Shan Yu grew up in Inner Mongolia, China. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine. During her undergraduate studies, Shan focused her research on gene expression and changes in the neurotransmitter circuit for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, and on DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters for bioimaging applications.

Currently, as a graduate student in the Mallouk group, Shan is studying interfacial charge transfer kinetics in water-splitting dye-sensitized solar cells.

Outside of research, Shan enjoys reading, traveling, and playing tennis with friends.