Yao has over 14 years of experience in deal-making and forging strategic partnerships spanning academia, non-profit and industry. After earning a PhD in Pharmacology from Yale University, Yao began her career at the technology transfer office of Columbia University, followed by Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she marketed university inventions and negotiated partnering deals with academic and industry parties. Her virology background and interest in patent pooling then led her to the Business Development team of Medicines Patent Pool, where she managed scientific liaison with KOLs, industry and UN agencies, and built strategic research alliances with universities and donor agencies. Following a Business Development role at Redbiotec AG, evaluating academic innovations and executing pharma collaboration in Oncology, Yao joined the Academic Partnerships & External Innovation team at Novartis Biomedical Research in 2020. As the Associate Director of External Research Collaborations, Yao leads cross-functional deal teams to negotiate partnering agreements with predominantly academic institutions worldwide, focusing on non-clinical research collaborations in multiple disease areas.