Yvonne Yau

Dr. Yvonne Yau received her Medical Degree from the University of Toronto in 1989. She completed her Medical Microbiology Residency at the University of Toronto in 1994 and is currently a Medical Microbiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children. She is a Project Investigator in the Research Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathobiology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include optimizing the diagnosis of paediatric infectious diseases, and in particular respiratory virus infections and cystic fibrosis microbiology.

Research Synopsis

Research revolves around studying the epidemiology, diagnosis and management of multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens in the cystic fibrosis population, as well as optimizing the diagnosis of paediatric infectious diseases.

Dr. Yau has focused her research on the epidemiology, diagnosis and management of multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens in cystic fibrosis (CF). Her research involve examining the epidemiology and clinical significance of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infections in pediatric and adult CF patients, as well as determining the most effect antimicrobial combinations for the treatment of this infection in CF. She was the co-principal investigator on a multi-center randomized controlled trial evaluating the utility of biofilm susceptibility assay in choosing more effective antibiotics to treat CF patients with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infection. She is also involved in a national multicentre study to determine the role of transmissible, clonal P. aeruginosa in the Canadian CF patient population and part of a CIHR-funded Canadian Microbiome initiative characterizing the polymicrobial communities in the CF lung. In addition, Dr. Yau is investigating the use of novel antimicrobial agents/modalities in the treatment of CF patients with multi-drug resistant Gram negative bacterial pulmonary infections and studying the role bacterial interactions on the formation of biofilm by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in CF patients.

Recent Publications

Beaudoin T, Y Yau, P Stapleton, Y Gong, P Wang, D Guttman, V Waters. Staphylococcus aureus interaction with Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm associated with tobramycin resistance in cystic fibrosis. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes. 2017;3(25).

Singh M, S Wang, YCW Yau, V Waters, A Kumar. MexXY efflux pump overexpression and aminoglycoside resistance in cystic fibrosis isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Canadian Journal of Microbiology. 2017 Sep 18 [Epub ahead of prints].

Waters V, Y Yau, T Beaudoin, J Wettlaufer, SK Tom, N McDonald, L Rizivi, M Klingel, F Ratjen, E. Tullis. Pilot trial of tobramycin inhalation powder in cystic fibrosis patients with chronic Burkholderia cepacia complex infection. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2017 Jul;16(4):492-495.

Barton M, A Shen, K O'Brien, JL Robinson, HD Davies, K Simpson, E Asztalos, J Langley, N Le Saux, R Sauve, A Synnes, B Tan, L de Repentigny, E Rubin, C Hui, L Kovacs, YC Yau, SE Richardson; and the Paediatric Investigators Collaborative Network on Infections in Canada. Early onset invasive candidiasis in extremely low birth weight infants: perinatal acquisition predicts poor outcome. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2017 Apr;64(7): 921-927.

Beaudoin T, S Kennedy, Y Yau, V Waters. Visualizing the effects of sputum on biofilm development using a chambered coverglass model. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2016 Dec 14;(118).

Wettlaufer J, M Klingel, Y Yau, S Stanojevic, E Tullis, F Ratjen, V Waters. Longitudinal Study of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia antibody levels and outcomes in cystic fibrosis patients. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2017 Jan;16(1):58-63.

Ratjen F, V Waters, M Klingel, N McDonald, S Dell, TR Leahy, Y Yau, H Grasemann. Changes in airway inflammation during pulmonary exacerbations in patients with cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia. European Respiratory Journal. 2016 Mar;47(3):829-36.

Vidya, P, L Smith, T Beaudoin, YCW. Yau, S Clark, B Coburn, D Guttman, DM. Hwang, V Waters. Chronic infection phenotypes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are associated with failure of eradication in children with cystic fibrosis. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 2016 Jan;35(1):67-74.

Kennedy, S, T Beaudoin, YCW Yau, E Caraher, JEA Zlosnik, DP Speert, JJ LiPuma, E Tullis, V Waters. Activity of tobramycin against cystic fibrosis isolates of Burkholderia cepacia complex grown as biofilms. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2016 Jan;60(1):348-55.

Tom SK, YC Yau, T Beaudoin, JJ LiPuma, V Waters. Effect of high-dose antimicrobials on biofilm growth of Achromobacter species from cystic fibrosis patients. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2016 Jan;60(1):650-2.

Waters V, S Stanojevic, N Sonneveld, H Grasemann, Y Yau, E Tullis, P Wilcox, A Freitag, M Chilvers, F Ratjen. Factors associated with response to treatment of pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis patients. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2015 Nov;14(6):755-62

Caballero JD , S Clark, B Coburn, Y Zhang, PW Wang, SL Donaldson, DE Tullis, YC Yau, VJ Waters, DM Hwang, DS Guttman. Selective Sweeps and Parallel Pathoadaptation Drive Pseudomonas aeruginosa Evolution in the Cystic Fibrosis Lung. mBio. 2015 Sep 1;6(5). pii: e00981-15.

Clark ST, DJ Caballero, M Cheang, B Coburn, PW Wang, SL Donaldson, Y Zhang, M Liu, S Keshavjee, YC Yau, V Waters, DE Tullis, DS Guttman, DM Hwang. Phenotypic diversity within a Pseudomonas aeruginosa population infecting an adult with cystic fibrosis. Scientific Reports. 2015 Jun 5. 5:10932.

Coburn B, PW Wang, JD Caballero, ST Clark, S Donaldson, Y Zhang, A Surendra, Y Gong, DE Tullis, YCW Yau, VJ Waters, DM Hwang, DS Guttman. Lung microbiota across age and disease severity in cystic fibrosis. Scientific Reports. 2015 May 14. 5:10241.

Yau YC, F Ratjen, E Tullis, P Wilcox, A Freitag, M Chilvers, H Grasemann, J Zlosnik, D Speert, M Corey, Sanja Stanojevic, L Matukas, TR Leahy, S Shih, V Waters. Randomized controlled trial of biofilm antimicrobial susceptibility testing in cystic fibrosis patients. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2015 Mar;14(2):262-6.

Ratjen A, Y Yau, J Wettlaufer, L Matukas, JEA Zlosnik, DP Speert, JJ LiPuma, E Tullis, V Waters. In vitro efficacy of high dose tobramycin against Burkholderia cepacia complex and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates from cystic fibrosis patients. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2015 Jan;59(1):711-3.

Wu, K, YCW Yau, L Matukas, V Waters. Biofilm compared to conventional antimicrobial susceptibility for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates from cystic fibrosis patients. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2013;57(3):1546-1548 (Trainee publication, Kitty Wu).

Stanojevic S, F Ratjen, D Stephens, A Lu, Y Yau, E Tullis, V Waters. Factors influencing the acquisition of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infection in cystic fibrosis patients. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2013;12(6):575-83.

Maughan, H, PW Wang, JD Caballero, P Fung, Y Gong, SL Donaldson, L Yuan, S Keshavjeec, Y Zhang, YCW Yau, VJ Waters, DE Tullis, DM Hwang, DS Guttman. Analysis of the Cystic Fibrosis lung microbiota via Serial Illumina Sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA hypervariable regions. PLOS One. 2012 Oct;7(10):e45791.

Waters, V, J Zlosnik, YCW Yau, DP Speert, SD Aaron, DS Guttman. Multicenter comparison of three typing methods for Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 2012 Jul 29;31(12):3341-3350.