The State Key Laboratory of Drug Research (SKLDR), Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the seven leading state laboratories in China, was established under the auspices of the World Bank in 1988. With the approval of Chinese Academy of Sciences, SKLDR expanded its operations as an Open Laboratory in October 1990. By 1995, the construction of SKLDR facility was fully accredited by the Chinese government. In 2004, SKLDR was awarded as one of the“Model Institute of the Program of State Key Laboratories” and the “Golden Bull Award” by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), China. Starting in 2001, SKLDR ranked as A+ among nearly 60 peer labs four times in a row in the national evaluations (2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016). Professor LI Jia is director of SKLDR and Academician PEI Gang is Chairman of the Academic Committee. Now, SKLDR has 38 research groups, more than 500 students and 147 staff members, including 4 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2 academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineering, 5 chief scientists of the 973 Program, 20 recipients of National Natural Science Foundation Distinguished Young Scholars. A number of scientists also serve as editorial board members of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, GPB(Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics) , Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular Pharmacology, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, European Journal of Pharmacology, Drug Discovery Today, ChemMedChem or Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica, etc..