Yu Qiu leads teams at AstraZeneca that bring together artificial intelligence, laboratory automation, and computational science to support the design of biologic medicines. Biologics are complex, protein-based therapies such as antibodies, which can be engineered to address a range of diseases.

Yu began his career as a structural biologist, earning his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China. There, he used advanced imaging techniques, including X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, to visualize proteins at the atomic level and understand how they move and function. He continued this work as a postdoctoral fellow at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the US, studying the molecular machinery cells use to recycle their own components, a process linked to cancer and neurodegeneration.

In 2017, Yu moved into industry, joining Sanofi as a Senior Scientist. He spent several years decoding the 3D structures of antibodies bound to their targets, using these insights to inform the engineering of therapeutic molecules. From 2022, he led a global team developing AI-driven approaches to antibody discovery and design. This included applying algorithms to analyze large biological datasets, predict how molecules may behave, and design new proteins computationally.

Yu joined AstraZeneca in 2025, where he now oversees lab automation, bioinformatics, AI innovation, and augmented biologics design. His focus is on integrating advanced technology across the stages of drug discovery with the goal to accelerate the discovery and development of next-generation biologic medicines.