CHINESE ACADEMY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES ·PEKING UNION MEDICAL COLLEGE

 INSTITUTE OF MEDICINAL PLANT DEVELOPMENT

The Institute of Medicinal Plant Development (IMPLAD),and Beijing Medicinal Plant Garden, affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), was established in August 1983. The headquarters are located in Zhongguancun Scientific and Technical Zone, Beijing, with six branches respectively distributed in Yunan, Hainan, Guangxi, Xinjiang, Chongqing and Guizhou. As the only one national research institution of public service specializing in protection, development and utilization of medicinal plant resources, and also one of the well-known institutions focusing on medicinal plant research worldwide, IMPLAD is playing a leading role in research on Chinese medicinal herbs, and has been working as WHO Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine.

The targets of IMPLAD are: to tackle the hot issues and difficult problems in medicinal plant research, meet the major demands of the country, society and industry on the national level aiming at supporting, guiding the Chinese Medicine Resources as well as the sustainable utilization of Chinese medicinal plant resources and promoting sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine; to strengthen system integration and resource sharing, promote conservation of Chinese medicine resources, take up the leading role in China and turn into the comprehensive and renowned internationally institute in the field.

There are 667 staff, including 1 member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 178 professors and associate professors, 5 National-level experts with outstanding contributions, 1 nationally recognized scientist , 3 Scholars from “Millions of Talent Project”，5 high-ranking professionals from Ministry of Health, and over 83% of its Principal Investigators are below 45 years old. Seventy-four of these professors and associate professors supervise a total of 178 research postgraduates and also number among themselves many world experts, including the founder of Pharmacophylogenetics, Professor XIAO Peigen (member of Chinese Academy of Engineering, also called “the living TCM dictionary”), Professor XU jintang, who specializes in Gastrodia (TIAN MA), Professor LIU Tiecheng specializing in American Ginseng, Professor ZHOU Qingnian specializing in Fructus Amomi (SHA REN), and Professor CHEN Weiping, expert in introduction of South China medicine. Overall, IMPLAD has a team of highly educated and energetic Chinese medicine research scientists.

Obedience to the institute motto “Truth seeking and Scientific Development”, a new generation of researchers at IMPLAD have inherited the best of the past and are continuing the strong tradition of innovation, in the wake of recent changes and development seen over the past few years. We are putting forward the conservation, sustainable utilization and application of medicinal plant resources, pressing ahead with the building of complete innovation system covering the areas of Chinese Medicine Resources, Cultivation of Medicinal Plants, Natural Medicine Chemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Biotechnology and other related subjects. In addition, we are playing the leading role in the building of national scientific innovation system with international influence in the field.

IMPLAD attaches much importance to scientific innovation and building of bases as well as platforms. Since its foundation, the institute has undertaken more than 840 national key projects such as National High-tech R&D Program of China (863 Program), National Program on Key Basic Research Project (973 Program), National Major Scientific and Technological Special Project for “Significant New Drugs Development” (Ministry of Science and Technology), National Major Scientific and Technological Special Project for “Prevention and Treatment of AIDS, Viral Hepatities and other major infectious diseases”, National Key Technologies R & D Program，Special Project for International Cooperation on Sci&Tech, National Natural Science Foundation, and industry special fund etc., with nearly 500 million RMB yuan of funding support, and besides, IMPLAD has got approvals of construction of National Engineering Lab for Breeding of Endangered Medicinal Materials, the National Medicinal Plant Gene Bank, National Compound Library, “Substance Base and Resource Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine” Key Lab (Ministry of Education), Key Lab of Chinese Medicine Resources Conservation (SATCM), Engineering Research Center of Chinese Traditional Medicine Resources (Ministry of Education), Beijing Municipal Key Lab for Innovative Drug Discovery of Chinese Medicine (Natural Drugs) and Translational Medicine, Hainan Key Lab for Conservation and Development of South-China Medicine Resources, International Cooperation Base (SATCM), National Alliance of Medicinal Plant Gardens, National Technical Platform for Chinese Materia Medica and Natural Drugs, and Zhongguancun Open Lab for R&D of Health Products etc.. In addition, we have a team made up of energetic scientists, which is granted with “Chinese Medicine” Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team of Ministry of Education, and National Key Innovative Research Team for Induced Formation Mechanism & Industrialized Technology of Rare South-China Medicine like Eaglewood.

In pace with expanding research outputs, IMPALD lays great importance to the rapid optimization of scientific achievements. Over these years, more than 3500 papers have been published, including over 500 SCI papers during the past five years, and some of them are published in internationally renowned journals such as 《EMBO JOURNAL》，《NATURAL PRODUCT REPORTS》，《PNAS》《NATURE COMMUNICATIONS》，《CLADISTICS》，《BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHAMACOLOGY》.Two papers were named China One Hundred Most Influential Domestic Academic Excellence in 2012. Except that, a total of 219 applications for invention patents, with 55 authorized. The institute has received 88 national and provincial prizes, including 8 national prizes. Over 100 books have been edited, including "Chinese Materia Medica", "Cultivation of Chinese Medicinal Plant" and "Chinese Medicinal Mycology" and so on. So far, the institute has trained 588 postgraduates and 48 post-docs.  

Since its foundation, IMPLAD has been actively involved in academic exchange home and abroad, and has established cooperative relationship with many academic institutions from more than 50 countries including USA, the UK, France, Canada, Japan, Peru, Italy, Germany, Korea, and Luxembourg etc.. A large number of international cooperative programs have been carried out. Over the past few years, it has sent over sixty researchers to such places as USA, the UK, Korea and Luxembourg for training, study and collaborative research, and about three hundred have been sent abroad to participate in international conferences and academic exchanges, and have as well hosted the training of more than fifty researchers from such countries as the UK, Canada, Austria, Luxembourg, Peru, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Vietnam and Philippines. As WHO Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine and the member of TWAS, we have so far received over 900 overseas delegations for a total of more than 4500 person-time foreign officials, scholars and experts. In addition, the institute has hosted and co-organized successfully a few international conferences，including the Third and the Ninth International Congress on Ethnopharmacology，the 1st Seminar on Safety and Quality Control of Chinese Medicine, International Conference & Exposition on Traditional Medicine and 6th Meeting of the Consortium for Globalization of Chinese Medicine etc., which provide important platforms for academic exchange among scientists home and abroad to share their achievements and information, putting forward the conservation, utilization and development. The institute is playing a leading role as member of Committee of TCM and Natural Medicine, Chinese Pharmaceutical Association, Committee of R&D and Consultation of Chinese Medicine, CCMR. Except that, in collaboration with Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, we sponsor the first English journal in the field "Chinese Herbal Medicines”. And also, IMPLAD participates in the TCM schemes between China and Europe, funded by EU FP7 and Ministry of Science and Technology, which provides graduate students and researchers more opportunities of international exchange and cooperation.

IMPLAD lays much emphasis on the transformation of scientific achievements and contributes much to the social development. Over the years, a great number of scientific achievements come out of the labs, providing positive support to the development of Chinese Medicine. We have succeeded in the introduction and large-scale production of Gastrodia (TIAN MA), American Ginseng, Rhizoma Coptidis and Fructus Amomi(SHA REN), which have created an accumulated economic profit of seven billion Yuan. And besides, we have established strategic relationship with some provinces including Guizhou, Yunan, Ningxia, Hainan, carrying out further cooperation in cultivation of medicinal plants as well as R&D of new drugs, covering over one hundred million mu of cultivating bases with potential economy value of more than ten billion Yuan.  

Rallying around the leadership of IMPLAD, the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, deeply involved in research and its further advancement, is committing itself to composing new pages for medicinal plant research in China.

ADD：No. 151 Malianwa North Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193 P. R. China
POSTCODE：100193
TEL：+86-10-57833028
FAX：+86-10-57833018
WEBSITE：;
E-MAIL：implad@implad.ac.cn