On January 8, 2026, the State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe and Rare Diseases held a joint meeting of its Academic Committee and Administrative Committee at the Translational Medicine Complex of PUMCH. The meeting comprehensively reviewed the laboratory's annual construction and operational situation. The attending leaders and experts acknowledged the progress of the laboratory over the past year and engaged in in-depth discussions on advancing its high-quality development, offering strategic advice and building consensus.    

Liu Dengfeng, Director-General of the Department of Health Science, Technology and Education at the National Health Commission (NHC), outlined the current landscape of technological self-reliance and China’s strategic plans in biomedicine and related sectors. He emphasized that the laboratory should bring into full play the role of the two committees, optimize operational mechanisms, and enhance management efficiency; build a solid foundation for original innovations to come to fruition through top-level design and long-term planning; accelerate cross-disciplinary integration to generate high-impact solutions to clinical challenges; and secure robust policy support to bolster the competitive edge of the laboratory.

Zhao Yupei, Director of the laboratory and Honorary President of PUMCH, underscored the significance of the work: "Tackling difficult and rare diseases is the mission and honor of PUMCH." He urged research teams to collaborate, pool their strengths, and demonstrate impact through tangible results. Zhang Shuyang, Deputy Director of the laboratory and President of PUMCH, spoke on behalf of PUMCH, the laboratory's lead host institution. She expressed the commitment to working closely with partner institutions to pursue breakthroughs in core technologies that align with national priorities; build more efficient collaboration mechanisms under which PUMCH will step up its coordination efforts; and translate innovations into clinical benefit more swiftly to serve people’s well-being. PUMCH Vice President Wu Peixin framed the meeting as an opportunity to take stock of progress, assess future opportunities, and align efforts toward sustained high-quality laboratory development in service of national strategies on building China into a powerhouse in science and technology and also medical care.

Zhan Qimin, Chair of the Academic Committee and President of Peking University International Cancer Institute, encouraged the laboratory to concentrate resources strategically, optimize its talent structure, contribute to national health data infrastructure, and capitalize on opportunities during the Fifteenth Five-year Plan period to secure critical breakthroughs. Li Qing, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, pledged stronger institutional support to bolster scientific and technological prowess and accelerate development of the PUMCH Innovation Hub, creating favorable circumstances for the laboratory to thrive.

Wu Wenming, Deputy Director of the laboratory and Vice President of PUMCH, reported on the laboratory's construction progress, 2025 achievements, existing challenges, and 2026 plans. Committee members, representatives from partner institutions, and laboratory principal investigators engaged in animated discussions on collaborative innovation, resource integration, and joint platform development.

The laboratory has made notable strides, sharpening its focus on rare and intractable diseases while building a vibrant ecosystem for research innovation. It has expanded academic exchange opportunities, deepened partnerships with industry and academia to facilitate translational efforts and produced results of increasing quality and impact, echoing the country’s increasing emphasis on science and technology as an overall development driver. Moving forward, the laboratory will draw on wisdom of the meeting, earnestly process experts’ suggestions, and redouble efforts to strengthen self-reliance in medical technologies, fulfilling its ultimate mission of safeguarding health.

The meeting was attended by multiple members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, including Academicians Gu Dongfeng, Bian Xiuwu, Wang Songling, and Zhang Xue, as well as Professor Li Min from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and other Academic Committee members. Also present were relevant officials from the Department of Health Science, Technology and Education at the NHC, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Tsinghua University. The entire hospital leadership, laboratory principal investigator representatives, and heads of relevant functional departments at PUMCH participated in the meeting.

Written by Chen Xiao

Photographed by Sun Liang

Edited by Xiao Xiong

Chief Editor Duan Wenli

Supervised by Wu Peixin