Received Sylff fellowship in 2024
Academic supervisor : Gil Eyal
Current affiliation : Columbia University
Yanze Yu is a Ph.D. student and Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Columbia University. He is also a research fellow at The Trust Collaboratory, The Center on Organizational Innovation, and a Precision Medicine & Society Fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
His research lies at the intersection of medicine, science and technology studies, and political economy, with a broad focus on the social processes of medicalization. In particular, he is interested in embodiment and valuation within pharmaceuticalization. His work examines a wide range of conditions, including tics (Tourette’s syndrome, TikTok Tics), ADHD, rare diseases, and Long COVID. Yanze is also launching the “China Reading & innovation Lab” (CRiL) at Columbia, an initiative aimed at fostering a vibrant transnational network of scholars and practitioners. He welcomes new friends and collaborators to join future events.
Prior to joining Columbia, Yanze earned an M.A. in Chinese Studies from the University of Michigan, along with a Graduate Certificate in Science, Technology, and Society. He completed his LL.B. in Sociology at Fudan University, where he was honored as a Wangdao Scholar.
Embracing life as both a New Yorker and a new Shanghainese, Yanze takes pride in his roots in Michigan and Fujian.
Academic Achievements
Yanze Yu is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at Columbia University and a Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellow whose research focuses on rare disease classification and orphan drug development in China. He has received multiple competitive fellowships, including the 2025 Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship (WEAI, Columbia), the Humane Studies Fellowship and Elinor Ostrom Fellowship (George Mason University), and the Precision Medicine and Society Graduate Fellowship (Columbia University Irving Medical Center). His work has been presented at major conferences such as ASA, 4S, and SASE, and he is an active research fellow at The Trust Collaboratory, Center on Organizational Innovation, and Center for Science and Society.
Social Engagement Initiatives
Yanze founded the China Reading & innovation Lab (CRiL)(accessible at cril.notion.site), a graduate led network fostering transnational sociological studies on science and technology in China.
https://x.com/RinzleK
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanze-yu-796744208/
https://bsky.app/profile/yanze-yu.bsky.social
