Dr. Yamini Natarajan is a board-certified, fellowship-trained gastroenterologist. She earned her Bachelor of Science in computer science with a minor in cell and molecular biology at Tulane University in New Orleans, La., in 2004, graduating summa cum laude. She earned her medical degree at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 2009 as a Foundation Scholar. She completed her Internal Medicine internship and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, in 2012 and served as a chief resident in 2013. Dr. Natarajan completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine in 2016. She served as Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine 2016 – 2022.

Awards & Publications

Honors and Awards

• Reviewer for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Helicobacter Digestive Disease Sciences
• Ben Taub Medical Intensive Care Unit Resident of the Month, July 2011
• Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center Resident of the Month, September 2010
• Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center Intern of the Month, August 2009

Presentations

• Kramer, J, Natarajan Y, Dai J, Yu X, Li L, Richardson P, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F. Effect of medications for diabetes on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Oral presentation. Digestive Disease Week, 2020* (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
• Le, M, Ali, H, Harpavat, M, Harpavat, S, Staggers, K, Natarajan, Y, Kanwal, F. What’s in Your Drink? Teaching Families About Sugar Content and NAFLD. Poster presentation. Digestive Disease Week, 2020* (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
• Natarajan Y, Hou JK, Kramer, J, Wang J, Xu H, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F. Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with NAFLD and Normal Liver Enzymes. Oral presentation, The Liver Meeting, 2018.
• Redman JS, Natarajan Y, Hou JK, Wang J, Hanif M, Feng H, Kramer JR, Desiderio R, Xu H, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F. Accurate Identification of Fatty Liver Disease in Data Warehouse Utilizing Natural Language Processing. Poster of Distinction, Digestive Disease Week 2017.
• Natarajan, Y, Shukla, R, Tansel, A, Qureshi, Z Kanwal, F, El-Serag, H. Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with PBC: a systematic review. Poster presentation at American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting 2015.
• Shukla, R, Tansel A, Natarajan, Y, Kramer, J, El-Serag, H, Kanwal, F. Primary prophylaxis with non-selective beta-blockers in patients with cirrhosis. Poster presentation at Digestive Disease Week 2015.
• Tansel, A, Natarajan, Y, Shukla, R, Kramer, J, El-Serag, H, Kanwal, F. Changes in the Incidence and Prevalence of Cirrhosis in the National Veterans Administration Over a Decade: 2002-2012. Poster presentation at Digestive Disease Week 2015.
• Natarajan, Y, Abraham, B. Transition of Care in Adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Poster presentations at Digestive Disease Week 2012, Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease 2012.

Publications and Projects

• Natarajan Y, Kanwal F. Pay for Performance in Chronic Liver Disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015 Nov;13(12):2042-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2015.06.038. Epub 2015 Jul 8. Review. PubMed PMID: 26164221.
• Khan A, Natarajan Y, Sellin J. Crohn's Disease Causes a Catastrophe. ACG Case Rep J. 2015 Apr 10;2(3):171-2. doi: 10.14309/crj.2015.44. eCollection 2015 Apr. PubMed PMID: 26157953; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4435412.
• Natarajan, Y, White DL, El-Serag HB, Ramsey D, Richardson P, Kuzniarek J, Shukla R, Tansel A, Kanwal F. Role of Non-Hepatic Medical Comorbidity and Functional Limitations in Predicting Mortality in Patients with HCV. Dig Dis Sci. 2017 Jan;62(1):76-83. doi: 10.1007/s10620-016-4303-2.
• Redman JS, Natarajan Y, Hou JK, Wang J, Hanif M, Feng H, Kramer JR, Desiderio R, Xu H, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F. Accurate Identification of Fatty Liver Disease in Data Warehouse Utilizing Natural Language Processing. Dig Dis Sci. 2017 Oct;62(10):2713-2718. doi: 10.1007/s10620-017-4721-9.
• Natarajan, Y, Shukla, R, Shapiro, J. Advocacy in Action – Meeting Congressman Gene Green. New Gastroenterologist. Fall 2017.
• Kanwal F, Kramer JR, Mapakshi S, Natarajan Y, Chayanupatkul M, Richardson PA, Li L, Desiderio R, Thrift AP, Asch SM, Chu J, El-Serag HB. Risk of Hepatocellular Cancer in Patients with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Gastroenterology. 2018 Aug 22. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.08.024.
• Styskel, B, Natarajan, Y, Kanwal, F. Nutrition in Alcoholic Liver Disease. Clinics in Liver Disease 2018.
• Hernaez R, Kramer JR, Liu Y, Tansel A, Natarajan Y, Hussain KB, Ginès P, Solà E, Moreau R, Gerbes A, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F. Prevalence and short-term mortality of acute-on-chronic liver failure: A national cohort study from the USA. J Hepatol. 2019 Apr;70(4):639-647. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2018.12.018. Epub 2018 Dec 25.
• Gurwara S, Ajami NJ, Jang A, Hessel FC, Chen L, Plew S, Wang Z, Graham DY, Hair C, White DL, Kramer J, Kourkoumpetis T, Hoffman K, Cole R, Hou J, Husain N, Jarbrink-Sehgal M, Hernaez R, Kanwal F, Ketwaroo G, Shah R, Velez M, Natarajan Y, El-Serag HB, Petrosino JF, Jiao L. Dietary Nutrients Involved in One-Carbon Metabolism and Colonic Mucosa-Associated Gut Microbiome in Individuals with an Endoscopically Normal Colon Nutrients. 2019 Mar 13;11(3). pii: E613. doi: 10.3390/nu11030613.
• Thrift AP, Natarajan Y, Liu Y, El-Serag HB. Statin Use After Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Is Associated with Decreased Mortality. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Jan 6. pii: S1542-3565 (19)30019-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2018.12.046. [Epub ahead of print]
• Natarajan Y, Tansel A, Patel P, Emologu IK, Shukla R, Qureshi Z, El-Serag HB, Thrift AP, Kanwal F. Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Primary Biliary Cholangitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Dig Dis Sci. 2020 Aug 2. Online ahead of print.
• Natarajan Y, El-Serag, HB. Risk Factors for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Historical Perspective. Clinical Liver Disease. Epub ahead of print.
• Liu Y, Ajami NJ, El-Serag HB, Hair C, Graham DY, White DL, Chen L, Wang Z, Plew S, Kramer J, Cole R, Hernaez R, Hou J, Husain N, Jarbrink-Sehgal ME, Kanwal F, Ketwaroo G, Natarajan Y, Shah R, Velez M, Mallepally N, Petrosino JF, Jiao L. Dietary quality and the colonic mucosa-associated gut microbiome in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Sep 1;110(3):701-712.

Hobbies & Interests

Dr. Natarajan enjoys photography, reading, cooking, and spending time with family.

Fun Facts

The best advice Dr. Natarajan has ever received is “Always put 150% effort into everything you do. That way you will never have regrets.”

Not everyone knows this about Dr. Natarajan, but she’s the first doctor in her family.

Her guilty pleasures are the NBA and NFL playoffs.