On the afternoon of March 24, 2026, a delegation from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute (COI) visited the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IBMS) and had an exchange meeting chaired by Professor Wang Qianben, Executive Dean of IBMS. COI is a medical research and cooperation platform in University of Oxford jointly established by Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CAMS & PUMC) and University of Oxford. The delegation consisted of 11 members, including Professor Dong Tao, British Dean of COI and Ita Askonas Chair in Translational Immunology at University of Oxford, Professor Geoffrey Smith, Fellow of the Royal Society, and other professors, group leaders and administrative directors from multiple disciplines such as virology, immunology, biochemistry and mass spectrometry, and physiology.

At the meeting, Professor Wang Qianben gave an introduction to IBMS’s research teams, platform construction, key research areas and landmark academic achievements. He elaborated on the strategic value and feasibility of in-depth cooperation with COI, which was highly recognized by the delegation. Professor Dong Tao gave a detailed presentation on COI’s disciplinary layout, experimental technology platforms, talent training system and achievements in industry-academia-research integration. He emphasized that COI had always been disease-oriented and committed to promoting the deep integration of basic research and clinical translation. He also noted that COI had been dedicated to customizing training programs for young researchers, fostering international research visions, and promoting the deep integration between Chinese and British talent training systems.

Research teams from both sides shared their progress in such fields as immune regulation and cancer therapy, infectious diseases and vaccine development, cardiovascular and rare disease mechanisms, proteomics and structural biology. The two sides also held extensive discussions on potential cooperation directions and pathways.

This visit marks the upgrading of the cooperation between IBMS and COI from discipline-driven partial exchanges to disease-oriented comprehensive planning. In the future, IBMS and COI will work together to elevate their partnership to a strategic level characterized by structured collaboration, concrete projects, funding support and international visibility. The goal is to establish IBMS as Oxford’s core partner in basic and translational medicine in China and turn University of Oxford into IBMS’s key academic partner in Europe, thereby contributing to the deeper medical cooperation between China and the UK and the development of global health.

Prior to the meeting, the COI delegation had visited the instrument platform and some research groups in the north campus of IBMS, and held face-to-face discussions with students and young researchers on topics such as research technologies and instruments and equipment.