Yan Xu obtained her BSc in chemistry from Jilin University, China and PhD in chemistry from the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1991 under the supervision of Professor Sir John Meurig Thomas. She was a research fellow at National University of Singapore (1992-1995), an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (1996-2000) and a senior scientist at Grenidea Technology, Singapore (2002-2010). She is a professor in the State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, Jilin University since 2011. Her current research evolves around the organization and functionalization of hierarchically structured materials based on the self-assembly and mineralization of biological molecules. She has published some 60 peer-reviewed papers, 1 international patent, co-authored 1 book and contributed 3 book chapters.