As one of the major internationalized cities of China, Hong Kong is quickly becoming a national and international research centre for biomedical sciences at an unprecedented pace. To cope with the increasing demand for talents in the field, the Chinese University of Hong Kong launched the Cell and Molecular Biology Programme (CMBI) in 2008 with the aim to prepare its students for a professional research career in the fields of biological and biomedical sciences through an innovative curriculum.

CMBI is a research-intensive programme focusing on the fundamental aspects of cell and molecular biology. Its major research directions include cell structure and function, cell signaling, molecular biology, developmental biology, stem cell biology, and neurobiology. Various well-recognized cell systems such as stem cells and top model organisms such as Drosophila and mouse are used to exemplify the basic principles and questions in these fields.