/2014 CHD7 expression predicts survival outcomes in patients with resected pancreatic cancer.
Cancer research
LE Colbert, AV Petrova, SB Fisher, BG Pantazides, MZ Madden, CW Hardy, MD Warren, Y Pan, GP Nagaraju, EA Liu, B Saka, WA Hall, JW Shelton, K Gandhi, R Pauly, J Kowalski, DA Kooby, BF El-Rayes, CA Staley, NV Adsay, WJ Curran, JC Landry, SK Maithel, DS Yu 05/15/2014 Medical physics
X Yang, S Tridandapani, JJ Beitler, DS Yu, N Wu, Y Wang, DW Bruner, WJ Curran, T Liu 02/01/2014 Cancer
LE Colbert, SB Fisher, CW Hardy, WA Hall, B Saka, JW Shelton, AV Petrova, MD Warren, BG Pantazides, K Gandhi, J Kowalski, DA Kooby, BF El-Rayes, CA Staley, NV Adsay, WJ Curran, JC Landry, SK Maithel, DS Yu 09/01/2013 SIRT2 directs the replication stress response through CDK9 deacetylation.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
H Zhang, SH Park, BG Pantazides, O Karpiuk, MD Warren, CW Hardy, DM Duong, SJ Park, HS Kim, A Vassilopoulos, NT Seyfried, SA Johnsen, D Gius, DS Yu 08/13/2013 Physics in medicine and biology
MA Deeley, A Chen, RD Datteri, J Noble, A Cmelak, E Donnelly, A Malcolm, L Moretti, J Jaboin, K Niermann, ES Yang, DS Yu, BM Dawant 06/21/2013 Medical physics
X Yang, S Tridandapani, JJ Beitler, DS Yu, EJ Yoshida, WJ Curran, T Liu 09/01/2012 Ultrasound in medicine & biology
X Yang, S Tridandapani, JJ Beitler, DS Yu, EJ Yoshida, WJ Curran, T Liu 09/01/2012 Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.)
H Zhang, DS Yu 07/01/2012 The negative effect of triple-negative breast cancer on outcome after breast-conserving therapy.
Annals of surgical oncology
SS Zaky, M Lund, KA May, KD Godette, JJ Beitler, LR Holmes, RM O'Regan, ES Yu, DS Yu, JC Landry 10/01/2011 Physics in medicine and biology
MA Deeley, A Chen, R Datteri, JH Noble, AJ Cmelak, EF Donnelly, AW Malcolm, L Moretti, J Jaboin, K Niermann, ES Yang, DS Yu, F Yei, T Koyama, GX Ding, BM Dawant 07/21/2011 A role for CDK9-cyclin K in maintaining genome integrity.
Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.)
DS Yu, D Cortez 01/01/2011 Cyclin-dependent kinase 9-cyclin K functions in the replication stress response.
EMBO reports
DS Yu, R Zhao, EL Hsu, J Cayer, F Ye, Y Guo, Y Shyr, D Cortez 11/01/2010 Awards
Dr. Yu received the Michael Fry Research Award from the Radiation Research Society in 2014, which recognizes the most outstanding junior scientist who has made exceptional contributions to the field of radiation research. Dr. Yu is currently funded by NIH/NCI R01, Department of Defense, and foundation awards.