The Preparatory Office of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) was established in February 1981 under the leadership of Dr. Paul N. Yu. He was succeeded by Dr. Shu Chien (January 1987 to August 1988) and Dr. Cheng-Wen Wu (August 1988 to December 1993), who recruited together over 20 scientists from around the world to set up laboratories at Academia Sinica. The IBMS was officially founded on December 1, 1993, with Dr. Cheng-Wen Wu serving as its first Director. Dr. Kenneth Kun-Yu Wu took over as Director from January 1997 to December 1999, followed by Dr. Yuan-Tsong Chen (July 2001 to June 2010) , Dr. Fu-Tong Liu (July 2010 to September 2017) and Dr. Pui-Yan Kwok (October 2017 to September 2023). The current Director, Dr. Yijuang Chern, has held the position since July 2024.