Dr. Hao Yu

Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 2026

B. Sc., University of British Columbia , 2020

Hao was born and raised in Jinan, Shandong, China. He attended the University of British Columbia in Canada, where he received his B.Sc. in 2020. After taking a gap year due to the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, he joined Professor Brian Stoltz’s group at the California Institute of Technology in 2021 for his graduate studies. His doctoral research focused on the total synthesis of bioactive natural products, and completed the total syntheses of aleutianamine, crotonolide D, and crotonine G. Fascinated by the power of photoredox catalysis, Hao joined the MacMillan group as a postdoctoral researcher in October 2026. Outside the lab, he enjoys video games and anime.

Fun Facts

• Hao made it through his entire Ph.D. without cooking a single meal, relying on food delivery apps like Uber Eats instead—roughly seven orders a week!
• Despite never cooking, Hao watches cooking videos every single day.
• Hao is a huge fan of JRPGs. When he’s not working in the lab or sleeping, there’s a good chance you’ll find him playing video games.