John Hosei Yim, M.D., a nationally recognized expert in endocrine and breast cancer research and treatment, has been appointed associate professor of surgery at City of Hope.

Yim specializes in treating patients with breast and endocrine tumors, including those of the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands. He also conducts research into interferon regulatory factors — proteins that have been shown to kill breast and other cancer cells. He joins City of Hope from the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Surgery, where he was an assistant professor of surgery.

John Hosei Yim (Photo by Thomas Brown)

Yim helped establish a training program for endocrine surgeons at the University of Pittsburgh. Rates of endocrine cancers, such as thyroid cancer, have been rising, Ellenhorn said, so “there is an urgent need for surgeons trained in this specialty.”

A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Yim belongs to numerous professional and scientific societies, including the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons’ Oncology Group, where he was a member of the Endocrine Oncology Working Group and the Ethics Committee. His research has been published in major medical and scientific journals, including Surgery, Annals of Surgery, Oncogene, Journal of Immunology and Cancer Research.

The National Cancer Institute, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program have funded his work. He has been named as one of the “Best Doctors in America” by Best Doctors Inc., as well as a top surgeon by the Consumers’ Research Council of America.

Yim earned his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine, and his bachelor’s degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University. He completed his surgical internship and residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and a surgical research fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine, both in St. Louis.