The brain
The human brain isn’t much to look at. In the hand, it is a jelly-like mass, easily deformed by touch. But its unassuming appearance belies complex inner workings, many of which are still a mystery to scientists.
This Nature Outlook is editorially independent, produced with financial support from a third party. About this content.
Nature is pleased to acknowledge the financial support of Shanghai Research Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, United Imaging Healthcare Technology Group Co., Ltd., TianQiao and Chrissy Chen Institute Clinical Translational Research Center, Shanghai Green Valley Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Cambricon Technologies Corporation in producing this Outlook. The sponsors retain sole responsibility for the following messages.
As part of a major Chinese brain initiative, Shanghai City and the Chinese Academy of Sciences inaugurated Shanghai Research Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence (henceforth abbreviated as Shanghai Brain/AI Center) in 2018. The Shanghai Brain/AI Center is structurally designed to foster cross-disciplinary and collaborative research to tackle major challenges in neuroscience, brain diseases and artificial intelligence. The Center aims at recruiting top-quality scientists in the world, and is committed to provide them with sustained funding support for innovative long-term research developments.
The research areas include the experimental neuroscience using animal models, brain imaging, brain diseases and medicine, computational neuroscience, machine learning and artificial intelligence, intelligent chip design and intelligent computation technology, and brain-machine interface and robotics.
The headquarter and central research basis of Shanghai Brain/AI Center is located at the central area of Zhangjiang Science City in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. The Shanghai Brain/AI Center has a transformation center, the Shanghai Center for Brain-Intelligence Engineering, in the Shanghai Lingang New City.
Shanghai Brain/AI Center has planned to build the special sub-research centers or technical platforms in Shanghai, such as the clinical research center for brain functions and brain diseases, the research center for neural education, and the international research center for brain mapping. The brain research network will also be constructed mainly in the southern China, particularly in the Yangze River Delta region.
United Imaging Healthcare Technology Group Co., Ltd. (UIH) develops and produces a full portfolio of advanced medical imaging and radiotherapy equipment and offers medical IT and intelligent solutions. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Shanghai, the company has subsidiaries and R&D centers across China, US, and other parts of the world. UIH’s vision is to lead healthcare innovation. Through innovation, UIH aims to contribute to bringing equal healthcare for all people worldwide.
Driven by their intense desire to understand how perceptions are formed and impact our behaviour, husband and wife Tianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo established the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute in 2016 with the mission to benefit humanity. Through promoting a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, the Chen Institute drives fundamental brain research through three key areas – brain discovery, brain treatment, and brain development.
TCCI partners with world-leading universities and research institutions to uncover the mysteries of the human brain and how informational input translates into behavioural output. Founders Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen are long-time philanthropists who contributed to children's medical funding programs in China and Inner Mongolia, supported education for underprivileged families, and donated to disaster relief and rebuild efforts.
Green Valley is an innovation-driven pharmaceutical company committed to developing drugs that patients are yearning for. At Green Valley, we focus our efforts on pathogenesis research for complex chronic diseases and carbohydrate drugs development in the areas of central nervous system, cardiovascular and tumor immunology. We are striving to contribute Chinese innovative treatment, especially for brain health to benefit patients all over the world.
As a global pioneer of intelligent computing, Cambricon focuses on building an integrated cloud-to-end solution, developing core processor chips of all types of intelligent cloud servers, intelligent terminals, and intelligent robots, to make machines better understand and serve human beings.
At present, Cambricon has built a strong and collaborative ecosystem across the AI industry with shared success. In the future, Cambricon will continue to embrace openness and cooperation, building an intelligent new ecosystem with partners around the world, and making breakthroughs and innovations to drive the computing power engine of AI.
