On December 21, 2023, the second China Conference on the Development of Basic Disciplines of Medical Sciences and the Theme Forum of 65th Anniversary of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IBMS) of China Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) were held in Beijing. With “65-Year inheritance consolidates the foundation of medical sciences” as the theme, this conference comprehensively showcased the development history and status quo of the basic disciplines of medical sciences in PUMC. Renowned experts and scholars gathered in Yi Hao Auditorium of PUMC to deeply explore the development trends of biomedical innovation and medical education and jointly plan the development path of China’s basic disciplines of medical sciences.

Professor He Weipointed out in his address that the Central Committee of CPC attached great importance to basic research and regarded it as a core task of technological self-reliance, and that basic research was entering an unprecedented golden age of development. He proposed advancing medical digitization and the integration of digital technologies into medicine and further improving the strategic,forward-looking, and fundamental layout of basic disciplines of medical sciences. He congratulated IBMS on its 65th anniversary and paid tribute to the spirit of the older generation scientists for their devotion to academic research regardless of fame and fortune. He hoped that on the new journey of the new era, IBMS would continue to write a new chapter by focusing on health-centered priority development strategy and the major needs of national health and wellness.

Cao Xuetao, Academician of CAE and researcher at IBMS of CAMS, put forward three requirements in his opening address: to address common difficulties by conducting solid and substantial basic medical research based on frontiers and needs, to enhance our original innovation capabilities guided by the construction of “Double First-Class” disciplines, and to enhance the effectiveness of collaborative education by making full use of abundant scientific research resources. He emphasized integrating disciplinary advantages and cultivating innovative talent to explore the industry-university-research integrated development mode to promote the development of basic disciplines.

Wang Chen, Academician of CAE and President of CAMS & PUMC, extended warm welcome to the leaders, guests, and scholars at conference in his opening address on behalf of the sponsor of this conference. He pointed out that the basic disciplines of PUMC played a crucial role in the establishment and development of China’s modern medical sciences and modern life sciences, with scientific medicine as the mainstream and purport. He hoped that IBMS could inherit and carry forward excellent PUMC culture and shoulder the historical mission of building a national core base of medical science and technology innovation system and basic disciplines by engaging in strategic thinking and overall planning for the development of basic medical disciplines while strengthening the basic medical research as a forefront.

Zhang Xuemin, Academician of CAE in National Center of Biomedical Analysis, emphasized in his opening address the two missions of National Natural Science Foundation of China: how to give money to truly innovative researchers and to respond to the major strategic needs of our country, with the key being the evaluation mechanism. He suggested that IBMS, as one of the most important basic medical research institutes in China, should concentrate its efforts on solving important scientific problems and cracking technological bottlenecks in the field of basic medical research. He encouraged interdisciplinary cooperation between basic medical sciences and clinical medicine, and between basic medical sciences and chemistry, biology, physics, informatics, and other disciplines, to jointly promote the progress of basic medical research in China.

The opening ceremony of the conference was presided over by Yao Jianhong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of CAMS & PUMC.

Keynote Speeches

At this conference, five academicians, including Cao Xuetao, Zhang Xuemin, Wang Chen, Yang Huanming and Zhang Hong, delivered keynote speeches entitled “Regulation of immune inflammation and immunotherapy of diseases”, “SCN cilia in the brain are organelles that regulate biological rhythms: discussions on the academic value orientation of medical research”, “Academic basis of medicine”, “What is life---Milestones on decoding life by man”, and “Machinery and regulation of autophagy in multicellular organisms”, respectively.

The keynote speeches were presided over by Academician Zhang Xue from the IBMS of CAMS and Professor Cheng Tao, President of IBMS of CAMS.

Frontier Forum

At the session of Basic Research Frontier Forum of Medical Sciences, eight experts and scholars, including Zheng Junke, Tian Jie, Sun Jinpeng, Lin Xin, Lv Zhimin, Gao Chengjiang, Kong Wei and Huang Bo, gave invited presentations entitled “Blood Homeostasis and metabolic regulation”, “AI-bridged acceleration from basic research to clinical transformation”, “Discovery of steroid hormone membrane receptor subfamily and GPCR perception of microenvironment”, “Developing TCR-based chimeric antigen receptor STAR for cancer immunotherapy”,“The moonlighting functions of metabolic enzymes”, “Inherent immune regulation against fungi”, “Exploring new targets for vascular lesions from the vascular microenvironment”, and “Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR): Thousand-hand Kwanyin in biological world?”, respectively. These presentations, marked by their visionary breadth and strategic depth, showcased the innovative ideas and cutting-edge achievements in the basic research of medical sciences, presenting an audio-visual feast with prominent themes and rich contents.

Closing Ceremony

Wang Jing, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of the IBMS of CAMS, expressed her gratitude to all the participants of this conference at the closing ceremony. She concluded that this conference, with rich contents, served as an intensive high-strength output of knowledge points. This year marked the 65th anniversary of IBMS and its fundamental task is closely linked to the volition of our country’s “strengthening basic research”, which is the foundation and source of science and technology. Looking forward to the future on the occasion of its 65th anniversary, IBMS would continue to provide suggestions and recommendations for building a strong scientific and technological country, shoulder social responsibilities for promoting national health, and provide talent support for the medical and health industry by focusing on the core directions and undertaking major tasks concerning the major needs of the undertakings of national health and wellness. It will continue to build the conference on the development of basic disciplines of medical sciences into a high-quality academic conference benchmark in the fields of medical research and basic education, attracting more experts and scholars to share and exchange ideas and jointly promote development in the future.

This conference was sponsored by CAMS & PUMC and organized by the IBMS. Participants at the conference included leadership from superior authorities, academicians and experts from CAMS &PUMC and sister institutions, leaders of IBMS,heads of relevant departments of CAMS & PUMC, guests from various partner organizations, and representatives ofveteran experts from IBMS. The event attracted a total of nearly 240,000 online and offline participants.