Saini Yang is the Executive Director of Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) co-sponsored by ISC and UNDRR. Dr. Saini Yang is a professor at Beijing Normal University. Her research interests include risk analysis, resilient infrastructure and climate change adaptation.  She is a member of the expert committee of the National Disaster Reduction Commission, as well as the expert committee of National Climate Change Adaptation of China. She is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Science and Technology Advisory Group of the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction, and serves as a consultant for the World Bank Group,  UNDP and UNICEF. She also serves for editorial board of several international academic journals. Dr. Yang got her bachelor and master degree from Southeast University and PhD degree from University of Maryland.