Chiou Yu graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering, Chemical (Hons) degree from the National University of Singapore with a specialisation in Biopharmaceutical Engineering. During the course of her study, she was involved in research work in the area of oil spills bioremediation, particularly in the immobilization of microorganisms to a solid matrix. Chiou Yu also did a six months industrial attachment with an A*STAR research institute researching on characterizing the identity and functions of a novel protein. Subsequently, Chiou Yu went on to pursue a Masters of Science in Biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University (Maryland, United States of America) with a concentration in Biodefense.

Chiou Yu was involved in an 18 months training stint in an US based biopharmaceutical company as a Bioprocess Engineer Trainee sponsored by a government statutory board where she was involved in developing and optimising a novel process for culturing mammalian cells. Upon return, Chiou Yu worked in an A*STAR research institute before joining ECSF.