Yin Cao, ScD, MPH
Associate Professor in Surgery
Division of Public Health Sciences
Department of Surgery
Associate Professor in Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology
Department of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine
Email: yin.cao@wustl.edu
Education
ScD in Epidemiology, Harvard University (2013)
MPH in Epidemiology, Columbia University (2009)
BS in Economics, Peking University (2007)
BS in Biology, Tsinghua University (2007)
Research Interest
Dr. Cao is a cancer epidemiologist with extensive training and research experience in epidemiologic study design and molecular/nutritional/clinical epidemiology. Her early work focused on risk prediction, screening, and chemoprevention of gastrointestinal malignancies. Current projects in the Cao lab incorporate high-throughput technologies (genomics, proteomics, microbiome, accelerometers) into large-scale collaborative epidemiology/clinical studies to address provocative questions in cancer prevention, including but not limited to 1) the etiology and early detection of early-onset cancers 2) the biological basis for cancer disparity 3) the role of microbiome and host immunity in carcinogenesis.
These work leverage data collected from deep-characterized population-based studies and genetic consortium, clinical cohorts from Washington University, and pharmacy and inpatient/outpatient claims. The lab collaborates extensively with leading investigators in clinical medicine (e.g. gastroenterology, oncology, pathology, surgery), computational biology, genetics, and decision modeling. Dr. Cao and her team have published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts in leading medical journals. More details at https://caolab.wustl.edu/publications/.
Honors and Awards
2018 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Young Investigator Award
2020 National Cancer Institute (NCI) R37 MERIT Award
2023 American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Young Investigator Award in Clinical Science
2023 40 Under 40 in Cancer