Clayton Yates, Ph.D
Director for Translational Health Disparities and Global Health Equity Research | Program Co-Leader for Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics | Full Professor | Scientist
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Clayton Yates, Ph.D
Director for Translational Health Disparities and Global Health Equity Research | Program Co-Leader for Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics | Full Professor | Scientist
Clayton C. Yates, Ph.D. was recruited to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to join the Division of Urologic Pathology in the Department of Pathology where he serves as the Director for Translational Health Disparities and Global Health Equity Research. He has joint appointments in the Department of Oncology, where he serves as the Program Co-Leader for Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, and in the Department of Urology.
Dr. Yates is an internationally recognized expert in health disparity research, cell biology, molecular biology, and molecular pathology. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, he was Professor of Biology in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Director of the Center for Biomedical Research at Tuskegee University in Alabama. He also held adjunct faculty positions in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, and the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB).
Dr. Yates received both his Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Science degree from Tuskegee University. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in molecular pathology, as well as a certificate of training in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine from the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Urology before joining the faculty at Tuskegee University.
Dr. Yates is an internationally recognized expert in health disparity research, cell biology, molecular biology, and molecular pathology. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, he was Professor of Biology in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Director of the Center for Biomedical Research at Tuskegee University in Alabama. He also held adjunct faculty positions in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, and the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB).
Dr. Yates received both his Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Science degree from Tuskegee University. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in molecular pathology, as well as a certificate of training in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine from the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Urology before joining the faculty at Tuskegee University.
Dr. Yates is internationally recognized for his research. Cell-MENTOR—an online resource from Cell Press and Cell Signaling Technology—recognized Dr. Yates among the 100 most inspiring Black Scientists in America. His research focuses on prostate and breast cancers, particularly in African Americans. His laboratory established several cancer cell line-based models derived from African American patients and these are used by many scientists today to study molecular events that lead to prostate cancer development and metastasis. Additionally, Dr. Yates identified a subtype of breast cancer called “Quadruple Negative Breast Cancer,” which is more prevalent in women of African ancestry. His research, which incorporates novel genetic admixture analyses, identified a specific ancestry-associated, immune-related signature in both breast and prostate cancers. Using this signature, Dr. Yates’s team was able to identify and develop a novel therapeutic that targets a specific immune cell, termed the tumor-associated macrophage, that contributes to increased tumor aggressiveness and therapeutic resistance. This novel therapy was licensed to Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in October 2021 for development and is poised to enter clinical trials in 2023. Dr. Yates’s laboratory has been continuously funded by the NIH and the Department of Defense—Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs’ (CDMRP) Prostate Cancer Research Program for more than 15 years.
An impactful educator, Dr. Yates has trained 15 Ph.D. students, 28 master’s-level students, and five postdoctoral trainees. He mentored more than 10 junior faculty through the Morehouse School of Medicine–Tuskegee University–University of Alabama’s collaborative Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center Training Program. Currently, five of these junior faculty mentees have received tenure at their respective universities.
Dr. Yates speaks nationally at universities and conferences including the inaugural National Cancer Institute (NCI) Health Disparities Conference, the American Association for Cancer Research Plenary Session, and numerous grand rounds and distinguished lecture series. Dr. Yates was featured on NCI’s website for the NCI Annual Plan and Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2023 that will be provided to the United States Congress, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and the public.
Dr. Yates currently serves on the UAB External Advisory Board for Training of Oncology Surgeons; the University of North Carolina NCI T32 External Advisory Board; and as Chair of the University of Florida, University of Southern California, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University’s U54- NCI Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity. He has received numerous honors and awards, has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, and serves on the editorial board of Scientific Reports.
Dr. Yates is Co-Director of the Transatlantic Prostate Cancer Consortium, which focuses on understanding the tumor biology in native African men in Nigeria. He co-chaired the April 2022 American Association for Cancer Research Conference in New Orleans, and currently is the Past Chair of the Minorities in Cancer Research Council within the American Association for Cancer Research, which serves more than 7,000 minority cancer-focused scientists. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Yates was principal investigator of the NIH/NIMHD (National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities) Research Centers at Minority Institutions; site principal investigator for Clinical and Translational Science Awards (jointly with UAB-hub institution); and principal investigator of NIH/NCI U54 Cancer Health Disparities with Morehouse School of Medicine and UAB.
