Zulin Yu joined the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in 2008 as a postdoctoral researcher before joining the Microscopy Technology Center in 2010. Yu was appointed to manager of Light Microscopy in 2021. In 2023, he was promoted to Head of Light Microscopy.

Yu earned a B.S. in physics from Nankai University in 2003 before completing his Ph.D. at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science. During his Ph.D., he focused on investigating the neural foundation of acoustic communication in noisy environments. This work was recognized with the Second-Class Prize of the National Natural Science Award of China in 2012.

Upon joining the Stowers microscopy team, Yu has embraced and advanced the use of cutting-edge light microscopy technologies—particularly super-resolution microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging—to support biological discovery through a variety of collaborative projects.