Dr. Yao received her master's degree in Fermentation Engineering from China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industry (CNIF) in 2004, and her PhD degree in Microbiology from Beijing Forestry University (BFU) in 2013.

Dr. Yao currently holds the position of Vice President of the CNIF, mainly engaged in the identification, selection and evaluation of industrial microbial strains and research on fermentation processes. She is the chairman of the Committee on Industrial Microbiology of the Chinese Society for Microbiology, the chairman of the Committee on Milk Microbiology Methods (SCAMDM) of the International Dairy Federation (IDF), the vice-chairman of the IDF National Committee of China, the technical expert of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) / Committee for Food Standardization (CCSF) / Sub-Committee on Microbiology (ISO/TC34/SC9), and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Food and Fermentation Industry.

Dr. Yao has presided over more than 10 national and provincial projects, such as the National Science and Technology Basic Condition Platform Project and the sub-projects of the 13th Five-Year National Key Research and Development Program, led/participated in more than 10 domestic and international standard guideline research projects, and has passed the appraisal of 17 scientific and technological achievements, and has won more than 30 scientific and technological awards at the provincial and ministerial level, and has authorized more than 20 patents for national inventions. More than 30 scientific and technological innovation awards at provincial and ministerial levels, more than 20 national invention patents have been authorized, and more than 150 scientific and technological papers have been published.