In 2013, Zhou Qi, Chief Scientist of the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, initiated the nation-wide research initiative on stem cell and regenerative medicine in China. This CAS-funded program created an open and collaborative environment for researchers to explore the fundamental properties of life-forms and the implications of their discoveries for designing innovative stem cell drugs and therapies.

In 2018, Zhou Qi, developed the vision of shifting the focus to new frontiers in organ reconstruction and engineering as Chief Scientist of the next Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This joint research program bridged the gap between cutting-edge biologists and teams involved in tissue engineering and regeneration, to fulfill humanity’s long-held dreams on artificial and intelligent regeneration of human body parts.

Sprawling over 30,000 square meters of space in the Olympic Campus of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, the Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration-Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCR-CAS) was built directly across the street next to the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. With financial support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the ISCR-CAS was officially launched in November 2018 and major scientific teams from the State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology (SRLab) and the State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology (LMB) have moved into the new building by the end of 2018.

The major areas of pursuit at the ISCR-CAS include Aging and Associated Diseases, Innovative Biotechnologies, Biotherapeutics, Reproductive Health, Stem Cell Medicine, and Organ Engineering. Pushing forward with the spirit of radically improving and accelerating biomedical research, to provide scientifically rigorous solutions and strategies for national healthcare issues, the ISCR-CAS integrates scientific teams and high-tech research platforms under CAS to actively explore new models of intra- and inter-national collaboration in the exciting fields of stem cell R&D, clinical translation, and industrialization.