Fang Yu

Fang Yu, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, a Professor, holds the Long-Term Care Professorship, and serves as the Chair of the Adult Gerontological Health Cooperative Unit at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. She was born in China and received her baccalaureate degree from Peking University Health Science Center in 1996, and Master of Science in Nursing in 2002 and PhD in 2003 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She completed a John A. Hartford Clair M. Fagin Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2004-2006). She joined the University of Minnesota School of Nursing as an Assistant Professor in 2006. Dr. Yu is a Fellow in the American Gerontological Society of the America and in the American Academy of Nursing. She is a leading scientist in using aerobic exercise to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease. Her passion for people affected by Alzheimer’s disease originated from her years of clinical practice as a nurse, supervisor, and educator in both China and the U.S. Since 2002, Yu has led multiple interdisciplinary research teams to obtain many grants from federal, state, and local organizations totaling to multiple millions to advance exercise research in Alzheimer’s disease. She has been the recipient of several prestigious awards. Her research findings showed that aerobic exercise promotes cognition, functional independence, and quality of life in older adults affected by AD and has rippling beneficial effects on family caregivers.