Yisheng (Ethan) Sun, a senior pre-med student graduating this spring, has been accepted into University of Pittsburgh鈥檚 PhD program in chemistry. In addition to enrolling in this program, Yisheng has accepted a teaching fellowship position, where he will supervise and instruct undergrad labs for several courses, including organic chemistry. Not only is Yisheng the first Cairn student to be accepted into a PhD chemistry program, he is also the first graduate with a minor in chemistry.听
While Yisheng鈥檚 main area of interest was pre-med, his love for chemistry blossomed as he studied under his numerous science professors. His interest in organic chemistry and biochemistry has given him the ultimate desire to pursue doctoral-level research in chemistry instead of biology, with a goal to 鈥渟ynthesize novel molecules or therapeutic agents that inhibit genetic disease or cure injury at a molecular level, construct polymers for new materials to mitigate certain environmental issues, or design new mechanisms that improve synthetic efficiency.鈥�
Yisheng cites the support of his professors as role models and well-suited instructors for bringing him to this major milestone: 鈥淭hroughout my four years at Cairn, I gained numerous insights from how my professors approached biology and chemistry with a biblical worldview. Dr. Bell showed me the strongest supportive evidence for the design argument; Dr. Eshelman introduced his theology of the human body; Professor Jensen refreshed my understanding of what science is and its relationship with Christian discipleship; and Dr. Khushman shared various biblical references in relevance to medicine. All these meaningful discussions prepared me to walk a different path in the field of science.鈥�
