Dr. Yarbrough is professor & chief of otolaryngology at the Yale School of Medicine. He also directs the head and neck cancer program at Smilow Cancer Hospital and co-directs the molecular virology research program for Yale Cancer Center.
Before taking leadership roles at Yale, Dr. Yarbrough was an Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and co-leader of the thoracic and head and neck program at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center where he also served as director of the Barry Baker Laboratory for Head and Neck Oncology at Vanderbilt University.
His research concentrates on the identification of tumor suppressors in head and neck cancers on understanding tumor growth, and on personalizing therapy for patients with head and neck cancer. He also focuses on the association between viruses and the development of cancer, particularly the link between the human papillomavirus and head and neck cancers.
Dr. Yarbrough was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina and completed his medical degree and residency in otolaryngology head and neck surgery at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He is a member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association for Cancer Research, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Yarbrough’s research has been supported by grants from foundations including the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation, as well as the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Dr. Yarbrough serves or has served on the Board of the Foundation of the American Head and Neck Society; as a Senior Examiner for the American Board of Otolaryngology; as a member of the American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant Committee; as a member of the NIDCD/NIH Board of Scientific Counselors; as the Chair of the Research committee of the American Head and Neck Society; and on the editorial board for the peer-reviewed journal Head & Neck.
Education
- M.D. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1989
- Fellowship – University of North Carolina Health Care System, 1996
- Residency – University of North Carolina Health Care System, 1994
- Internship – University of North Carolina Health Care System, 1990
- MMHC – Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, 2010
