The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease (SKLRD) at Guangzhou Medical University (GMU) was jointly established by Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health and the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (GIBH) in 2007. It is so far the first and only state key laboratory that specializes in the field of respiratory health in China. SKLRD was founded by Academician Nanshan Zhong and now is led by the director Prof Pixin Ran. The Academic Committee director is Prof Mengfeng Li.

As a clinical-oriented research lab, SKLRD always advocates Academician Zhong’s Translational Medicine research concept of “BedSide to Bench, and vise verse”, aims at the international cutting-edge concepts & technologies and the bottlenecks that urgently need to be solved for respiratory diseases’ diagnosis & treatment, focuses on the investigation and development of national-condition-suited clinical standards, consensus and guidelines for diagnosis & treatment and drugs, technology, instruments, which is “efficient, simple, inexpensive and safe”, to serve the people.

By far, SKLRD owned one National Center for Respiratory Medicine, one National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, one State Clinical Drug Trial Agency, one Guangdong Respiratory Medicine Engineering Laboratory, three key laboratories of Guangdong Province (of Respiratory Diseases, of Allergy & Clinical Immunology and of Vascular Diseases), one Respiratory Disease Research Center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Marco Grater Bay Area and one Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for respiratory infectious disease. The development of SKLRD had prompted the development of other disciplines and subjects that related to the respiratory disease. SKLRD has now built up one National Key Disciplines-- Respiratory, five National Key Specialized Clinics including the department of respiratory diseases, critical care medicine, allergy, oncology and thoracic surgery, and one National Key Construction Discipline by State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine--Clinical Discipline of Integrative Medicine.

In 2011, SKLRD passed the first evaluation of the MOST, and had passed the second MOST’s 5-year evaluations and named “Excellent State Key Laboratory” in 2017. At present, the laboratory has become a country-leading, oversea-famous respiration center that concentrating on basic respiratory disease research, clinical diagnosis, prevention & treatment, as well as the personnel training and talents education.

1979 Foundation of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease (GIRD)

1994 Establishment of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease

2003 Respiratory Medicine was recognized as the National Key Discipline

2005 Approval by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology: Foundation of the Joint Laboratory of Respiratory Disease between GIRD and GIBH

2006 Application to MOST of China for setting up SKLRD by The Guangzhou Joint Laboratory of Respiratory Disease

2007 Approval by MOST of the SKLRD set-up

2010 SKLRD passed the acceptance check of MOST, as the first and only state key laboratory in the field of respiratory health in China

2011 SKLRD passed the first 5-year evaluation of MOST

2012 SKLRD was granted as the Guangdong Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Respiratory Medicine

2013 SKLRD was approved as one of the first 13 national clinical medical research centers in China. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Allergy & Clinical Immunology approved

2017 SKLRD passed MOST’s second 5-year evaluation as an “Excellent State Key Laboratory”. The foundation of Guangzhou Respiration Center was laid

2018 SKLRD adjusted the original 4 research focuses to 7. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Vascular Disease approved

2019 Approval of Respiratory Disease Research Center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Infectious Respiratory Disease

2020 National Center for Respiratory Medicine approved

2021 Lead the set-up of Guangzhou lab; National Center for Respiratory Medicine/the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University was officially recognized as “clinical base” of Guangzhou Lab

SKLRD focused on the major, common and frequent respiratory diseases that seriously affect the health of the population, and gradually formed four advantageous research directions, including emerging respiratory infectious disease and acute lung injury, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchial asthma and chronic cough and lung cancer. In order to further enhance the comprehensive strength in respiratory disease investigation and prompt the development of other related disciplines, SKLRD expanded four research directions into seven research directions in 2018.

With the strong support of the Guangdong Provincial and Guangzhou Municipal Governments, the foundation was laid and construction began on the Guangzhou Respiratory Center in 2017 at Datansha, Liwan District of Guangzhou, which covers an area of 1 million square metres and will cost more than RMB 3 billion in investment. Based on the Guangzhou Respiratory Center, SKLRD aims to build five world-class functional centres (bases), including a Respiratory Disease Research & Innovation Center, Respiratory Translational Medicine & Industry Research Center, Respiratory Critical Care Center, Complicated Respiratory Diseases Diagnosis and Treatment Center, and a Talent Cultivation Base in Respiratory Medicine.

In terms of the "13th Five-Year" Plan, SKLRD will continue to ensure and consolidate its leading edge and achieve great advances in respiratory medicine. SKLRD has been striving to be a worldclass comprehensive respiratory disease prevention, treatment and research centre that integrates clinical and basic research, education and talent cultivation, translation and industrialization, leading the respiratory medicine of China and the world.