Yinyin Yuan
Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, Division of Pathology-Lab Medicine Div
About Yinyin Yuan
Dr. Yinyin Yuan is a professor and the Director of Computational Pathology Research Program at the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology. The mission of the Yuan lab is to design impact-driven strategies and artificial intelligence (AI) engines to accelerate the applications of AI and data science to pathology. The scientific focus is to decipher how the tumor microenvironment shapes the evolution of immune escape and drug resistance. Her team is developing cutting-edge technologies to study the spatial heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment and how it shapes cancer genetic heterogeneity and clinical outcome.
As a Co-Lead of Focus Area One - Quantitative analysis and insight extraction from imaging and pathology data - in the Institute for Data Science in Oncology, Dr. Yuan is committed to building the computational infrastructure and data science capacity for pathology. This will enable accelerated, rigorous, and actionable approaches for building data science capacity with translational impacts in pathology. The vision is to create a new paradigm of technological advances and multidisciplinary convergences that will lead the way to novel digital biomarkers and ultimately to the new frontier of integrated diagnostics.
Dr. Yuan obtained degrees in computer science from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC, BSc) and University of Warwick (MSc and PhD), and has won prestigious awards and fellowships including a Junior Research Fellowship from Wolfson College, University of Cambridge and Cancer Research UK Career Establishment Fellowship. From 2012 to 2022, she led the Computational Pathology and Integrative Genomics team at the institute of Cancer Research, London. There she built a pioneering interface between digital pathology, machine learning, and cancer biology with strong clinical applications, and was awarded the title of Professor of Computational Pathology in 2021. Her team currently leads artificial intelligence developments in computational pathology in several international scientific programs and consortiums include the Cancer Research UK-funded TRACERx Lung, Sarcoma Network Accelerator, Early detection for myeloma, Brain Tumour Award Target-GBM, and the NIH-funded Arizona Cancer Evolution Center and Breast Pre-Cancer Atlas.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2009 | University of Warwick, Warwick, GBR, PHD, Computer Science |
| 2004 | University of Warwick, Warwick, GBR, MS, Computer Science |
| 2003 | University of Science & Technology of China, Chine, CHN, BS, Computer Science |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Professor, Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, Division of Pathology/Lab Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2022 - Present
Professor, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, London, 2021 - 2022
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Director of Computational Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2022 - Present
Team Leader, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, London, 2012 - 2022
Honors & Awards
| 2016 | Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Career Establishment Award |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Hagos YB, Akarca AU, Ramsay A, Rossi RL, Pomplun S, Ngai V, Moioli A, Gianatti A, Mcnamara C, Rambaldi A, Quezada SA, Linch D, Gritti G, Yuan Y, Marafioti T. High inter-follicular spatial co-localization of CD8+FOXP3+ with CD4+CD8+ cells predicts favorable outcome in follicular lymphoma. Hematol Oncol 40(4):541-553, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35451108.
- Pinard CJ, International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group, Lagree A, Lu FI, Klein J, Oblak ML, Salgado R, Cardenas JCP, Brunetti B, Muscatello LV, Sarli G, Foschini MP, Hardas A, Castillo SP, AbdulJabbar K, Yuan Y, Moore DA, Tran WT. Comparative Evaluation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Companion Animals: Immuno-Oncology as a Relevant Translational Model for Cancer Therapy. Cancers (Basel) 14(20), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36291791.
- Sobhani F, Muralidhar S, Hamidinekoo A, Hall AH, King LM, Marks JR, Maley C, Horlings HM, Hwang ES, Yuan Y. Spatial interplay of tissue hypoxia and T-cell regulation in ductal carcinoma in situ. NPJ Breast Cancer 8(1):105, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36109587.
- AbdulJabbar K, Raza SEA, Rosenthal R, Jamal-Hanjani M, Veeriah S, Akarca A, Lund T, Moore DA, Salgado R, Al Bakir M, Zapata L, Hiley CT, Officer L, Sereno M, Smith CR, Loi S, Hackshaw A, Marafioti T, Quezada SA, McGranahan N, Le Quesne J, TRACERx Consortium, Swanton C, Yuan Y. Geospatial immune variability illuminates differential evolution of lung adenocarcinoma. Nat Med 26(7):1054-1062, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32461698.
- Ghorani E, Reading JL, Henry JY, Massy MR, Rosenthal R, Turati V, Joshi K, Furness AJS, Ben Aissa A, Saini SK, Ramskov S, Georgiou A, Sunderland MW, Wong YNS, Mucha MV, Day W, Galvez-Cancino F, Becker PD, Uddin I, Oakes T, Ismail M, Ronel T, Woolston A, Jamal-Hanjani M, Veeriah S, Birkbak NJ, Wilson GA, Litchfield K, Conde L, Guerra-Assunção JA, Blighe K, Biswas D, Salgado R, Lund T, Bakir MA, Moore DA, Hiley CT, Loi S, Sun Y, Yuan Y, AbdulJabbar K, Turajilic S, Herrero J, Enver T, Hadrup SR, Hackshaw A, Peggs KS, McGranahan N, Chain B, TRACERx Consortium, Swanton C, Quezada SA. The T cell differentiation landscape is shaped by tumour mutations in lung cancer. Nat Cancer 1(5):546-561, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32803172.
- Failmezger H, Muralidhar S, Rullan A, de Andrea CE, Sahai E, Yuan Y. Topological Tumor Graphs: A Graph-Based Spatial Model to Infer Stromal Recruitment for Immunosuppression in Melanoma Histology. Cancer Res 80(5):1199-1209, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31874858.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Lung Cancer Evolution |
| Funding Source: | CRUK Fellowship |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Improving Neoadjuvant Therapy in Sarcomas |
| Funding Source: | CRUK Accelerator |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Targeting Biological Vulnerabilities of Glioblastoma |
| Funding Source: | CRUK Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Arizona Cancer Evolution Center |
| Funding Source: | NIH/CSBC |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Early Detection of Multiple Myeloma |
| Funding Source: | CRUK Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |