Professor Xilin Yang obtained his PhD in epidemiology from the University of Melbourne, Australia, in 2002; completed postdoctoral training; and served as a diabetes epidemiologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and as a professor at the Tianjin Medical University School of Public Health until 2025. He published over 170 peer-reviewed articles, with a total citation count of >13740, a H-index of 61 on ResearchGate, and was listed as a top 2% scientist in 2022, 2023, and 2024. He and coworkers set up the screening and management system for GDM in Tianjin, China, in 2000, and conducted an RCT to examine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of lifestyle intervention during pregnancy on the pregnancy outcomes, maternal postpartum diabetes, and childhood obesity of women with GDM to generate evidence for improvement of management of GDM.

Major research interests are epidemiology of type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), with a special interest in prevention of GDM and its adverse outcomes.