博士期间，主要从事酶催化结构与机理研究，对胞嘧啶脱氨酶的催化机理和动态性开展了系统性研究工作。博士后期间，主要从事蛋白质结构与动力学核磁共振方法学研究。2010年，加入中科院青岛生物能源与生物过程研究所。作为蛋白质设计研究组负责人，主要从事蛋白质功能改造、蛋白质内部弱相互作用和蛋白结构结构动态性研究。在《J. Am. Chem. Soc.》、《J. Chem. Inf. Model.》、《Angew. Chem.-Int. Edit》、《Biotechnol. Bioeng.》等国外重要学术刊物上发表SCI论文近30 多篇，其中回国后发表《J. Am. Chem. Soc.》6篇和《Angew. Chem.-Int. Edit》1篇。

1. "Characterization of residue specific protein folding and unfolding dynamics in cells", Song XF., Lv TH., Chen JF.,Wang J., Yao LS.*, Journal of the American Chemical Society,. 2019, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b04435. 2. "Direct observation of CH/CH van der Waals interactions in proteins by NMR", Li JW., Wang YF., An LY., Yao LS.*, Journal of the American Chemical Society,. 2018, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b13345. 3. "Quinary interactions weaken the electric field generated by protein side-chain charges in the cell-like environment", Zhang N., An LY., Li JW., Liu ZJ., Yao LS.*, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2017, 139, 647−654. 4. "Observation of a-helical hydrogen bond cooperativity in an intact protein", Li JW., Wang YF., Chen J F., Liu ZJ., Bax A., Yao LS.*, Journal of the American Chemical Society,. 2016, 138, 1824-1827. 5. "Protein apparent dielectric constant and its temperature dependence from remote chemical shift effects", An LY., Wang YF., Zhang N., Yan SH., Bax A., Yao LS.*, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2014, 136(37): 12816.