Shanghai Cell Therapy Group (SHCell) recently entered into a six-year research collaborative project with Professor Qi-Long Ying from the University of Southern California (USC). Through the project, sponsored by $3.6 million from the Baize Plan Fund, the Ying laboratory aims to develop conditions for the long-term ex vivo expansion of mouse and human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

This research project will be conducted and supervised by Professor Qi-Long Ying, a Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Professor Ying's pioneering stem cell research has won international acclaim, including the 2016 McEwen Award for Innovation, the highest honor in the field. 

The project also plans to build animal models of different blood diseases and cancers and test the safety and effectiveness of genetically modified hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells before clinical translation. SHCell will actively explore clinical applications of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in the treatment of cancers or blood diseases.

As SHCell's first overseas collaboration, this project aims to advance the goals of the Baize Plan: to provide first-class cell treatments and cell therapies at an affordable price to cure cancer and increase life expectancy. SHCell hopes that this project will also accelerate original scientific breakthroughs in the stem cell field.