Raymond Yung MD

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.