Yian Gu, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Research Scientist
The Taub Institute
630 West 168th Street, P&S Box 16
New York, NY 10032
Phone: 212-305-6684
Fax: 212-342-1838
E-mail: yg2121@columbia.edu
Ongoing Research:
- Mechanisms mediating the association of the Mediterranean Diet (MeDi) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. Previous studies from our group have demonstrated that higher adherence to the MeDi was related with reduced risk for incident AD. To extend and refine these findings, my current research focuses on investigating possible mechanisms mediating the association between MeDi and risk of AD. Specifically, pathways including inflammatory, oxidative, metabolic, and vascular will be investigated using circulating biomarkers.
- Other composite dietary patterns and risk of AD. Recent literature on the effect of individual dietary elements is conflicting. I am interested in exploring the effect of hypothesis-free composite dietary patterns, by using statistical techniques such as reduced rank regression and canonical variance analysis, in AD risk.
Representative Publications:
Gu Y, Scarmeas N. Dietary patterns in Alzheimer's disease and cognitive aging. Current Alzheimer Research. 2011 Aug 1;8(5):510-9.
Gu Y, Nieves JW, Luchsinger JA, Scarmeas N. Dietary inflammation factor rating system and risk of Alzheimer disease in elders. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders. 2011 Apr-Jun;25(2):149-54.
Gu Y, Luchsinger JA, Stern Y, Scarmeas N. Mediterranean Diet, Inflammatory and Metabolic Biomarkers and Risk of Alzheimer Disease, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2010(doi: 10.3233/JAD-2010-100897).
Scarmeas N, Luchsinger JA, Stern Y, Gu Y, He J, DeCarli C, Brown T, Brickman AM. Mediterranean diet and magnetic resonance imaging-assessed cerebrovascular disease. Ann Neurol. 2011 Feb;69(2):257-68.
Nieves JW, Gu Y, Vasquez E, Luchsinger JA, Stern Y, Scarmeas N. A Dietary Pattern That Predicts Physical Performance in an Elderly Population, Nutritional Influences on Bone Health, Springer 2010, Chapter 21, ISBN: 978-1-84882-977-0.
Scarmeas N, Luchsinger JA, Brickman, AM, Cosentino S, Schupf N, Ming XT, Gu Y, Stern Y. Physical Activity and Alzheimer’s disease course, American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2010(doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181eb00a9).
Gu Y, Nieves JW, Stern Y, Luchsinger JA, Scarmeas N. Food Combination and Alzheimer's disease (AD): A Protective Diet. Archives of Neurology, 2010; 67(6):699-706.