CISA was founded through a partnership launched in 2007 between the Angolan government, the Portuguese government and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, with the latter endowed with managing the project that led to the setting up of CISA.

The founding objective of the CISA launch project was to serve as a catalyst for biomedical research in Angola and thus contributing to the resolution of its key healthcare problems through epidemiological and clinical research into the most prevalent and relevant diseases to public health in Angola.