The Institute of Lipid Metabolism (Institute of Molecular Medicine) of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University was founded in 1979, based on the key disciplines of Zhejiang Province (Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacology); the key disciplines of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Zhejiang Province (Fundamentals of Integrative Medicine); and supported by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine‘s Key Laboratory (Level III): the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine‘s Key Laboratory: Traditional Chinese Medicine Cardiovascular Disease Laboratory, and the International Cooperative Research Center for Nutritional Metabolism and Health.
The institute has a Traditional Chinese Medicine Innovation Team (Metabolic Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Traditional Chinese Medicine Multidisciplinary Interdisciplinary Innovation Team) of Zhejiang Province, which includes multidisciplinary talents in Biology, Integrative Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Environmental Science, Nutrition and Bioinformatics, etc. The team focuses on major metabolic diseases. The team focuses on major metabolic diseases, explores new disease mechanisms, screens for new targets, innovates disease mechanism theories, analyses the scientific connotation of traditional Chinese medicine theories, promotes the research and development of innovative traditional Chinese medicines, and improves the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases.
The research focuses on the following three main aspects:
1. The pathogenesis of metabolic liver diseases and the prevention and treatment of Chinese medicine;
2. Metabolic diseases and regulation of cellular homeostasis;
3. Gene-environment interaction in metabolic diseases.
The Institute has 30 members including 5 postdoctoral researchers. 1 Top Young Talents in Ten Thousand Talents Plan of Zhejiang Province, 2 Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Outstanding Youth), 1 innovative talent, and 1 high-level top-notch talent under the Zhejiang Province's "5246" talent project. 5 trainees of "New Century 151 Talent Project" of Zhejiang Province and other talent titles.
In the past five years, the Institute has undertaken 18 National Natural Science fund projects, 3 major key projects at provincial and ministerial levels, 12 general projects at provincial and ministerial levels, with government-sponsored research funding of 18.466 million yuan; and 6.13 million yuan for company-funded projects. More than 80 papers have been published on internationally renowned journals, including 37 SCI Top papers; and 14 patents have been authorized.
The Institute has lipid metabolism center laboratory, C. elegans culture room, recombinant protein laboratory, nutritional assessment and metabolic analysis room, proteomics laboratory and other experimental places, which are equipped with advanced equipment for molecular biology research, such as multifunctional laser scanning imaging system, automatic protein blotting and quantitative analysis system, protein purification system, ultracentrifuge, OPTIMAX automatic medical film washer, real-time cell energy metabolism monitoring system, multifunctional live cell workstation, liquid chromatography system, and molecular interaction analyzer.
In addition, the Institute has established long-term and good cooperative relationships with the University of Illinois; the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Texas Tech University, the University of New Mexico, USA; the University of Freiburg, Germany; the Natural Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan, Kyushu University, Japan; Seoul National University, Korea; the University of Western Ontario, and McMaster University, Canada, among others.
The Institute of Lipid Metabolism (Institute of Molecular Medicine) of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University focuses on important clinical issues, actively investigates the mechanisms underlying metabolic diseases, directs the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases by fusing Western and traditional medicine, and encourages the translation and application of scientific research to the clinic. Additionally, the institute focuses on developing exceptional master's and doctoral students as well as young and middle-aged researchers, encouraging the integration of molecular medicine education with scientific research. We will develop the institute into a world-class provincial research platform of lipid metabolism featuring the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, with the goal of reaching the leading and advanced levels both domestically and internationally in the basic research of major chronic metabolic diseases and the prevention and treatment of Chinese medicine.
