URI grad helps develop medication to treat debilitating disease in children

Chris Yun worked for years developing a cardiovascular medication that could reduce the chance of a recurrent cardiac event. After years of research, trials and development, the URI graduate and his colleagues at an Atlanta biotech firm were able to show a reduction in risk, but not enough for FDA approval.

It was a frustrating setback, and a hard lesson to learn about the difficulty of getting a drug approved through the FDA. But it didn’t stop Yun from putting in the time and effort for his next challenge, a work ethic he developed at least in part during his years at the University of Rhode Island, exemplified by his experience as a member of the crew team.

“That experience was life changing; the discipline, commitment and work ethic I developed,” Yun said, noting the Crew team is a club sport for which team members had to raise much of the funding doing odd jobs, in addition to intense practices starting at 5:30 a.m. every day and, of course, their classwork. “It takes commitment; there are eight other people in the boat. If you’re not there, they can’t go out on the water. The rigor and intensity and hard work is what I really took away from URI. It had a lasting, lifelong impact.”

Yun is a 1988 graduate of the University, with a degree in exercise science, now known as kinesiology, part of the College of Health Sciences. He recently returned to campus to be honored as “Alumni of the Game” Nov. 28 at the Ryan Center, where the URI men’s basketball team defeated Brown University.

After graduating, Yun worked in corporate wellness facilities in New York and Boston before returning to Rhode Island to take a position at Pawtucket Memorial Hospital. Mentored by cardiologists and exercise physiologists who were conducting clinical trials with cardiac patients, Yun learned the fundamentals of clinical trials and drug development. After his experience at Pawtucket Memorial Hospital, Yun worked for biotech and pharmaceutical companies until starting his own consulting firm seven years ago, providing clinical development and operations services, which led to his experience with the FDA in Atlanta.

The disappointment of that project was short-lived, as Yun soon began working on clinical trials on medication to treat for a rare genetic disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a disease that robs people of physical mobility by damaging the motor nerve cells in the spine, taking away the ability to walk, eat or breathe. It is the leading genetic cause of death among infants.

After many years of clinical trials, the FDA approved the drug in 2016 as the first and only treatment available for SMA.

“FDA approved the drug very quickly given its favorable efficacy and safety profile. They were really motivated to bring treatment to these children who did not have any option when diagnosed with SMA,” Yun said, noting the medication has also been approved for distribution in several European and Asian countries. “It’s the first drug I’ve been involved in to get approved over the course of my career. The public in general does not realize the time and cost of bringing a drug to market when you have to consider many drugs never make it to the later stages of development.”

Yun is helping URI students understand what it takes to succeed in their field after school, serving as a mentor for the College of Pharmacy with the Pharmaceutical Sciences program, and on the Advisory Board for the College of Health Sciences.

“I try to shed light on the industry and give students more exposure to jobs and roles they may not know about,” Yun said. “I didn’t take a traditional track. I started in ocean engineering, then geography and marine affairs, then exercise science. Pursuing a degree in the area of your interest has to be balanced with just getting through school in the fastest time and, of course, each student’s personal and financial situation. My opinion is in the long run, evaluating what will motivate you to gain the skills necessary in a field that interests you will be more rewarding than just getting a degree.”

Yun lives in South Kingstown with his wife, Lisa Rodier (URI Class of ’87) and their dog, Atle, an energetic Bouvier de Flandres, while continuing to run his consulting firm, Lexa Enterprise.