Yu Chen, MPH, PhD

I am a chronic disease epidemiologist with experience in epidemiologic projects involving multidisciplinary teamwork. My research focuses on how host and environmental factors are related to chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease.  I have worked with colleagues from Columbia University and the University of Chicago for the past 17 years to study health effects of arsenic exposure in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS) in Bangladesh. I focus on the risk of preclinical and clinical endpoints of cardiovascular disease, as well as the interactions between arsenic exposure with lifestyle, microbiome, and genetic factors in cardiovascular disease-related endpoints. More recently, I am leading a project with colleagues at the Vanderbilt University to investigate the role of gastric and oral microbiome in gastric pre-malignant and malignant lesions.  I also conduct research projects utilizing resources from the New York University Women’s Health Study (NYUWHS) and the Asia Cohort Consortium (ACC).    

I am a recipient of the Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award (ONES) from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). I direct the course on epidemiology methods for graduate students at NYU. I received PhD with distinction in Epidemiology from Columbia University in 2005.  I am author of 153 journal articles as of May, 2017.