Raymond Yung, MD

Dr. Yung received his medical degree from the University of Liverpool, England. He completed an internal medicine residency at Sinai Hospital, Detroit and rheumatology and geriatric fellowships at the University of Michigan. He is board-certified in rheumatology, geriatric medicine and internal medicine. Dr. Yung speaks English and Chinese. His special clinical interests include arthritis, geriatrics and immunology.

Rheumatology, arthritis, immunology and geriatrics

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Dr. Yung's research focuses on understanding the relationship between immune senescence and the development of immune and inflammatory diseases in the elderly. Aging represents a state of low grade inflammation. Dr. Yung has shown that upregulation of T cell chemokine response occurs in aging animals and humans. The epigenetic `drift' that occurs with aging may be involved in the deregulation of the chemokine system in aging. Dr. Yung is also investigating the effect of aging on dendritic cell function. Using a murine melanoma cancer model, he showed that `old' dendritic cells (DCs) are much less effective than their younger cohort as an immunotherapeutic agent. This is linked to the impaired ability of DCs to ingest antigen and to stimulate T cells. These findings may help to explain why elderly patients are at risk for a multitude of immune/inflammatory diseases.