April 03, 2024

When did you join UTHealth Houston?
I joined the UT Medical School in 1993.

What brought you here?
I have always been passionate about the medical field. The Texas Medical Center is one of the most well-known and largest medical centers in the world. I knew there would be a lot of opportunity for growth here, so we moved to Houston right after my husband completed his graduate program in Florida.

Tell us about your work history here.
I began my career as a surgeon in Shanghai. I spent most of my time in clinical settings before joining UTHealth Houston. Once I joined our organization, I found medical research to be very interesting. My medical knowledge, surgical skills, and clinical experience proved to be very valuable in the research setting. I first held a research position with the Department of Neurology under Dr. Jerry S. Wolinsky for his Multiple Sclerosis Research Group. I worked with rodents and mammals (mice, rats, and rabbits). I later transferred to a research group for Dr. Kenneth Wu, division director, Department of Internal Medicine, for the National Institutes of Health project, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study in 1996. I was recruited by The Center for Translational Injury Research (CeTIR) in the Department of Surgery in 2009 and have been with CeTIR ever since.

What are you most proud of accomplishing?
Over the years, I have learned a lot, grown a lot, published a lot, and achieved more than I could have ever imagined. I am very lucky to have a great mentor like Dr. Charlie Wade, our recently retired CeTIR director. I really enjoy training and watching our team members grow in their own careers. CeTIR provides a great opportunity for many college students and recent graduates. Individuals we hire can gain a lot of hands-on experience from our clinical research projects, find what interests them the most, and many move on to pursue nursing, medical, or graduate school. Every year, we get to celebrate good news from our team. This is a great accomplishment, and I am proud to be a part of their journey.

What do you enjoy most about your work?
We have a wide range of research projects through collaborative efforts, from validating new devices and procedures to providing earlier treatment to soldiers injured on the battlefield and further expanding to benefit the civilian population. I enjoy the variety in our work.

Why have you stayed?
There are countless reasons why I have stayed. Most importantly, I enjoy the research projects and the people I work with. The people I get to work with are incredibly knowledgeable, and supportive. They are my work family and they inspired me to keep growing.

When you are not at work, how do you spend your time?
I love to video chat with my children and grandchildren, solve sudoku puzzles, watch TV shows, and volunteer in my community. My husband enjoys exploring nature and hiking, so I have to follow him around National Parks as well.