What do you want to be when you grow up?
• When Dr. Shih was younger
• In junior high school, she turns to science
I am very blessed to have grown up in such a loving family. Education and caring-for-others are the two most important values that were instilled by my parents.
Yvonne Chen Ho (my older sister): Chief Financial Officer, United Nations. She and my mother were my role models; they raised me and my brother and sister. Both my mom and sister were givers; they never asked nor even thought about receiving anything in return. Sadly, she passed away in 1996 due to breast cancer.
Renne Chen Lu (my younger sister): Ph.D. in Biochemistry, UC San Diego; Director of the Protein Chemistry Lab, Boston Biomedical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard University. She often sequenced unknown proteins for us, using mass spectrocoscopy. She is a good adviser and sounding board for us. She is very active as a volunteer and takes a leadership role in community service.
Kevin Chen (my younger brother): Ph.D. in Biology from UCLA. We have been collaborators since 1988, more than 15 years. We did not plan to do this; it just worked out this way. He is a very dedicated and creative scientist. He can read about 100 papers a day. According to his wife Nancy (a musician and programmer), he starts his day at 3 am. Both Nancy and Kevin are God’s loving children and are very active in their church. — Jean Chen Shih