The Bio-X Institutes of Shanghai Jiao Tong University was formed in 2005 by merging the Neuropsychiatric and Human Genetics Group (NHGG), which was established in 1996, and the Bio-X Life Science Research Institutes, which was established in April 2000.
The founding of the Bio-X Institutes represents a landmark in interdisciplinary research among the life sciences. The mission of the Institutes is to provide not only an interdisciplinary institute, but also to serve as a forum for discussion among scientists and students from a variety of disciplines and fields.
The current director of the Institutes is Prof. Lin He, a fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the honorary director is Prof. Steve Zhu, physics Nobel Laureate. The Institutes consists of a number of "core" and "satellite" groups led by dozens of distinguished scientists and specially appointed professors from China and abroad, as well as many highly-talented post-graduates and research fellows from various academic backgrounds all being supported by a team of administrative professionals and research technicians.
The research at the Bio-X Institutes focuses on interdisciplinary topics between nutrition, health& disease, development and reproduction, biosaftey and DNA computing. More in detail, we currently have research programs in genome mapping and cloning, functional genomics, pharmacogenomics, proteomics, psychiatric metabolism, DNA computing, bioinformatics and nation-wide protection of genetic resources.
The Bio-X Institutes has over 2000 square meters of world-class cutting-edge laboratory facilities across two Shanghai campuses in Xuhui and Minghang and at the Institute for Nutrition Science, SIBS/CAS. The Institutes also has substantial financial support from national and local sources. It has won several significant honors, including First Prize in the Shanghai Science and Technology Awards, First Prize in the Science and Technology Awards of the Chinese Ministry of Education, and Second Prize in the National Natural Science Awards. Furthermore, the Institutes has made at least three breakthroughs in the history of Shanghai Jiao Tong University: It contributed the first chief scientist in the National “973” Program; was the first to have papers published in Nature Genetics; and was first to achieve the Second Prize of the National Awards for Natural Science. To date, the Institutes has published more than 200 papers in international journals and writes more than 10 professional books, wholly or in part. Additionally, more than 10 patents have been authorized or are pending.
The Institutes has ambitious future plans, including:
(1) Expand in research space and scope:
To establish a Institute for Neuropsychiatric Sciences and Metabonomics in co-operation with Changning Greenland Hospital;
To establish a fundamental scientific research unit in co-operation with the Shanghai Mental Health Institutes;
To establish a Nutrition and Health Research Base together with the Institute for Nutritional Sciences, CAS;
To launch Phase II research of a joint venture with AstraZeneca;
To continue Phase II research of a joint venture with Roche.
(2) Deepen our insights:
To make significant progress in understanding the mechanisms underlying psychiatrics disorders, nutrition-related disease and skeletal disorders through novel and systematic measures and approaches.
(3) Integrating R&D and Industrialization:
To shorten the time taken for new scientific discoveries to provide real, practical benefits to the population as a whole by applying our expertise in the genomics of disease and nutrition. To facilitate laboratory discovers to be brought into the clinical (translational medicine) and industrial setting.
