Watson’s Last Wish: War on Cancer & Cure for the Poor

• WHY: The Cheerland-Watson Center in Shenzhen is a symbol of Dr. James Watson’s life-long pursuit of scientific innovation and Cheerland’s vision for providing affordable, effective medical care to hundreds of millions of Chinese and people of the world.
• WHERE: The site is located in the beautiful Dapeng Bay in eastern Shenzhen, with ocean view in front and green rolling hills behind. Dr. Watson picked the site (in April 2017) because it reminded him of Cold Spring Harbor, where he has lived and worked for more than half a century.
• WHEN: The ground-breaking ceremony was held a year later, in March 2018, and two more years later, the grand opening ceremony was held without Dr. Watson due to COVID, on May 18, 2020. The first building is fully built and serves as the Cheerland Biotechnology headquarters. More buildings are finishing up.
• WHAT: This is just the first phase of the Center. After fully built, the Center will occupy an area of ~180 acres, and host five complexes:
  • Central lab facility (large equipments and pubic lab spaces)
  • Translational Research Center
  • Start-up incubator
  • GMP labs for biologics
  • Conference center