Meet Our People

SRI's innovative thinking depends directly on the people who work here. Meet members of our team in Computing and Engineering, Chemistry, Physics and Materials, Drug Discovery, Drug Development and Health, Economics and Education, Environment and Energy, Business Development, and Administration and Corporate Activities, and learn why they joined SRI—you may discover that you would like to join the team, too. Visit Careers @ SRI for descriptions of current openings.

Chun Yang, Chemist, Pharmaceutical Sciences Laboratory

Focus @ SRI:
Analysis of anti-cancer chemicals and pharmaceutical formulations

Day in the Life @ SRI:
When I arrive, I check my e-mail and plan my activities in order of importance. I like to spend the majority of the day in the lab. While thawing a sample from the freezer, I will initialize the high-pressure liquid chromatography or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system. After I click the enter button to submit the initialization sequence, I have time to search reference papers and work on other activities.

Before SRI:
I joined SRI right after I got my Ph.D. I was interested in coming to the United States because there is enough funding in America to support research. As I looked for a job, I sent out hundreds of e-mails to American contact authors who published papers in analytical chemistry, and my manager said she found me through the Internet.

Academics:
Ph.D., Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, China

Why SRI?
At SRI, I have the freedom to try things. My manager likes to try all the experiments that we can do to answer "How" and "Why" questions, such as how we can separate a special impurity from the main drug and why a decomposition product formed underlong-term storage. I enjoy pursuing different approaches to solving the problem because it's like a puzzle, especially whenwe find the solution.

Inspiration and Motivation:
I like the feeling of satisfaction I get at the end of the day when I cross out the item I needed to finish. The desire for that feeling drives me to be more efficient.

Away from the Office:
I have a six-month-old daughter. I enjoy watching her grow up and writing a diary for her, to record all the events of her life until she is old enough to write them down herself.

Languages:
Mandarin

Proudest Professional Accomplishment:
When the contract officer marked our group Excellent at the annual evaluation, I cheered with my colleagues.

Words of Wisdom for New SRI Team Members:
Work hard during the week and enjoy the life on the weekends.