On March 3, Alibaba-Zhejiang University Joint Research Institute of Future Digital Health was officially launched on Zijingang Campus.

The Institute will be co-directed by Prof. ZHOU Tianhua, vice president of Zhejiang University, and Mr. HUA Xianshen, vice president of Alibaba Group and head of the City Brain Lab of DAMO Academy. It will be committed to building an ecosystem featured by the in-depth industry-university-institute integration and expanding the joint research in the field of future digital health. It will focus on the whole-chain and whole-period precise prevention, control and treatment of cancer and other major chronic diseases. Through in-depth cooperation and integration of biotechnology and information technology, it will be built into a scientific innovation platform supported by such cutting-edge technologies as digital health and an innovation carrier in the healthcare industry with disease prevention and treatment as its core.

“The Institute is a key step towards deepening strategic cooperation in the field of health between Alibaba and Zhejiang University. It will strive to become an important platform to promote the frontier research of digital healthcare in a comprehensive way and boost digital reform at Zhejiang University and even in the whole province,” said ZHOU Tianhua.

HUA Xiansheng reviewed the landmark achievements that Alibaba has made in the field of digital healthcare, particularly in the battle against COVID-19. “Alibaba not only cares about China but also has concerns for the whole world. The Institute will push forward the high-quality development of China’s health industry,” said HUA Xiansheng.

Three labs will be set up for smart medicine, digital medical imaging and smart pharmacology and one studio for young scientists. These labs will focus on cohort studies of regional populations, deconstruction of diseases at the molecular level, pathomics-based diagnosis, drug development and clinical trials.