[4] He was charged with four felony counts in the first criminal case stemming from a laboratory accident in U.S. history, but avoided jailtime through a plea deal with prosecutors, which was finalized in 2018.
[7] Harran's research is focused on the total synthesis of natural products, design of novel chemical compounds to study protein–protein interactions, and medicinal chemistry.
[8] On December 29, 2008, a fire in Harran's UCLA laboratory fatally burned research assistant Sheri Sangji.
Harran in 2011 was charged with four felony counts of willfully violating occupational safety standards in the case, carrying a maximum jail term of 4.5 years.
[12][14] Deputy District Attorney Craig W. Hum said that the penalty was similar to any sentence Harran would have received if convicted, while Sangji's family criticized it as "barely a slap on the wrist".