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Jindan Yu, MD, PhD

Jindan Yu, MD, PhD

Biography

Jindan Yu, MD, PhD, is the Fray F. Marshall Chair in Biomedical Urologic Research and Professor and serves as vice chair for research in the Department of Urology at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Yu also serves as scientific director for prostate and GU cancers research at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. She holds a joint appointment and serves as faculty lead for cancer genomics in the Department of Human Genetics. Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2023, Dr. Yu was a professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University of Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Yu is a member of the Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute. She has trained over 40 fellows and graduate students and served on over 30 PhD thesis committees.

Education

Dr. Yu received her Bachelor of Medicine (equivalent to MD in US) at Peking University, Health Science Center in Beijing, China. She received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering with concentration on Biotechnology and Bioinformatics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Titles & Roles

  • Fray F. Marshall Chair in Biomedical Urologic Research and Professor, Department of Urology
    Emory University School of Medicine
  • Professor, Department of Human Genetics
    Emory University School of Medicine
  • Scientific Director, Prostate and GU Cancer Research
    Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
  • Vice Chair for Research, Department of Urology
    Emory University School of Medicine

Professional Memberships

Dr. Yu holds professional memberships with the Endocrine Society, American Urological Association, Society for Basic Urologic Research and American Association for Cancer Research.

Research

Dr. Yu's lab seeks to understand the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying prostate cancer progression using cutting-edge genomics and bioinformatics approaches. Her lab has made several significant contributions, including:

  1. characterizing the roles of EZH2 as an epigenetic and non-epigenetic regulator of prostate cancer,
  2. defining the dual roles of FOXA1 in reprogramming AR and suppressing SLUG, TGF-β signaling, and IL-8, and
  3. elucidating how HOXB13 loss and mutation induces lipid metabolism in prostate cancer, contributing to cancer metastasis. These findings paved the way for therapeutic targeting of EZH2, FOXA1, and HOXB13 downstream pathways, some of which have entered clinical trials.

Currently, the lab is focused on elucidating how these tumor-intrinsic factors regulate the tumor microenvironment to control response to immunotherapy and utilizing single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and Nanopore long-read sequencing technologies to understand molecular mechanisms of genitourinary cancers, identify prognostic/therapeutic biomarkers, and develop novel therapeutic approaches for advanced diseases.

Visit the J. Yu Lab to learn more about Dr. Yu and her team's research.

Publications

Dr. Yu is Associate Editor of the journal, Oncogene. She has been published in 90 articles in prestigious scientific journals including Nature Genetics, Molecular Cell, and Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Title/Journal Authors Publication Date

Myeloid differentiation factor-2/LY96, a potential predictive biomarker of metastasis and poor outcomes in prostate cancer: clinical implications as a potential therapeutic target.

Oncogene

 MG Ferrari, AP Jimenez-Uribe, L Wang, LH Hoeppner, P Murugan, E Hahm, J Yu, TM Kuzel, SA Gradilone, AP Mansini 01/02/2024

Chemokine receptor CXCR7 activates Aurora Kinase A and promotes neuroendocrine prostate cancer growth.

The Journal of clinical investigation

 G Gritsina, KW Fong, X Lu, Z Lin, W Xie, S Agarwal, D Lin, GE Schiltz, H Beltran, E Corey, C Morrissey, Y Wang, JC Zhao, M Hussain, J Yu 01/08/2023

Myeloid differentiation factor-2/LY96, a new predictive biomarker of metastasis in prostate cancer: Clinical implications as a potential therapeutic target.

Research square

 M Ferrari, L Wang, L Hoeppner, E Hahm, J Yu, T Kuzel, A Mansini 09/06/2023

Palmitoyl acyltransferase ZDHHC7 inhibits androgen receptor and suppresses prostate cancer.

Oncogene

 Z Lin, S Agarwal, S Tan, H Shi, X Lu, Z Tao, X Dong, X Wu, JC Zhao, J Yu 01/06/2023

Ferroptosis: the vulnerability within a cancer monster.

The Journal of clinical investigation

 W Xie, S Agarwal, J Yu 15/05/2023