Organ Transplantation Center

Introduction to the Transplant Medicine Center of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital

Carrying Forward the Legacy and Cultivating Excellence Through Perseverance

Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital is one of the earliest large tertiary Grade A hospitals in China to perform organ transplantation. As early as 1982, Professor Yan Jingzhong and Professor Shen Dongliang successfully performed our hospital’s first kidney transplant; in 1983, Professor Cui Zijie and Professor Huang Wanfen successfully performed our hospital’s first pediatric liver transplant; and in 2000, Professor Wu Liqun and colleagues successfully performed our hospital’s first adult liver transplant. In 2014, Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital officially established the Organ Transplant Center, with Professor Zang Yunjin as its director. Through the joint efforts of Professors Zang Yunjin, Dong Zhen, Wu Liqun, Zhang Bin and others, the Organ Transplant Center initially developed into a comprehensive organ transplant center comprising multiple specialties, including the Liver Transplantation Department, Kidney Transplantation Department, Liver Surgery Department, Hepatology Department, Transplant Ultrasound, and Transplant Intensive Care Unit. After more than ten years of development, under the leadership of Cai Jinzhen, Dong Zhen, Yang Sumin and Jiao Wenjie, the Organ Transplant Center has now developed into a large comprehensive organ transplant center with qualifications for six types of transplantation—liver, kidney, heart, lung, pancreas and small intestine transplantation—ranking first in the province and among the top centers nationwide, and integrating clinical care, research and education. In 2026, the Transplant Medicine Center was officially established, with Professor Cai Jinzhen as director and Professors Dong Zhen and Xu Chuanshen as deputy directors. The center has 215 open beds and comprises two sub-centers—the Organ Transplant Center and the Liver Disease Center—as well as multiple subspecialties, including the Liver Transplantation Department, Pediatric Organ Transplantation Department, Kidney Transplantation Department, Lung Transplantation Department, Heart Transplantation Department, Transplant Ultrasound, Transplant Intensive Care Unit, Liver Surgery Department, Hepatology Department, and Artificial Liver Treatment Center.

Mastering Medical Expertise and Striving for New Heights

In March 2021, Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital recruited Professor Cai Jinzhen, a renowned liver transplantation expert in China. He has successively served as director of the Organ Transplant Center, director of the Liver Disease Center, president of the Institute of Organ Donation and Transplantation of Qingdao University, vice president of the Qingdao University Medical Group, vice president and Party Committee member of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital, and director of the Transplant Medicine Center. He has led the transplant team in developing pediatric liver transplantation, living-donor liver transplantation, split liver transplantation, and complex liver transplantation as its distinctive strengths, consolidating the development advantages of liver transplantation as a leading discipline and driving the coordinated development of kidney, heart, lung and pancreas transplantation. The center has successfully achieved a series of important technological breakthroughs, including the first split combined domino liver transplantation in China; the liver transplantation of the lowest-weight child in Shandong Province; the first pediatric living-donor combined domino auxiliary liver transplantation in Shandong Province; the first laparoscopic-assisted living-donor liver transplantation; the first split left-and-right hemiliver transplantation in a child; the first pediatric combined liver-kidney transplantation; the first islet transplantation; the first heart transplantation in Qingdao; the first da Vinci robot-assisted single-lung transplantation in Asia; and the world’s first da Vinci robot-assisted bilateral lung transplantation. The Kidney Transplantation Department routinely performs high-difficulty kidney transplants, including blood-group-incompatible and high-PRA transplantation. To date, the Organ Transplant Center has completed 1971 liver transplants, 2627 kidney transplants, 73 heart transplants, 71 lung transplants and 51 pancreas transplants. The number and quality of transplants rank first in the province and among the top centers nationwide. Liver transplantation in particular has ranked first in the province for 12 consecutive years; in 2024 and 2025, it ranked second nationwide (first nationwide for adult liver transplantation). The quality of transplant surgery has continued to improve. According to data from the National Medical Quality Control Center for Transplantation, the center’s key transplant-related statistics—including cold and warm ischemia times, anhepatic time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative blood transfusion volume, incidence of massive hemorrhage, and perioperative mortality—have continued to improve over the past 3 years. Transplant quality is consistently better than the national average and ranks among the leading centers. The center is committed to building the “Qingdao Transplant Medicine” brand, distinguished by both quality and comprehensive excellence, and to continuously improving the level and reach of its medical services. In 2024, it was successfully approved as the only standardized training base for liver transplantation physicians in Shandong Province; in 2025, it became the only institution in Shandong Province affiliated with the Liver Transplantation Technology Quality Control Center.

Bringing Together Outstanding Professionals and Advancing Medicine Through Talent Development

The center has always emphasized the development and training of talent teams and has grown into a high-level medical, teaching and research team with a full range of specialties, led by doctoral supervisors and supported by a large group of highly qualified young and mid-career professionals. It currently has 6 doctoral supervisors, 12 master’s supervisors, 13 professionals with senior titles, 12 with associate senior titles, and 33 holders of doctoral degrees. Physicians with senior professional titles account for 50% of the medical team, and all physicians over the age of 40 have overseas study experience. Professor Xue Wujun, chair of the Organ Transplantation Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, has been appointed honorary director of our center. Professor Chen Jingyu, director of the National Lung Transplantation Quality Control Center, has been appointed director of the Lung Transplantation Department. Professor Liao Jiajie, chairman of Hong Kong Tianxia Renxin Medical Group; Professor Wu Youmin of New York Medical College, USA; and Professor Shashwat Sarin, senior consultant at Max Hospital, Saket, India, have been appointed visiting professors at Qingdao University. Professor Xu Xiao, incoming chair of the Organ Transplantation Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, has been appointed honorary president of the Institute of Organ Donation and Transplantation of Qingdao University. The center integrates scientific research, talent development, discipline building, academic exchange and social service, and works to establish a high-quality talent development base and innovation output base with international influence.

Empowering Innovation Through Science and Technology While Upholding Principles

In scientific research and innovation, the center is guided by clinical needs. It established the Institute of Organ Donation and Transplantation of Qingdao University and built a laboratory that closely integrates basic and clinical research. Drawing on the rich clinical resources of the Organ Transplant Center and the research strength of the institute, the research team conducts in-depth studies on key topics including innovation in complex and critically ill liver transplantation techniques, whole-course management of liver transplantation, and homeostasis of transplant immunity, achieving a series of groundbreaking results. In 2022, the center was approved as a key clinical specialty in organ transplantation in Qingdao and as the Qingdao Innovation Center for Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Technology; in 2023, it was approved as a National Key Clinical Specialty (General Surgery) and the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Transplant Medicine; and in 2025, it was approved as the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Transplant Immunology and Cell Therapy. It has established a large transplant biobank containing more than 100,000 specimens, laying an important foundation for research. The center undertakes more than 60 projects at the municipal level or above, including 1 subproject of a major project under the national “13th Five-Year Plan,” 11 National Natural Science Foundation of China projects, and 7 Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, with cumulative research funding exceeding RMB 18 million. It has published more than 350 papers, including more than 150 SCI-indexed papers, and has obtained approval for nearly 40 patents. In collaboration with Haier Medical, it developed a low-temperature organ transport box; in collaboration with Ocean University of China, it developed a liver volume measurement system based on multi-view underwater binocular structured light; and together with Qingdao University and Ocean University of China, it integrated genetic engineering, laboratory animal breeding and other areas to establish transplant animal models and build a research platform for the organ transplantation discipline.

Building a Foundation Through Platforms and Moving Forward With Honors

The center has successively established the Sino-German Collaborative Innovation Center for Liver Diseases and Liver Transplantation, the National Demonstration Center for Artificial Liver and Blood Purification Technologies, the Shandong Provincial Medical Engineering Technology Research Center for Organ Transplantation and Donation, Shandong Province’s first Follow-up and Rehabilitation Guidance Center for Organ Transplant Recipients, the Shandong Provincial Expert Studio for Organ Transplantation Education, the Qingdao Innovation Center for Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Technology, the Qingdao Key Clinical Specialty, the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation Medicine, the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Transplant Immunology and Cell Therapy, the Institute of Organ Donation and Transplantation of Qingdao University, and the Institute of Transplant Medicine of Qingdao University, among other discipline platforms. It has successively received such honors as “Shandong Provincial Clinical Boutique Specialty,” “Shandong Provincial Innovative Team,” “Shandong Provincial Workers’ Pioneer,” “Qingdao Workers’ Pioneer,” “Qingdao Youth Civilization,” and a top-ten charitable organization in Qingdao.

Compassionate Care for Humanity and Spreading Great Love

The center has always upheld the philosophy of being “recipient-centered.” It established the first and largest Follow-up and Rehabilitation Guidance Center for Organ Transplant Recipients in Shandong Province and founded “Qingyi Home.” Through multimedia platforms such as its WeChat official account and Douyin, it provides transplant education services for organ transplant recipients. While providing high-quality medical services, the center has always remained committed to humanitarian assistance. In 2018, a 4-year-old girl from Qingdao, Xiao Jiuyue, donated her organs, saving 5 families and moving hundreds of millions of people across China. Together with the Qingdao Red Cross, the center subsequently established the “September Angel Fund” and the Children’s Liver Transplant Assistance Fund of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital, supporting the development of organ donation and transplantation. It established a donation model with Qingdao characteristics, promoted the institutional standardization of organ donation, and improved the quality of organ donation, enabling Qingdao’s donation rate per million population (PMP) to reach 11.13 for 3 consecutive years. A total of 1556 organ donations have been completed, more than 5000 major organs have been successfully donated, and nearly 10,000 patients have been saved. Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital and the OPO have successively received the honors of “Top Ten Charitable Organizations in Qingdao,” “Top Ten Organizations in the 2025 National OPO Comprehensive Capacity Assessment,” “Outstanding Organization in National OPO Capacity Building,” and “Organization with Remarkable Results in Source Training for Organ Donation.” Upholding the philosophy of being “recipient-centered,” the Organ Transplant Center remains true to its original mission, tackles difficult challenges, and continuously embodies the spirit of organ transplant physicians in the new era.

Introduction to the Organ Donation Department

The Organ Donation Department of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital was established on December 25, 2023. It is a clinical department specializing in work related to organ donation and is a third-level discipline within the hospital.

The department currently has 30 staff members, including 4 doctors, 9 coordinators, 10 nurses and 7 office staff. It comprises four professional groups: the Organ Coordination Group, the Organ Function Maintenance Group, the Organ Procurement Group, and the OPO General Affairs Group. It has a potential donor maintenance unit with 5 intensive care beds and advanced equipment including ventilators, fiberoptic bronchoscopes, blood purification equipment and ECMO. Specialized ICU physicians and nurses are responsible for maintaining potential donors and evaluating organ function.

To date, more than 1600 organ donations have been completed, with approximately 140 donations per year, providing strong support for the hospital’s organ transplantation work. It received the honor of Outstanding Organization in National OPO Capacity Building in 2023 and was named one of the Top Ten Organizations in the 2025 National OPO Comprehensive Capacity Assessment.