What is SAPA?
The Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA) was established in 1993 and is headquartered in New Jersey, USA.
Since its inception, SAPA has rapidly become one of the most active Chinese-American professional associations in the US, with seven chapters and over 10,000 members nationwide.
SAPA NC serves pharmaceutical and life sciences professionals in the Research Triangle and surrounding areas, fostering professional development and cross-cultural collaboration.
News
Stay informed with the latest from SAPA NC.
May 5, 2026
Be the CEO of Your Career: NC-BIIS 2026 Career Forum on Breaking into the Biotech Industry
The NC-BIIS 2026 Career Development Forum, moderated by Dr. Susan Lankford of Duke University, offered practical guidance for young professionals entering the biotech and pharmaceutical workforce. Speakers emphasized treating your career as a company where you are the CEO — proactively building skills, networks, and visibility. Key takeaways included writing resumes that highlight results rather than duties, making technical skills visible, leveraging publications as proof of productivity, being transparent about visa and sponsorship needs, understanding how ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) filter candidates, networking strategically with recruiters, and using tools like ChatGPT appropriately in the job search process. The session provided actionable advice for PhDs, postdocs, and early-career professionals navigating the transition from academia to industry.
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May 3, 2026
CAS Foreign Member Xiaofan Wang on China's Pharma "Inflection Point" and US-China Collaboration at NC-BIIS 2026
At the closing ceremony of NC-BIIS 2026, Duke Distinguished Professor and CAS Foreign Member Dr. Xiaofan Wang delivered a forward-looking address on how China's pharmaceutical industry has reached an "inflection point" after 30 years of transformation from imitation to genuine innovation. Dr. Wang highlighted key growth directions including cell and gene therapy, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and AI-driven drug discovery. He emphasized that the US remains the global leader in biomedical innovation and that US-China cooperation — not decoupling — is essential for addressing humanity's biggest health challenges. The address underscored the unique role of organizations like SAPA in bridging the two ecosystems.
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May 2, 2026
Duke Professor Bruce Donald on AI at NC-BIIS 2026: Not About Smarter Machines, But More Honest Science
At the 1st NC Biotech Innovation & Investment Summit, Duke University Distinguished Professor Bruce Donald delivered a compelling talk on using AI constrained by physics and chemistry — not just data — to predict cancer mutations and design drugs in advance. He highlighted fundamental limitations of current AI models in molecular biology, emphasized the importance of explainable models over black-box predictions, and introduced his paradigm-shifting approach of treating proteins as probability distributions rather than static structures. Dr. Donald, founder of Ten63 Therapeutics, demonstrated how AI and physics-based molecular design platforms are tackling challenging drug targets in oncology.
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Four Pillars of Excellence
SAPA's mission is built on four foundational pillars that guide all our activities and initiatives.