05/26/2026
Andrew Lu has been captivated by science and song since childhood. Born in Boston to parents, both scientists, who came from China for career opportunities, Andrew was just five when started playing the piano after hearing his older sibling play.
“I loved listening to the piano, and I wanted to get my hands on it as soon as possible,” recalls Andrew, a first-year student in the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program.
He also learned that he enjoyed building things, and by the time he was in high school, he was interning in a research lab, trying to design better devices to sort organoids — miniature lab-grown organs — for drug screening.
When he was a student at Harvard University, Andrew studied bioengineering and began exploring his fascination with singing.
Andrew credits his piano teacher at time, Dr. Nozomi Yamaguchi, with encouraging him to take on this new challenge. Technique could be taught, but feeling and conveying the emotion of music had to come from within, he told Andrew.
“If I didn’t have him as piano teacher, I never would have done voice,” he says.
His early classical voice lessons were challenging, but he persisted. He was also honing his skills in the lab, where he worked on stem cell and immune cell engineering projects.
“When you perform music or you do research or practice medicine, it’s not about you,” he says. “What is impactful is creating something for others. If I’m feeling the music and conveying a message to the audience, that’s what I focus on.”
While Andrew loves the lab, he came to Weill Cornell to pursue both an MD and a PhD, with an interest in cancer immunology.
“What drew me to bioengineering is the opportunity to design and build solutions for helping others. I’ve always been interested in engineering new therapies and realized that having a strong clinical foundation would help this work.”
Since starting here, Andrew is a rising star in the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Orchestra. At a recent concert, he sang the baritone solo for Beethoven’s No. 9.
“Music and Medicine is a unique opportunity to play music at a high level with talented people from many different musical and academic backgrounds,” he says. “I’m very fortunate.”
Video clip and Photo 1: Andrew singing at Music and Medicine's May concert
Photo 2: Andrew, age 8, learning to pipet in his mother's lab
Photo 3: WCM's White Coat Ceremony 2025
Photo 4: Andrew and family
Photo 5: Andrew with mentor Dr. Matthew David of Dana Farber
Photo 6: Andrew with piano teacher Dr. Nozomi Yamaguchi
Photo 7: Andrew performing at Harvard
