Yan Ning, a world-renowned structural biologist, was hired as the founding director of the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) at the institute’s inaugural ceremony Saturday.
Yan, 45, received her bachelor’s degree from the Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology at Tsinghua University in China in 2000. She was engaged in postdoctoral research at the Department of Molecular Biology in Princeton University from 2005 to 2007. She established a lab in Tsinghua University in October 2017, which focused on the structural and functional study of membrane transport proteins and made a series of accomplishments in eight years.
During a speech Saturday, Yan said she would take a down-to-earth approach and work with a pioneering spirit to build SMART into an innovation base for biopharmaceutical talent cultivation, science research and transformation, which is based in Shenzhen, serves the whole country and has global influence.
Shenzhen Mayor Qin Weizhong hoped SMART will develop basic research and apply basic research in life sciences, and contribute more in original innovations. The city will give its full support and highly efficient services for the innovative development of SMART, Qin said.
On Nov. 1, when the city observed Shenzhen Talent Day, Yan said at the Shenzhen Global Innovation Forum of Talents that she was excited to receive Shenzhen’s invitation to participate in the founding of its medical academy.
“Shenzhen is a young and vibrant city of infinite possibilities,” Yan said, adding that “after setting foot in the city, I feel it is also a great place to live in.”
Yan hoped the academy will not only make breakthroughs in medical research, but also work out an effective system facilitating the commercialization of scientific achievements.