While in China, Yu researched the various diseases found in citrus fruits and beans. Yu came to
New York in 1947 and became a U.S. citizen in 1950. She taught at
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons until joining the staff faculty at Mount Sinai Medical Center in 1957 where she would spend the rest of her career. In 1973, Yu became the first female to be appointed as a full professor at
Mount Sinai Hospital, one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in The United States. Yu also studied the effect that other medication conditions have on the presentation of gout. She found that about half of the patients with gout have other associated medication conditions, including
hypertension,
proteinuria,
diabetes, and
hyperlipidemia.
Treatment of Gout Beginning in the 1950s, Yu developed medicines that have been proven to be successful for treating gout. In addition, Yu and her colleague
Alexander B. Gutman helped to establish a groundbreaking clinic at Mount Sinai for the treatment of gout, one of the first gout clinics in the United States at Mount Sinai. Yu studied
probenecid, a
uricosuric drug which causes the removal of excess uric acid by being excreted with urine. She later conducted a five-year study that was published in 1961 in which she discovered
colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug that prevents recurring attacks of acute gout. In the 1960s, Yu further developed studies of gout’s mechanisms and soon discovered
allopurinol, a drug that helps to prevent the formation of uric acid and is used in treating gout and kidney stones. == Awards and honors ==