On August 11, 2026, the unveiling ceremony for the Center for Intelligent Anesthesia and Consciousness Modulation, jointly established by the School of Psychology of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, was held in Conference Room No. 2 of the General Administration Office in Xuhui Campus of SJTU. Wen Daxiang, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, and Director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine; Ning Guang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Ruijin Hospital; Zhang Yanping, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; Hu Weiwei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Fu Xiaolan, Deputy Director of the University Affairs Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Dean of the School of Psychology; Wang Xifang, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Psychology; Yuan Difei, Executive Dean of the School of Psychology; Chen Antao and Ye Zheng, Vice Deans of the School of Psychology; Luo Yan, Director of the Department of Anesthesiology at Ruijin Hospital and Director of the Center for Intelligent Anesthesia and Consciousness Modulation; Wang Hongbin, Chair Professor at the School of Psychology and Co-Director of the Center; as well as members of the Center and relevant representatives from both sides attended the event. The ceremony was presided over by Wang Xifang.
On behalf of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, Wen Daxiang extended congratulations on the establishment of the Center and expressed gratitude to the experts and scholars who have long been committed to advancing healthcare and medical development in Shanghai. He noted that the strong alliance between the SJTU School of Psychology and Ruijin Hospital to promote the deep integration of consciousness science, artificial intelligence, and anesthesiology represents an innovative practice at the intersections of medicine and engineering, as well as medicine and science, and is of far-reaching significance. He has high expectations for the development of the Center. He expects the Center to boldly scale new heights at the frontiers of research, to focus on the core challenges of consciousness modulation, and to strengthen its capacity for original innovation. He also hopes he Center will explore new pathways for integration, break down disciplinary barriers, realize translation from basic research to clinical research and from technological exploration to clinical application, and build a new cradle for talent development by focusing on the cultivation of interdisciplinary talent equipped with a theoretical foundation in psychology, clinical practice capabilities, and literacy in artificial intelligence, so as to develop the Center into a talent incubator serving scientific and technological development in the new era.
On behalf of School of Medicine, SJTU, Zhang Yanping congratulated the Center on its establishment and expressed gratitude to the experts and colleagues who have long supported the development of the university’s medical disciplines. She pointed out that the establishment of the Center will create a clinical interdisciplinary hub linking basic brain science, psychology, and artificial intelligence. It is an important measure by the School of Medicine to optimize its layout in frontier scientific research, address shortcomings in clinical research on brain science, and promote two-way interaction between basic and clinical research. She stated that the School of Medicine will empower the development of the Center in all respects. First, it will deepen the development of interdisciplinary fields and build a diversified and integrated innovation system. Second, it will coordinate anesthesiology resources across its affiliated hospitals and consolidate platforms for research translation. Third, it will improve talent platform support and establish a long-term operating mechanism, making every effort to build the Center into a core research base for intelligent anesthesia and consciousness modulation at the university, and to contribute the strength of SJTU Medicine to the development of Healthy China and Healthy Shanghai.
On behalf of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Hu Weiwei congratulated the Center on its establishment and thanked the experts and colleagues for their long-standing support for the University’s development. She noted that artificial intelligence, multimodal neuroimaging, and brain-computer interface technologies are evolving at a rapid pace, spurring deep integration between anesthesiology and psychology, consciousness science, and intelligent science. Against this backdrop, the joint launch of the Center by the School of Psychology and Ruijin Hospital is both timely and of great significance. She set forth three expectations for the Center's development. First, it should remain true to its founding mission of innovation, deepen interdisciplinary frontier research, actively undertake major national scientific research tasks, and deliver a series of original achievements with international impact. Second, it should focus on empowering clinical practice and serving public health by translating basic research into diagnostic and therapeutic technologies and solutions, thereby contributing to improved public brain health and mental well-being. Third, it should strengthen its commitment to talent cultivation and lay a solid foundation for talent development by building an integrated training system that combines scientific research, clinical practice, and education, and by continuously nurturing high-caliber reserve talent for anesthesiology, brain science, psychology, and other related disciplines across China.
On behalf of Ruijin Hospital, Ning Guang congratulated the official launch of the Center. Proceeding from the classic philosophical proposition of matter and consciousness, and based on the integration of psychological theories and modern medical technologies, he elaborated on the core connotations and key developmental tasks of the Center. He expressed the hope that the Center will remain anchored in fundamental philosophical questions, rooted in psychology’s disciplinary foundations, and leverage state-of-the-art modern scientific technologies for its research and exploration to deliver landmark original achievements in psychology and consciousness modulation. He noted that Ruijin Hospital will pool high-quality resources to support the Center’s development and long-term growth, and will do its utmost to advance the effective delivery of interdisciplinary research.
On behalf of the School of Psychology, Fu Xiaolan expressed gratitude to the leaders and experts who have long supported the development of the School and the preparation and construction of the Center. She noted that Ruijin Hospital has profound expertise and outstanding clinical strength in the fields of anesthesiology and critical care, while the School of Psychology has strengths in basic research in areas such as cognitive neuroscience, brain imaging, and computational modeling. She expressed the hope that the two sides will deepen cooperation around intelligent anesthesia, brain function monitoring, and consciousness modulation, jointly explore the underlying logic of consciousness modulation, and provide a scientific basis for the development of next-generation intelligent anesthesia and brain function monitoring systems. She stated that the School of Psychology will strictly implement the agreements reached, improve collaborative management mechanisms, and work together with Ruijin Hospital to advance mutual faculty appointments, joint training, academic exchanges, and research projects. The School will strive to produce internationally cutting-edge achievements, explore new pathways for the deep integration of medicine, education, research, and industry, and jointly cultivate interdisciplinary and integrated talent.
Luo Yan presented the development plan of the Center. Against the backdrop of the significant value and evolving trends of brain and consciousness science in the artificial intelligence era, and building on the solid foundational and clinical research progress achieved by SJTU’s consciousness research team, as well as the multi-center layout and disciplinary strengths of the School of Psychology, she elaborated on the Center’s guiding principles, key work priorities, talent structure, and platform resources in detail. She also outlined the Center’s development vision: aligning with China’s 2035 national goal of becoming a global leader in science and technology, the Center strives to build core capabilities in original innovation, key technological breakthroughs, talent aggregation, and international academic leadership at the frontier of consciousness science. She stated that the Center will advance collaborative research centered on project-based operational mechanisms and form interdisciplinary research teams. Focusing on applied research into intelligent technologies for peri-anesthetic consciousness monitoring and modulation, the Center will develop a distinctive research system for intelligent anesthesia and consciousness regulation. It will further integrate basic research, technological R&D and clinical practice, and build a unique interdisciplinary platform that integrates scientific research, talent training and clinical translation.
Wen Daxiang, Ning Guang, Zhang Yanping, Hu Weiwei, Fu Xiaolan, Wang Xifang, Luo Yan, Wang Hongbin, Yuan Difei, Chen Antao, and Ye Zheng jointly unveiled the Center for Intelligent Anesthesia and Consciousness Modulation. The unveiling marked the opening of a new chapter of cooperation between the School of Psychology and Ruijin Hospital, and represented a substantive and key step in the interdisciplinary integration of psychology, brain science, anesthesiology, and artificial intelligence.
Moving forward, both sides will take the official launch of the Center as a new starting point to further refine mechanisms for resource sharing and collaborative innovation and advance in-depth interdisciplinary integration between psychological science and anesthesiology. Centering on scientific research innovation and prioritizing research translation, they will fully bridge the gap between basic research and clinical application. The two sides will strive to build a domestically leading and world-class platform for interdisciplinary medical innovation and talent training, contributing Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s strengths to advancing the Healthy China initiative and safeguarding public health and people’s well-being.
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