Yun Michael Shim, M.D.
Yun Michael Shim, M.D.
Locations and Appointments
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About Yun Michael Shim, M.D.
I feel grateful for the opportunity to care for patients with lung conditions and critical illness. My approach begins with listening carefully, understanding each person’s concerns, and working together on a care plan that feels clear, practical, and personal. I care for patients with asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, lung infections, and other complex breathing problems, both in the clinic and hospital. Having grown up in Virginia and spent much of my career there, I learned the importance of community, trust, and long-term relationships in medicine. Outside of work, I am a husband and father of two grown daughters, both of whom played collegiate field hockey, and my family has shaped the way I think about caring for others. I try to care for each patient with the same attention, respect, and compassion that I would want for my own parents, my wife, or my children. Most of all, I hope every patient feels heard, respected, and supported throughout their care.
Dr. Y. Michael Shim is Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He brings more than two decades of experience to this role, caring for patients, mentoring trainees, and building programs that connect clinical care with research. Before joining Weill Cornell Medicine in 2026, he served at the University of Virginia as the John L. Guerrant Endowed Professor of Medicine and Radiology, as well as Director of Pulmonary Rehabilitation, the Pulmonary Function Testing Laboratory, and the COPD clinic. There, he helped develop an outcomes-based complex airway disease program focused on advanced COPD, and the COPD specialty clinic was named a Joint Commission-certified center of excellence for advanced COPD care.
Dr. Shim’s clinical work focuses on patients with COPD, asthma, interstitial lung disease, lung infections, acute lung injury, critical illness, and lung transplantation. Across these areas, he is especially interested in understanding each patient’s disease more clearly so that care can be more thoughtful, individualized, and effective. His research has centered on advanced functional lung imaging using hyperpolarized Xenon gas MRI and on the biological mechanisms that drive lung diseases. He was a key contributor to the Phase 3 clinical trial that supported U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of hyperpolarized Xenon gas as the first inhaled MRI contrast agent for evaluating lung ventilation. At Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, he aims to help bring this state-of-the-art approach to lung diagnostic imaging to patients in New York City.
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M.D.Medical College of Virginia1998
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B.A.University of Virginia1993
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Attending PhysicianNewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
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Professor of Medicine (Pending Appointment at Rank)Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
External Relationships
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