Gloria Yeh, MD, MPH

Director of Mind-Body Research, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Gloria Yeh, MD, MPH

Dr. Yeh is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research program is based in the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where she serves as the Division’s Director of Mind-Body Research, and Director of the HMS Research Fellowship in Integrative Medicine (NIH T32 postdoctoral training fellowship).

Dr. Yeh’s primary research focus is efficacy and mechanism of mind-body exercise in complex chronic illness. She is an internationally recognized leader in the field of mind-body research, including tai chi, yoga, and meditation. She is principal investigator or co-investigator on a number of NIH-funded studies investigating mind-body exercise, including two R01’s investigating tai chi and meditative breathing in patients with COPD.

Dr. Yeh has experience in the design and conduct of mind-body clinical trials, and expertise in mind-body intervention development and adaptation for chronic disease. Her research has investigated physiological, psychosocial, and behavioral outcomes such as exercise capacity, cardiorespiratory efficiency, physical activity, quality of life, mood, and self-efficacy.

Dr. Yeh is actively involved in teaching and training, and serves as academic and research mentor to post graduate research fellows and as faculty preceptor to medical residents in the Department of Medicine, and she is also a primary care physician at BIDMC Healthcare Associates, where she is involved in the development of the Cheng-Tsui Integrated Health Center.

Current Research Support

R01 AT006358, NIH/NCCAM, 2012-2017
“Tai Chi After Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients with COPD”

The goal of this study is to examine how tai chi, a low-moderate intensity mind-body exercise, may be helpful in maintaining the benefits of exercise after pulmonary rehabilitation in persons with COPD.
Role: Principal Investigator

View Dr. Yeh’s publication history at PubMed Author Search 

View Dr. Yeh’s professional research networking profile at Harvard Catalyst 

Outcomes

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

  1. Yeh GY, Wood MJ, Lorell BH, Stevenson LW, Goldberger AL, Wayne PM, Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Phillip RS. Effect of tai chi mind-body movement therapy on functional status and exercise capacity in patients with chronic heart failure: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Med 2004; 117: 541-8.
  2. Yeh GY, Mietus J, Peng CK, Wayne PM, Davis RB, Phillips RS, Goldberger AL, Thomas RJ. Enhancement of sleep stability with tai chi exercise in patients with chronic heart failure. Sleep Medicine 2008; 9:527-36.
  3. Yeh GY, McCarthy EP, Wayne PM, Stevenson LW, Wood MJ, Forman DE, Davis RB, Phillips RS. Tai chi exercise in patients with chronic heart failure: a randomized clinical trial. Arch Int Med. 2011; 171: 750-757. PMCID: PMC3277798.
  4. Yeh GY, Wayne PM, Litrownik D, Roberts DH, Davis RB, Moy ML. Tai chi mind-body exercise in patients with COPD: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2014 Aug 28;15:337. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-15-337. PubMed PMID: 25168853; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4158042.
  5. Yeh GY, Chan C, Wayne PM, Conboy L. The impact of tai chi exercise on self-efficacy, social support, and empowerment in heart failure: insights from a qualitative sub-study from a randomized controlled trial . PLoS One. 2016; 11(5):e0154678.

Awarded Project

  • Background, Significance and Aims

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