In lung cancer, Dr. Yom has conducted research quantifying the risks of pneumonitis and esophagitis when chemotherapy and radiation are given simultaneously. Her research findings were important in establishing the early use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy for lung cancer in combination with 4-dimensional CT-based planning. She has particular expertise in the delivery of chemoradiation therapy for advanced-stage lung cancer, and also the delivery of non-invasive stereotactic CyberKnife radiation for early-stage lung cancer. Her hope is that better understanding of radiation toxicities will permit higher treatment doses, increase the rate of cure and improve patient quality of life. She is strongly committed to research that will lead to more effective, less toxic, and more highly individualized therapy for patients.

Dr. Yom is an investigator on many research studies in head and neck and lung cancer at UCSF, including trials related to to image-guided radiation, head and neck patients' quality of life, and combinations of novel systemic agents with radiation therapy. She is especially interested in improved clinical and translational prognostic models in order to provide more effective and individualized therapy. It is hoped that the reduction of toxicities, both through technical and biologic means, will improve patients' quality of life and potentially enable physicians to deliver more intelligently targeted radiation and chemotherapy doses in search of a better chance of cure. She believes in multidisciplinary management and a unified, team-oriented approach to patient care