“This is a really exciting time to do biology!”
says Dr. Nora Yang. “We’re at a point now
with strategies like gene therapy where we can
see nearly biblical sorts of transformations and
healing in patients. I remember working with
one patient – an eight-year-old girl – with a
genetic eye disorder that caused blindness.
After an experimental treatment we had worked on, she had great joy in remarking that she could for the very first time see her beloved dog. I thought to myself, ‘Wow. It’s like, I was blind and now I see.’” Because of stories like that, Dr. Yang thinks everyone should be enthusiastic about doing science or at least being aware of the science happening today.
Dr. Yang is Senior Scientist in Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases and a Director of Portfolio Management and Strategic Operations at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
She remembers a fantastic college chemistry instructor that solidified her interest in science and helped propel her down that career path. Though she can’t remember exactly what topics were covered in
the course, she remembers that the instructor “energized the room.” She had always been curious about how life works and how parts fit together to make they body function, and her experiences with the chemistry instructor helped confirm she wanted to pursue that path.
During college, Dr. Yang also loved sports and was a college athlete – playing volleyball and being on track and field.After college in China, Dr. Yang moved to the United States for graduate school at UC San Diego. Coming from a different county, learning a new language, and
beginning as a brand new graduate student were all intimidating things. “It seemed like everyone else knew everything about everything and I worried all my questions were stupid!” she recalls. But the professors and other students were
very helpful and she gradually built up self-confidence. “When people take your ideas seriously and treat you as an equal, that makes a huge difference.” After graduate school, Dr. Yang wanted to apply the scientific ideas she studied in ways that could help sick people. This led her to jobs in the private sector at
companies that were developing therapies. She realized that bringing new
therapies to the public required an understanding of how businesses work, so
she wanted to supplement her training in that area. As a result, and with the
encouragement of the company she worked for, Dr. Yang obtained a master’s
degree in management from Stanford. She remembers the same feelings of self-
doubt and not being smart enough that she had when starting graduate school
coming up again at business school. They weren’t quite as bad that time, though,
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