Born in Wuhan, China, Xiaoyu did his first degree in Microbiology at the Southern China University of Technology (Guangzhou). Motivated to pursue a doctoral degree, Xiaoyu joined this group from October 2018 to develop innovative intervention for early stage osteoarthritis under joint supervision with Dr Simon Jones. Changing the microbe related skillset to material/engineering/tribology is not an easy path for anyone, but Xiaoyu has made good progress.