Huimin Yu, MD PhD is a gastroenterologist specializing in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.
Dr. Yu received her medical degree from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, graduating summa cum laude. She then obtained a Ph.D. in molecular biology and genetics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she received a Chapman Young Investigator Fellowship award. Following this, Dr. Yu completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Virginia and a gastroenterology fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University. She became an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2019 and joined the faculty of the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences in July 2024.
Dr. Yu's clinical interests include the diagnosis and management of IBD (including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), immunotherapy-induced colitis, microscopic colitis, C. difficile infection, and the use of fecal microbiota transplantation.
Dr. Yu's research focuses on the pathological significance of the impaired gut-fat axis in IBD. Using mouse models, human intestinal organoids, and adipose stem cell culture, she has been investigating the molecular crosstalk between intestinal inflammation and mesenteric fat in IBD, including the role of so-called “creeping fat” in Crohn’s disease. Her recently published findings suggest a phenotypic and mechanistic causal relationship between a novel adipokine and intestinal inflammation. She hopes that her work in this area will facilitate the development of novel, adipose tissue-based IBD therapies.
Dr. Yu has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and abstracts and regularly presents at national and international conferences. She serves as a reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals. She is a member of the American Gastroenterological Association, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.
