I obtained my first degree in Bioengineering, at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou. It was an intense course and felt like a dual degree at the time as I was trained to be a biologist as well as an engineer. In my third year I was fortunate to be awarded funding to lead a project and perform it with two other undergraduates on studying the fermentation dynamics of Pichia pastoris. Further down the line of my study, having experiences of internship in molecular immunology lab and summer schools in structural biology and cell biology labs, my interest shifted from industrial fermentation to more fundamental molecular biology. I had my first taste of structural biology in completing my Bachelor’s thesis project, using NMR to study the functional domains of tumour suppressor RBBP1. I enjoyed all the protein engineering, refolding and purification techniques to produce homogenous recombinant protein, which eventually led to an NMR structure. In 2010, I left China for Cambridge for a PhD degree to fully develop my interest in structural biology. I started my current project on elucidating the structure and function of the CCN family growth factors in Dr Marko Hyvonen’s lab. These are intriguing extracellular matrix proteins well studied for their biological functions in development and disease, still little is known for the mechanism of their regulatory activities in cell signalling. During the first two years of my PhD, I determined crystal structures of two out of four domains of CCN3 protein, and I am now well in my way towards the other two. In parallel, I am using a wide range of biochemical and biophysical techniques to analysis the binding affinities between CCN domains and their binding partners, with an aim to determine complex structures. I have also started taking the study of the effect of CCN regulation further to cell biology level. I will be finishing my PhD later this year in Sep, and I am looking to join a lab where I can develop my interests in cell signalling and biophysical methods, and apply these to a long-standing interest of mine.