Yan Liu is a fourth-year PhD student in the History of
Science department at Harvard University. He studies
the history of Chinese medicine in the Middle Ages. He
is particularly interested in religious healing, the history
of emotions, and the exchange of medical knowledge
between China and the West. His dissertation examines
the evolution of pharmacology in China from the 5th to
the 10th century, with a focus on the use of poisons (du)
as therapeutic agents.