Yurie was born in Tokyo, Japan, moved to the United States in 1989, and grew up about 40 minutes northwest of Chicago.  She attended Phillips Academy Andover where she played tennis and was highly involved in classical vocal training and performing.  Yurie was a molecular biology and biochemistry major at Wes.  She joined the Taylor group in the fall of 2008, where her research focused on characterizing glycosyl transferase proteins of Vibrio cholerae with the hope of ultimately find a new targets for antibiotics.  After Wesleyan, Yurie plans to attend medical school.