Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Department

1. Overview of the Discipline

The Department of Endocrinology of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital was established in 1977. After more than 30 years of accumulation and the succession of several generations, the discipline has achieved notable results in hyperuricemia and gout, diabetes and obesity, thyroid diseases, osteoporosis, and the treatment of endocrine and metabolic diseases through integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. It has become a diagnosis and treatment center for endocrine and metabolic diseases in eastern Shandong.

At the time of its establishment, the Department formulated the approach of using clinical practice to drive scientific research and scientific research to promote clinical development. With the strong support of the hospital leaders then in office, the Department established an Endocrinology Research Laboratory in 1981 and, in the same year, was approved by the State Council as a master's degree authorization point in endocrinology and metabolic diseases. In 1994, it established the country's first specialized outpatient clinic for gout and identified hyperuricemia and gout as key directions for scientific research. Based on the Department's distinctive research in hyperuricemia and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in endocrinology, it was named one of the first specialty departments in Qingdao's health system in 1997 and, in the same year, was approved by the State Food and Drug Administration as an endocrinology specialty site of one of the first clinical drug trial bases in Shandong Province.

In 1999, Qingdao University approved the establishment of the Qingdao University Key Laboratory of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases. In 2001, the United States World Health Education Foundation (HOPE) established a national diabetes educator training base at our hospital. In December 2007, the Endocrinology Group of General Internal Medicine at our hospital's Laoshan Campus was established. From the outset, the group identified obesity and adrenal diseases as its principal areas of focus, promoting the development of the discipline's subspecialties.

While actively carrying out integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of hyperuricemia, gout, and diabetes, Professor Wang Yangang, the discipline leader, also conducted extensive work on stem-cell treatment for diabetes and its complications. In 2009, he established the Shandong Provincial Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Bank. In the same year, with approval from the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, our Department established the Key Laboratory of Gout of the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and the State Council approved the discipline as a doctoral degree authorization point in endocrinology and metabolic diseases. In 2010, it was designated by the Shandong Provincial Department of Health as the Shandong Provincial Clinical Medical Center for Gout, and the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology approved the establishment of the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Metabolic Diseases. In view of our Department's outstanding achievements in hyperuricemia and gout, Professor Li Changgui, the discipline leader, was awarded a Shandong Taishan Scholar position in 2011.

In July 2011, on the basis of the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Thyroid Diseases, a municipal key laboratory for common clinical diseases jointly established by the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital, Professor Zhao Shihua, leader of this group, integrated the research teams of the Department of Endocrinology, General Surgery (Thyroid Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology), Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, and Pathology to establish the Qingdao University Thyroid Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center. In July of the same year, the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the West Coast Campus was established, with this group taking metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis as its main research direction.

By this point, the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism had formed subspecialties focusing on hyperuricemia and gout, diabetes and obesity, adrenal diseases, thyroid diseases, osteoporosis, and the treatment of endocrine and metabolic diseases through integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. It integrated the hospital's advantageous resources to establish multiple endocrine disease clinical diagnosis and treatment systems centered on the Department of Endocrinology, as well as translational medicine research platforms. In 2013, it established the Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Tissue Repair and Translational Medicine of the Shandong Provincial Department of Health and was rated by the Shandong Provincial Department of Health as a Shandong Provincial Clinical Key Specialty for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases.

The Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism actively conducts standardized treatment of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity and actively participates in formulating national industry standards for related diseases. After being awarded the designation of National Standardized Diabetes Diagnosis and Treatment Center by the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association in 2013, it was designated the National Standardized Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Center by the Endocrinology Physicians Association of the Chinese Medical Association in 2014 and the National Standardized Metabolic Disease Management Center by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association in 2016, opening a new chapter in its development.

Beginning in 2001, the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism was selected for 13 consecutive years as one of the hospital's 'Top Ten Departments,' 'Model Departments,' or 'Departments with the Greatest Growth Potential.' The establishment of the Endocrinology Group of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital's Shibei Campus in October 2014 enabled the discipline to develop into a Class A discipline under construction at the hospital, composed of five parts: the Department of Endocrinology and the Department of Metabolic Diseases of the Shinan Campus, Endocrinology at the Laoshan Campus, the Department of Endocrinology of the West Coast West Coast Campus, and the Endocrinology Group of the Shibei Campus. It oversees the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Metabolic Diseases, the Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Tissue Repair and Translational Medicine of the Shandong Provincial Department of Health, the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Thyroid Diseases, the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Gout, and the Endocrine and Metabolic Disease Research Laboratory.

2. Talent Team

The Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism currently has 120 open beds, 44 physicians, more than 50 nurses, 12 technical personnel, 2 hospital lifetime medical experts, 5 doctoral supervisors, 2 postdoctoral co-supervisors, and 14 master's supervisors. It has 13 personnel with doctoral degrees, 26 with master's degrees, and 1 postdoctoral fellow. Its services cover the Jiaodong Peninsula and extend outside the province and even internationally. It has approximately 150,000 outpatient visits and nearly 4,000 discharged patients annually, with a high patient satisfaction rate.

The Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases has many renowned experts who enjoy a high reputation within and beyond the province and even nationwide, and several discipline leaders and young and mid-career core personnel hold a series of important academic positions. International academic appointments include membership in the Endocrinology and Diabetes Specialty Committee of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies. National-level academic appointments include membership in the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, membership in the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, membership in the Osteoporosis Committee of the Chinese Gerontology Society, membership in the Endocrinology Professional Committee of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine, membership in the Regenerative Medicine Professional Committee of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Association, membership in study groups on obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hyperuricemia and gout, and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, among others, and membership in the Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Physicians Association of the Chinese Medical Association. Representative provincial-level academic appointments include Chair of the Endocrinology Professional Committee of the Shandong Association of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine; Deputy Chair of the Endocrinology Branch of the Shandong Medical Association; Deputy Chair of the Diabetes Branch of the Shandong Medical Association; Deputy Chair of the Osteoporosis and Bone Mineral Salt Diseases Branch of the Shandong Medical Association; Deputy Chair of the Youth Committee of the Endocrinology Branch of the Shandong Medical Association; Deputy Chair of the Youth Committee of the Diabetes Branch of the Shandong Medical Association; Deputy Chair of the Osteoporosis and Bone Mineral Salt Diseases Professional Committee of the Shandong Association of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine; Deputy Chair of the Shandong Provincial Study Group of the Fifth Osteoporosis Committee of the Chinese Gerontology Society; Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Endocrinology Physicians Branch of the Shandong Medical Doctor Association; member of the Endocrinology Branch of the Shandong Medical Association; member of the Diabetes Branch of the Shandong Medical Association; and member of the Committee of the Endocrinology Physicians Branch of the Shandong Medical Doctor Association, among others. Representative municipal-level academic appointments include Chair of the Endocrinology Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association; Chair of the Diabetes Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association; Chair of the Osteoporosis and Bone Mineral Salt Diseases Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association; Deputy Chair of the Endocrinology Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association; Deputy Chair of the Diabetes Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association; member of the Endocrinology Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association; member of the Diabetes Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association; and member of the Osteoporosis and Bone Mineral Salt Diseases Specialty Branch of the Qingdao Medical Association.

In addition, they serve as editorial board members and specially invited reviewers for nearly 20 core journals, including the Chinese Journal of Diabetes, the Chinese Journal of Clinicians, the Chinese International Medical Forum (Electronic Edition) - Diabetes Special Issue, the Chinese Journal of Osteoporosis, the Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering and Clinical Rehabilitation, the Medical Journal of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the Chinese Journal of Clinicians (Electronic Edition).

3. Specialty Features

(1) Subspecialty in Diabetes and Its Chronic Complications

The Diabetes and Its Chronic Complications Subspecialty Group is a traditional area of strength of our Department. It relies primarily on the Departments of Endocrinology at the Shinan, Laoshan, and West Coast Campuses and currently has 70 beds, 6 chief physicians, 2 associate chief physicians, and 8 attending physicians, including 6 holders of doctoral degrees, 2 doctoral supervisors, and 6 master's supervisors.

This subspecialty group is the host institution of the Qingdao Diabetes Prevention and Control Office and has strong clinical and research capabilities. Taking into consideration our hospital's diabetes experts, including 2 committee members of national-level academic societies and 6 deputy chairs of provincial-level academic societies, the number of outpatient visits, inpatient discharges and turnover, standardized diabetes diagnosis and treatment, and other circumstances, the group was awarded the title of National Standardized Diabetes Diagnosis and Treatment Center by the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association in 2013. Through the efforts of several generations, the group has gradually developed a diabetes-centered structure comprising more than 10 subspecialty areas, including diabetes classification and diagnosis, genetic counseling, individualized education, nutritional counseling, exercise planning, prevention and treatment for high-risk populations, diabetic foot disease, diabetic eye disease, diabetic nephropathy, and screening and treatment of diabetic neurovascular lesions. It has also established a Multidisciplinary Joint Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetes platform and a centralized diagnosis and treatment model.

Since the group began epidemiological studies of diabetes and other metabolic diseases in coastal areas of Shandong in the 1990s, it has conducted 5 relatively large-scale epidemiological surveys and is at the forefront in China. Professor Yan Shengli, the group's lifetime professor, proposed the concept of individualized diabetes treatment long ago and is at a leading level in China in the early prevention, treatment, and management of diabetes and its chronic complications. In research on diabetes and its chronic complications, the group was one of the first in China to conduct L-arginine stimulation tests to evaluate the early-phase secretory function of pancreatic islet alpha and beta cells, and pioneered the use of 0.6% hypotonic normal saline to rescue patients with diabetic hyperosmolar coma, achieving good clinical results.

In recent years, relying on the Shandong Provincial Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Bank, the Shandong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Regenerative Medicine and Biological Diagnosis and Treatment, and the Sino-American Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine of Qingdao University, and in cooperation with the Houston Medical Center in the United States, the group has been among the earlier institutions in China to conduct autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation for diabetes and umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for diabetic foot. These treatments achieved very good clinical efficacy and opened up new ideas and approaches for treating diabetes and its complications. To date, nearly 100 cases have been completed. Follow-up found that pancreatic islet beta-cell function was restored to varying degrees in most patients, and blood glucose also improved to varying degrees. At the same time, the group conducted research on mesenchymal stem cells combined with DPP-IV inhibitors to repair autoimmune damage to pancreatic islet beta cells in new-onset type 1A diabetes: (1) elucidating the effects in vitro of mesenchymal stem cells combined with sitagliptin on cytokine secretion patterns in PBMCs from new-onset T1DM patients with different genetic backgrounds, and the combination's inhibitory effect on T-cell proliferative capacity; (2) studying the preventive and therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells combined with sitagliptin on type 1 diabetes in NOD mice, the therapeutic time window, and the optimal dose; (3) observing the effects on the proliferation and apoptosis of alpha and beta cells in patients with T1DM; and (4) laying through this research a solid foundation for the clinical use of hUCMSCs combined with sitagliptin to treat type 1 diabetes, thereby providing new ideas and methods for T1DM treatment.

In recent years, the group has successfully applied for 1 national patent; obtained 1 subproject under the National 863 Program; received 2 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2 projects funded by the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, 2 Qingdao Science and Technology Plan projects, and 1 major scientific research support project of Qingdao's Shinan District; and received 1 third prize in Shandong Medical Science and Technology. Overall, it has reached an advanced level in China.

(2) Thyroid Disease Group

Research on the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of thyroid diseases, particularly thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer, is a key scientific research initiative of our hospital. On the basis of the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Thyroid Diseases, a municipal key laboratory for common clinical diseases jointly established by the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital in July 2011, Professor Zhao Shihua, leader of this discipline group, integrated the research teams of the 'Secretion Department,' General Surgery (Thyroid Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology), Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, and Pathology to establish the Qingdao University Thyroid Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center. This subspecialty group relies primarily on the Departments of Endocrinology at the Shinan and West Coast Campuses. It currently has 4 chief physicians, 6 attending physicians, 1 holder of a doctoral degree, 2 doctoral supervisors, and 2 master's supervisors. It has strong clinical and research capabilities. The Qingdao Key Laboratory of Thyroid Diseases on which the group relies has 1 full-time research staff member with an associate senior professional title and 1 experimental technician and can supervise more than 10 doctoral and master's graduate students each year.

Since the end of the last century, the specialty group has successively conducted a series of studies on iodine nutrition and thyroid disease epidemiology among residents of coastal Shandong; the relationship between iodine nutrition, the expression and interaction of HLA-related alleles, and the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases; the effects of iodine on human thyroid cells cultured in vitro; basic and clinical research on selenium intervention in autoimmune thyroid diseases; molecular diagnosis and prognostic evaluation systems for screening BRAF gene mutations in thyroid cancer; and genetic screening of DUOX2 gene mutations in children with congenital hypothyroidism.

The specialty group was the first to clarify the iodine nutritional status of residents of coastal Shandong, the prevalence of thyroid diseases, and their risk factors. Internationally, it was the first to analyze the relationship between the interaction of HLA susceptibility alleles and resistance alleles in patients with AITDs and the risk of GD onset. It was the first to confirm that iodine and susceptible HLA alleles exert a positive synergistic effect on the development of GD and HT and that high iodine intake is an independent environmental risk factor for GD. It proposed that, to prevent GD onset, urinary iodine levels in coastal residents should be controlled at no more than 300 micrograms per liter, while urinary iodine levels in people with a family history of autoimmune thyroid disease should be controlled at no more than 200 micrograms per liter. In the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases, the group was among the first to use local hormone injections in the thyroid to treat autoimmune thyroid diseases and hormone pulse therapy to treat infiltrative ophthalmopathy associated with hyperthyroidism. It performed urinary iodine measurements in pregnant patients with thyroid diseases to assess iodine nutritional status and guide clinical medication; all these measures achieved very good clinical efficacy.

Over the past 5 years, the group has received 2 National Natural Science Foundation of China projects in the area of thyroid diseases, 2 provincial projects, 2 municipal projects, and funding for 1 Shinan District project. Over the past 3 years, it has published 5 SCI papers, 2 papers in Zhonghua journals, and 9 other papers in core journals. It has received 2 third prizes for scientific and technological progress in Shandong Province and 1 second prize in natural sciences from the Shandong Provincial Department of Education. Overall, it has reached an advanced level in China. In particular, in 2012 Professor Yan Shengli received a key project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, titled 'Screening for DUOX2 Gene Mutations in Chinese Children with Congenital Hypothyroidism and Study of the Molecular Pathogenic Mechanisms of Their Gene Mutations' (580,000 yuan, 2012-2015), and Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital provided 1:1 matching funds of 580,000 yuan. In 2015, Professor Yan Shengli again received National Natural Science Foundation of China funding in the area of thyroid diseases for the project 'Candidate Cloning of Pathogenic Genes for Congenital Hypothyroidism Due to Thyroid Dysgenesis and Study of Their Pathogenic Mechanisms' (300,000 yuan, 2015-2016). The approval of these research projects resulted from the discipline's long-term accumulation in thyroid disease research and also laid a good foundation for in-depth research on the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.

(3) Hyperuricemia and Gout

Hyperuricemia and gout are key and distinctive specialties of the Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, which relies primarily on the Department of Metabolic Diseases at the Shinan Campus. It currently has 20 beds, 1 professor holding a Taishan Scholar position, 2 chief physicians, 6 attending physicians, 6 personnel with doctoral degrees, and 1 postdoctoral fellow; 1 doctoral supervisor and 3 master's supervisors. Its clinical and research capabilities are strong. The current discipline leader is deputy head of the Hyperuricemia and Gout Group of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and previously participated in formulating the Chinese Expert Consensus on the Treatment of Hyperuricemia and Gout.

Primary gout has become a common and prevalent disease that threatens human health. It not only affects the joints and kidneys, causing joint deformities and uremia, but can also induce and aggravate diabetes and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In 1994, our Department was the first in China to establish a specialized gout clinic. This specialty is supported by the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Metabolic Diseases and the Clinical Medical Center. It centers on improving medical quality and safety, explores efficient medical quality management models and service processes, and actively cooperates with renowned academic and research institutions in China and abroad. After nearly two decades of intensive development, the discipline has now become a national research, diagnosis, and treatment center for hyperuricemia and gout and has gained recognition and acclaim in Chinese academic circles.

The Department completed an epidemiological survey of 10,000 long-term residents in coastal areas of Shandong, currently the largest-sample epidemiological survey of hyperuricemia and gout in China, and collected nearly 100 complete pedigrees of Han Chinese families with primary gout. On the basis of epidemiological surveys of primary gout and hyperuricemia, it collected detailed information on more than 9,000 patients with sporadic primary gout, more than 1,200 gout pedigrees, and more than 10,000 patients with primary hyperuricemia, and actively conducted research on mapping and cloning gout-causing genes and developing new drugs for gout. Internationally, it was the first to map a gout-causing gene to the 4q25 region of chromosome 4 and the first to apply 5'-AMP-induced hypothermia to treat gouty arthritis. The results showed that this treatment could significantly reduce the degree of joint-cavity swelling, lower the expression levels of IL-1beta and MMP-9, and significantly inhibit leukocyte infiltration. This subspecialty also conducts genetic screening of susceptible people among patients receiving allopurinol treatment, examinations of the 24-hour urinary uric acid excretion rate, and other procedures, which greatly assist in determining the cause of hyperuricemia and guiding clinical medication. Based on many years of clinical experience, the discipline developed the compound Chinese herbal medicine Chuanhu Gout Mixture, which has significant anti-inflammatory effects and outstanding clinical efficacy and has been highly praised by patients. Its dosage form is currently being improved, and an application for a national patent is being pursued. Miao Zhimin, a lifetime medical professor at our hospital, organized and compiled the first monograph on gout in China, Goutology, published by People's Medical Publishing House, filling a gap in China. The Department participated in compiling the chapter 'Hyperuricemia and Gout' in the seventh edition of Internal Medicine, a national five-year higher-education undergraduate textbook. From 2004 to 2013, it obtained 1 special fund for preliminary research under the Ministry of Science and Technology's 973 Program, funding for 12 National Natural Science Foundation projects, 3 Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, and support from 4 major Qingdao municipal projects and special construction funding for the Gout Laboratory. Research funding totaled nearly 10 million yuan. It received 2 second prizes in the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards, 1 third prize in the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards, 1 third prize in the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Awards, 1 each of the first, second, and third prizes in the Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements of Shandong Universities, 1 second prize in the Qingdao Natural Science Awards, 2 national invention patents, more than 50 SCI papers, and nearly 100 papers in the Zhonghua journal series. It successively held four Oriental Gout Forums in Qingdao, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Beijing.

(4) Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease

As population aging in China intensifies, the prevalence of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease has increased year by year, seriously affecting the quality of life of the population and attracting increasing attention. This academic group relies primarily on the Departments of Endocrinology at the Shinan and West Coast Campuses. It currently has 2 chief physicians, 4 attending physicians, and 2 personnel with doctoral degrees; 1 doctoral supervisor and 2 master's supervisors.

Professor Yang Nailong, leader of the group, has long been engaged in basic and clinical research on osteoporosis. He currently undertakes 1 project of the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, participates in research on multiple national-, provincial-, and municipal-level projects, and has published more than 100 core publications in endocrinology-related specialties. Under Professor Yang Nailong's leadership, the academic team has conducted extensive research into the basic science and potential clinical applications of inducing human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts and osteoclasts, and has preliminarily established a bone mineral density database for Han Chinese people in the Qingdao area. The group's ongoing studies of the effects of type 2 diabetes and long-term glucocorticoid use on bone mineral density, as well as studies such as sharing bone mineral density databases across different regions and instruments, have laid the foundation for the successful implementation of the project. The osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease specialty group will invite renowned experts in the field from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Tianjin Metabolic Disease Hospital, and other institutions to serve as advisers and, in collaboration with the Departments of Nuclear Medicine, Bone and Joint, and Medical Imaging, establish an endocrinology-led standardized clinical diagnosis and treatment center for osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.

In recent years, the academic group has published 2 SCI-indexed articles, received 1 National Natural Science Foundation project, 1 project under the Ministry of Civil Affairs' Eleventh Five-Year Development Plan, 1 Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Development Plan project, and 2 major hospital projects. It has received 2 third prizes in the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Achievement Awards and 1 second prize in the Science and Technology Award of the Shandong Health Care Science and Technology Association, reaching an advanced level in China.

(5) Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal and Adrenal Diseases

With increasing sensitivity of endocrine hormone assays and advances in medical imaging technology, an increasing number of diseases of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and gonadal axes can be diagnosed. This relieves the suffering of many patients while improving their quality of life. This academic group relies primarily on the Departments of Endocrinology at the Shinan, Laoshan, and West Coast Campuses. It currently has 2 chief physicians, 1 associate chief physician, 3 attending physicians, and 2 personnel with doctoral degrees; 1 master's supervisor.

Professor Yuan Ying, leader of the group, has long been engaged in clinical work involving diseases of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and gonadal axes. In addition to operating a specialized outpatient clinic for these diseases, she also relies on the Endocrinology Research Laboratory, Radioimmunoassay Center, and Department of Laboratory Medicine to actively carry out specialized techniques, including various anterior pituitary hormone assays and functional tests, such as the GnRH stimulation test, ITT, glucose suppression test for growth hormone, water-deprivation-vasopressin test, supine-standing aldosterone test, captopril test, and low- and high-dose dexamethasone suppression tests. The group can definitively diagnose common pituitary endocrine tumors and rare pituitary diseases such as lymphocytic hypophysitis and pituitary stalk interruption syndrome, as well as primary aldosteronism, pheochromocytoma, Cushing syndrome, and other endocrine hypertensive conditions. This academic group has clear clinical approaches and well-developed clinical pathways for the diagnosis and treatment of various functioning and nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas, hypopituitarism, hypothalamic syndrome, diabetes insipidus, infectious pituitary diseases such as tuberculosis and abscesses, adrenal crisis, Addison's disease, primary adrenal hyperplasia, multiple endocrine neoplasia, and other uncommon or rare diseases.

In recent years, the global prevalence of infertility has risen from 8-10% to 12-16%. In China, the prevalence of infertility has also climbed from 3%, one of the lowest rates in the world, to the current 12.5%. Among patients with infertility, approximately half have hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, also known as secondary hypogonadism. Idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) is a congenital defect in hypothalamic secretion of GnRH that prevents the pituitary from secreting gonadotropins (FSH and LH), resulting in failure to initiate puberty, impaired gonadal function, and ultimately infertility. Against this background, the academic group is actively carrying out GNRH pituitary hormone infusion-pump therapy: exogenous GnRH analogues are delivered into the body in pulses at set times and doses, and their pulse frequency and amplitude are adjusted to fully simulate the physiological pulsatile release of GnRH. Through the fluctuations produced by pulsatile administration, systematic regulation of the reproductive system is achieved. The successful implementation of this treatment model has filled a gap in the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal gonadal development in our province, while also promoting substantial development at our hospital in the diagnosis and treatment of reproductive endocrine and gonadal development disorders, reaching the current internationally advanced level in this field.

(6) Obesity Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center

Taking into account our hospital's endocrinology experts, including 2 committee members of national first-level academic societies and 3 deputy chairs of provincial academic societies, outpatient volume, inpatient discharges and bed turnover, and other circumstances, our Department has been awarded the designation of National Standardized Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Center by the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. The Center relies primarily on the Departments of Endocrinology at the Shinan, Laoshan, and West Coast Campuses and currently has 3 chief physicians, 1 associate chief physician, and 6 attending physicians.

Obesity caused by lifestyle changes and excessive nutrition has become a serious public health problem. In China, the prevalence rates of central obesity, overweight, and obesity among adults have reached 27.1%, 31.4%, and 12.2%, respectively. Obesity is an important risk factor for a series of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease, and seriously affects human health and quality of life. The Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Center of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism has actively integrated the hospital's advantageous specialist groups. The Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, together with the Departments of General Surgery and Nutrition, established the Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital. While promoting standardized diagnosis and treatment of obesity, the Center has actively participated in formulating the national industry standard for standardized and individualized diagnosis and treatment models in this field.

The Obesity [center term unclear in the source], while accumulating extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with severe and complex obesity, skillfully applies new, advanced, and practical clinical diagnosis and treatment technologies, including pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal function testing, body-fat measurement, abdominal CT for measuring visceral fat, OGTT, glucose clamp techniques, magnetic resonance imaging, proton spectroscopy analysis, and B-mode ultrasound for semiquantitative assessment of liver fat, to diagnose and differentially diagnose obesity and evaluate the effectiveness of obesity treatment. This subspecialty follows the clinical research approach of translational medicine, deriving research ideas from clinical practice and using research achievements to promote clinical development. It makes full use of the advantage of the large number of patients seeking care at the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Qingdao University Medical College and collaborates with multiple departments, including Nutrition, Respiratory Medicine, Gynecology, Basic Surgery, and Otorhinolaryngology, to provide comprehensive treatment for obesity, sleep apnea syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and other diseases. While actively conducting health education on obesity and other metabolic diseases, the subspecialty has widely carried out epidemiological analyses of obesity and related diseases. The group's study of the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among patients with diabetes and obesity was presented at the Fudan University Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Forum and received third prize for a paper.

The academic group has also actively conducted research integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine on obesity and diseases related to energy metabolism, exploring the mechanisms of treating energy-metabolism diseases through integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. In recent years, it has received 1 National Natural Science Foundation project and 1 grant for an outstanding in-hospital scientific research project, published 5 SCI-indexed papers and 5 papers in Zhonghua-series journals, and has an ample reserve of young talent. The discipline's prospects for clinical and scientific research development are currently very good.

(7) Endocrinology Group of the Shibei Campus of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital

Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital's Shibei Campus is located at 7 Jiaxing Road, Shibei District, Qingdao. It was formerly the Qingdao Sifang Locomotive Factory Hospital and was taken over by Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital in April 2014. After renovation and refurbishment, it began operations at the end of September 2014. To adapt to the characteristics of patients in the old urban area, the leadership of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital decided to establish a Department of General Internal Medicine, with the outpatient clinic on the first floor and inpatient beds on the second and third floors. The department has 60 open beds and is divided into 3 specialty groups: Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology, and Neurology.

The Endocrinology Group of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital's Shibei Campus currently has 20 open beds, with the ward located on the third floor of General Internal Medicine. It has 10 medical and nursing staff members: 1 with a senior professional title, 4 with intermediate professional titles, and 5 with junior professional titles, including 1 person with a doctoral degree and 2 people with master's degrees. The main conditions treated are diabetes and its acute and chronic complications, thyroid diseases, pituitary and adrenal diseases, osteoporosis, hyperlipidemia, gout, and other endocrine and metabolic diseases. The group actively conducts public education on chronic diseases, with Thursday afternoons designated for chronic disease education. It actively responds to calls from medical associations by conducting public education and free clinic activities such as Diabetes Day and Lipid Management Week, which have been welcomed by nearby residents.

(8) Shandong Provincial Clinical Medical Center for Gout

The Shandong Provincial Clinical Medical Center for Gout was established in 2010 with the support of the Shandong Provincial Departments of Health and Finance, on the basis of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism and the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Metabolic Diseases. After nearly 3 years of development, the Center carried out a large amount of innovative work and achieved a series of accomplishments in gout diagnosis and treatment, translational medicine, and social benefits.

1. Clinical diagnosis and treatment of gout: The research team conducted in-depth basic and clinical research on primary gout and hyperuricemia and was the first to propose a standardized gout treatment regimen based on staging, grading, comprehensive treatment, and combination therapy.

This treatment regimen not only significantly reduced adverse drug effects but also shortened the time required for gout pain relief from the previous 1-3 days to the current 1-3 hours. At present, this treatment regimen has been promoted and applied at many medical institutions nationwide and in the province, with good results. It is safe and effective, has few side effects, and has a high gout remission rate, receiving recognition from other medical institutions and favorable reviews from gout patients.

2. Basic research on gout: The research team successively carried out epidemiological surveys of primary gout and hyperuricemia in coastal areas of Shandong, positional cloning of gout-causing genes, and the development of new drugs for gout.

Over the past 3 years, the Center has obtained approval for 9 national-level research projects, with cumulative state-allocated funding totaling 12.94 million yuan, including 1 Ministry of Science and Technology 973 project for which it was the principal investigator. It has received 1 third prize in the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Awards, 1 first prize in the Shandong Provincial Universities Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Awards, and 1 second prize in the Qingdao Natural Science Awards. It has applied for 5 national patents, 1 of which has already been granted. In addition, the Center has published 21 SCI papers, with a cumulative impact factor of 52 points, including 10 papers with impact factors above 3. The Center has collected detailed data on nearly 6,000 patients with gout and was the first internationally to localize a gout-causing gene to the 4q25 region of chromosome 4, the first to discover that a mutation in the third intron of the gout and hyperuricemia susceptibility gene hURAT1 is an important intrinsic cause of hyperuricemia, and the first to demonstrate the association of beer and white liquor among alcoholic beverages, and seafood and meat in the diet, with gout attacks. It was the first to apply 5'-AMP-induced hypothermia therapy to gouty arthritis. The results showed that this therapy could significantly reduce the degree of intra-articular swelling, lower the expression levels of IL-1beta and MMP-9, and significantly inhibit leukocyte infiltration. The Center subsequently gave special-topic presentations at the Shandong Provincial Endocrinology Annual Meeting and the National Endocrinology Annual Meeting, attracting extensive attention from scholars in China and abroad. It successively signed cooperation agreements with the Medical College of Georgia in the United States, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, United States, the National Key Laboratory of Human Genome at Ruijin Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the Peking University Institute of Nephrology, jointly conducting basic and clinical research on gout and hyperuricemia. At the same time, the Center also conducted research on autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell treatment for diabetes; basic research on treating type 1 diabetes with mesenchymal stem cells combined with incretins; iodine nutrition and autoimmune thyroid diseases; a molecular diagnosis and prognostic evaluation system for thyroid cancer; genetic screening of DUOX2 gene mutations in children with congenital hypothyroidism; and other studies.

3. In translational medicine, the Center was the first to apply medium-frequency pulsed electrical therapy and Chuanhu Gout Mixture to the treatment of gout.

Medium-frequency pulsed electrical therapy: Based on the localized nature of gout attacks and relevant research findings, the Center was the first to propose a local medication treatment regimen, using an ultrasonic electroconductive device to deliver medication directly to the affected sites of patients. Clinical evidence confirmed that this method significantly reduced patients' pain.

Chuanhu Gout Mixture: This mixture can treat gout comprehensively from multiple aspects and can address problems such as most patients' inability to tolerate drug side effects, substantial financial burdens, and high treatment costs.

4. Development of an Innovative Talent Team and Its Demonstrative, Radiating, and Driving Role

(1) The Center is committed to building a national network for gout prevention and control and has established a comprehensive prevention and control network centered on Qingdao, extending north to Harbin, west to Golmud, and south to northern Sichuan.

(2) The Shandong Provincial Gout Scientific and Technological Innovation Alliance was established, comprising 16 institutions outside the province and 11 institutions within the province. Its establishment laid the foundation for promoting standardized gout treatment regimens and conducting multicenter research.

(3) Over the past 3 years, the Center has hosted 2 Oriental Gout Forums and 1 Cross-Strait Gout Academic Symposium. In August 2011, the First Oriental Gout Forum, hosted by the Center and co-organized by 5 institutions, including Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai, Peking University Jishuitan Hospital, the Institute of Clinical Medicine of Kaohsiung University in Taiwan, and People's Medical Publishing House, was successfully held in Qingdao. The forum brought together leading experts and was a major event for academic exchange on gout in China and Asia. It aimed to jointly build a brand platform for academic exchange on gout in China and Asia and to promote the development of gout prevention and control. In September 2012, the Center hosted the Second Oriental Gout Forum in Shanghai. The forum focused on clinical hot topics in gout, followed cutting-edge developments in the field, and discussed 10 areas, including research strategies and prospects for polygenic hereditary diseases, progress in research on the genetic susceptibility of primary gout, and the diagnosis and treatment of refractory gout. Participants were open-minded and spoke freely, and the discussion atmosphere was highly engaging. The academic presentations by experts and scholars were high-level, offered fresh perspectives, and broadened horizons. In May 2012, the Center hosted the First Cross-Strait Gout Academic Symposium in Taiwan. In September 2013, the Center was to host the Third Oriental Gout Forum in Sichuan.

5. Development of the Center's Operational Management Mechanism

The laboratory operates under a director-responsibility system, with the entire laboratory under unified management. A Key Laboratory Office has been established to centrally manage daily affairs, including maintenance of shared instruments and equipment, water, electricity, gas and fuel, rent, and the hiring of temporary personnel without wage-based income. The laboratory operates under a research-group-leader responsibility system, with an academic leader serving as group leader for each research direction. This laboratory actively conducts domestic and international cooperation and exchanges in various forms, sends relevant personnel abroad for further study each year, and introduces advanced foreign technologies and management concepts. At the same time, it actively provides various favorable benefits to attract outstanding talent to work in the laboratory, ultimately transforming the laboratory from a regional laboratory into a national laboratory and even a high-level laboratory connected with international standards.

(1) Cooperation with Relevant Domestic Institutions

To ensure that the laboratory maintains an advanced position in China, it strengthens cooperation and exchanges with relevant domestic research institutes and laboratories, including collaborative research and the sharing of achievements, materials, and resources. The laboratory welcomes domestic scholars to bring their own projects and conduct research in the laboratory.

(2) International Exchanges and Cooperation

The laboratory broadly attracts scholars from abroad to visit the laboratory for exchange and study, while encouraging its researchers and doctoral and master's students to go abroad for further training and study, thereby establishing an exchange model for research personnel based on bringing people in and sending them out.

(3) Open Project Funding

a. The laboratory operates an open and mobile mechanism. Open projects are divided into two categories: projects announced in designated directions and projects open to free application. The first category comprises the laboratory's current directions for tackling key problems, as clearly specified in the open-project guidelines. The second category consists of projects for free application, intended primarily to encourage researchers to explore and innovate freely in directions related to the laboratory's research content.

b. In addition to open projects, the laboratory also actively explores making its instruments and equipment, especially its experimental platforms, available to external users. It uses its equipment advantages to attract outstanding scholars in relevant fields from China and abroad to bring their own projects to the laboratory, conduct collaborative research, and promote exchanges of academic ideas and research projects.

(4) Talent Team Development

Laboratory staff are employed on an appointment basis. For each research direction, 1 research group leader, 2 full-time assistants, and the corresponding full-time technical personnel are appointed, forming the laboratory's regular staff. Through recruiting outstanding experts from China and abroad and bringing in high-level talent, the laboratory strengthens each research direction or creates new related research fields, thereby building and stabilizing a high-level technical team. It establishes a corresponding job-performance assessment system for appointed personnel, with assessment results linked to research allowances and bonuses. For those who fail two consecutive assessments, the laboratory will submit their names to the hospital for handling as mobile personnel awaiting appointment. The assessment system combining competition and cooperation will help maintain the excellence and vitality of laboratory personnel.

(9) Qingdao Municipal Key Laboratory of Thyroid Diseases

In July 2011, the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital jointly established the Municipal Key Laboratory for Common Clinical Diseases, the Qingdao Key Laboratory of Thyroid Diseases. At present, this key laboratory is located on the 17th floor of the Science and Education Building of the West Coast Campus of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital and is a Qingdao Municipal Key Laboratory for Common Clinical Diseases.

The laboratory is based on the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital and the Thyroid Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital. It primarily conducts basic and clinical research on thyroid diseases, focusing on three key research directions: the pathogenesis and intervention of autoimmune thyroid diseases; ultrasound diagnosis and interventional treatment of thyroid diseases; and standardized treatment of thyroid cancer. The laboratory currently has 1 full-time scientific research staff member with an associate senior professional title and 1 experimental technician and can supervise more than 10 doctoral and master's graduate students each year. It is currently equipped with a laminar-flow cell culture room, a gradient PCR instrument, a fluorescence quantitative PCR instrument, an ultra-micro nucleic acid and protein analyzer, a high-speed refrigerated centrifuge, an electroporator, a carbon dioxide cell culture incubator, an inverted fluorescence microscope, a vertical electrophoresis apparatus, a membrane transfer apparatus, a full-wavelength multifunctional microplate reader, and other advanced instruments and equipment. It has carried out a series of molecular biology studies ranging from nucleic acid extraction, purification, amplification, and analysis to qualitative and quantitative nucleic acid analysis, fluorescence quantification, and hybridization; cell biology studies including the culture of primary cells, cell lines, and special cells; and immunological studies such as Western blot and immunohistochemistry or immunocytochemistry.

(10) Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Tissue Repair and Translational Medicine

In 2009, our hospital established the Shandong Provincial Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Bank, with Professor Wang Yangang as the discipline leader. Relying on the Shandong Provincial Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Bank, the Shandong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Regenerative Medicine and Biological Diagnosis and Treatment, and the Sino-American Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at Qingdao University, the laboratory made useful attempts at using autologous bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. It was among the earlier institutions in China to conduct autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation for diabetes and umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for diabetic foot, achieving very good clinical efficacy and opening up new ideas and approaches for treating diabetes and its complications. To date, nearly 100 cases have been completed. Follow-up found that pancreatic islet beta-cell function was restored to varying degrees in most patients, and blood glucose also improved to varying degrees. At the same time, research was conducted on mesenchymal stem cells combined with DPP-IV inhibitors to repair autoimmune damage to pancreatic islet beta cells in new-onset type 1A diabetes: (1) elucidating the effects in vitro of mesenchymal stem cells combined with sitagliptin on cytokine secretion patterns in PBMCs from new-onset T1DM patients with different genetic backgrounds and the combination's inhibitory effect on T-cell proliferative capacity; (2) investigating the preventive and therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells combined with sitagliptin on type 1 diabetes in NOD mice, the therapeutic time window, and the optimal dose; (3) observing the effects on the proliferation and apoptosis of alpha and beta cells in patients with T1DM; and (4) laying through this research a solid foundation for the clinical use of hUCMSCs combined with sitagliptin to treat type 1 diabetes, thereby providing new ideas and methods for T1DM treatment.

In view of the series of achievements attained by this laboratory, the Shandong Provincial Department of Health approved the establishment of the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Tissue Repair and Translational Medicine in 2013. At present, the laboratory's organizational structure for construction and management is well established. It has developed disease biology research based on translational medicine and, by combining local strengths with the characteristics of the disease spectrum, has refined distinctive research directions: 1) standardized preparation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell preparations; 2) safety evaluation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells; 3) mechanism research, efficacy evaluation, and clinical translation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell preparations for the treatment of various diseases; and 4) clinical translation of other cell therapy technologies. Focusing on the four directions above, the laboratory actively integrates scientific research closely with clinical practice, promptly develops and utilizes scientific research achievements, implements the principle that scientific research serves clinical practice and clinical needs guide scientific research, and organically combines production, meaning stem-cell production, academia, meaning clinical medicine, and research, meaning scientific research. It thereby provides a good translational medicine platform for the clinical application of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, greatly improves clinical diagnosis and treatment capabilities, and promotes the joint development of related disciplines.

This laboratory has scientific research capabilities in genetics, proteomics, and cytology and has mastered scientific research techniques in immunology, molecular biology, and other fields. The laboratory has 4 professors, 5 personnel with doctoral degrees, and 1 with a master's degree, accounting for more than 90% of laboratory personnel. All its instruments and equipment are at advanced international and domestic levels. Over the past 4 years, stem-cell basic and clinical application research in endocrine and metabolic diseases, digestive system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, bone tissue regeneration, kidney diseases, and other areas has received funding support from 1 National 863 Program project, 8 National Natural Science Foundation projects, 4 Shandong Provincial science and technology projects, and special funding for 4 major Qingdao research projects. More than 10 papers have been published in important academic journals in China and abroad, along with 11 monographs. Taking advantage of the favorable opportunity created by China's vigorous development of the biopharmaceutical industry and its particular emphasis on clinical stem-cell research, the laboratory was among the earlier institutions to combine its independently developed mesenchymal stem-cell preparation technology with applied clinical disease research and has already accumulated extensive experience in the clinical translation of stem-cell technology. In the future, the laboratory will focus on strengthening academic exchanges and joint technical research with high-level international universities, research institutions, and medical institutions engaged in stem-cell research, cultivating high-level scientific and technological innovation talent, and improving the translation of high-level achievements in this field.

(11) Gout Laboratory

The Gout Laboratory is located in the Science and Education Building of the West Coast Campus of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital and has a floor area of approximately 1,000 square meters. It has 9 clinical physicians, 11 full-time laboratory personnel, 9 full professors, 1 postdoctoral fellow, 5 personnel with doctoral degrees, and 5 with master's degrees. It possesses instruments and equipment valued at more than 30 million yuan, including a fluorescence quantitative PCR instrument, genetic analyzer, fully automated biochemical analyzer, fluorescence microscope, laser confocal microscope, flow cytometer, liquid chromatography system, mass spectrometer, and other major instruments and equipment. It has separately established the Chinese Gout Genetic Resource Bank, genomics platform, metabolomics platform, model animal platform, cryomedicine platform, Bio-marker platform, microbial metabolism research platform, and glucose clamp experiment platform and has conducted in-depth basic and clinical research on gout. Since its establishment in 2006, under the guidance and support of the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and the leadership of Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital, it successively developed within 5 years into the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Metabolic Diseases and the Shandong Provincial Clinical Medical Center for Gout. In 2011, it was approved for a Shandong Provincial Taishan Scholar position in gout and metabolic diseases. In 2012, our laboratory took the lead in establishing the Shandong Provincial Gout Disease Science and Technology Innovation Alliance, comprising renowned domestic medical institutions such as Peking University Third Hospital, Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai, and the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University. It has now become a leading institution in China's gout research field.

In recent years, the laboratory has achieved significant results in basic and clinical research on gout, talent development, and other areas. In scientific research, it has received 1 preliminary research special project under the Ministry of Science and Technology's 973 Program for which it was the principal investigator, 12 National Natural Science Foundation projects, and multiple provincial- and municipal-level research projects. It has published more than 100 gout-related papers, including more than 50 indexed by SCI; obtained 2 granted patents; and received 2 second prizes and 1 third prize in the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards, 1 third prize in the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Awards, 1 each of the first, second, and third prizes in the Shandong Provincial Colleges and Universities Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Awards, 1 second prize in the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Achievement Awards, and 1 second prize in the Qingdao Natural Science Awards.

In terms of publications, in 2006, at the invitation of People's Medical Publishing House, the research group compiled Goutology, the publication of which filled a gap in this field in China. In 2007, at the invitation of People's Medical Publishing House, the research group compiled the section Hyperuricemia and Gout, Part 8, Chapter 7, of the seventh edition of the national higher-education textbook Internal Medicine. In 2010, the research group was invited to compile the popular-science book Teach You to Conquer Gout. In 2013, it participated in compiling the section Hyperuricemia and Gout in Endocrinology, a Ministry of Health planned textbook for medical graduate students at institutions of higher education nationwide. In 2013, the research group founded the all-English specialized gout journal Gout and Hyperuricemia, which is currently the first specialized gout journal internationally.

In terms of the organization and exchange of academic conferences, as an organizing institution, it jointly founded the Oriental Gout Forum with 5 institutions, including Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai, Peking University Jishuitan Hospital, the Institute of Clinical Medicine of Kaohsiung University in Taiwan, and People's Medical Publishing House, and has successfully held 4 sessions in Qingdao, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Beijing. In 2014, as a principal organizer and participant, it established the High Uric Acid Group of the Endocrinology Society of the Chinese Medical Association, with Professor Mu Yiming, chair-elect of the Endocrinology Society of the Chinese Medical Association, serving as group leader and Professor Li Changgui serving as executive deputy group leader. At the same time, it organized the First National Academic Conference on Hyperuricemia of the Chinese Medical Association in Qingdao, which was a complete success. It delivered invited plenary presentations related to gout at the Shandong Provincial Endocrinology Annual Meeting, the National Endocrinology Annual Meeting, and the National Nutrition Society Annual Meeting, attracting widespread attention from scholars in China and abroad.

In terms of domestic and international cooperation and exchanges, it signed cooperation agreements with the Medical College of Georgia in the United States, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, United States, the National Key Laboratory of Human Genome at Ruijin Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the Institute of Nephrology of Peking University, jointly conducting basic and clinical research on gout and hyperuricemia. It has sent 4 outstanding personnel to the United States for advanced studies lasting 1 to 2 years.

In terms of clinical research on gout, in 2004, 2008, and 2009, the research group conducted 3 large-scale epidemiological surveys among nearly 20,000 permanent residents along the Shandong coast, clarifying the prevalence and risk factors of hyperuricemia and gout along the Shandong coast. It established China's first specialized gout outpatient clinic, proposed for the first time the staging, grading, comprehensive, and combined treatment regimen for gout, and promoted and applied it at Peking University Third Hospital, Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Golmud People's Hospital, and many Grade III Class A hospitals in Shandong Province. More than 10,000 patients with gout were treated using this regimen, all achieving significant therapeutic effects. The regimen shortened the time required for gout pain relief from the previous 2-3 days to 2-3 hours and reduced the incidence of gastrointestinal side effects from the previous 80-90% to the current 10%. The group collected more than 9,000 cases of sporadic gout, more than 1,200 gout pedigrees, more than 10,000 cases of primary hyperuricemia, and more than 20,000 normal control samples, establishing a large-sample Chinese Gout Genetic Resource Bank. In 2013, as a principal organizer and participant, it jointly formulated with domestic experts the Chinese Medical Association Endocrinology Society's Chinese Expert Consensus on the Treatment of Hyperuricemia and Gout. Relevant content was published in the Chinese Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2013, issue 11, pages 913-920. In 2011, it took the lead in establishing China's first Gout Friends Association, which now has more than 1,000 members. It holds a series of public education lectures on gout every month, and the number of people educated has exceeded 10,000.

In terms of talent development, it has 1 Taishan Scholar, 1 Ministry of Health Expert with Outstanding Contributions, 2 Shandong Provincial Experts with Outstanding Contributions, 3 Shandong Provincial 1020 Talents, 5 Qingdao Top Talents, and 1 Shandong Provincial Health System Post Expert.

5. Scientific Research and Teaching

The Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism remains committed to driving the development of its discipline through scientific and technological innovation. As early as 1981, the Department of Endocrinology had established a Research Laboratory of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases. In 1999, approval was granted for the establishment of the Qingdao University Key Laboratory of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases. In 2009, it established the Shandong Provincial Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Bank. In the same year, with approval from the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, it established the Key Laboratory of Gout of the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology. In July 2011, the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital jointly established the municipal-level key laboratory for common clinical diseases, the Qingdao Municipal Key Laboratory of Thyroid Diseases. In 2013, it established the Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Tissue Repair and Translational Medicine of the Shandong Provincial Department of Health and was rated by the Shandong Provincial Department of Health as a Shandong Provincial Clinical Key Specialty for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases.

The discipline has long conducted basic and clinical research on endocrine and metabolic diseases. Basic research on hyperuricemia and gout is at the international forefront and in a leading position in China. Basic and clinical research on congenital thyroid diseases, autoimmune thyroid diseases, integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of endocrine diseases, and standardized diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and obesity, among other areas, ranks among the more advanced work in China. In recent years, it has undertaken dozens of national-, provincial-, and ministerial-level research projects, with research and discipline-construction funding totaling nearly 20 million yuan, and has published hundreds of articles in important academic journals in China and abroad, dozens of which are indexed by SCI, Medline, and other databases. In addition, it holds 1-2 national and international academic conferences each year, as well as several national- and provincial-level continuing education courses, and its academic influence continues to grow.

At present, the Department is responsible for training and providing clinical instruction to postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and master's students in Qingdao University's Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism. It also teaches Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases and Medical English to Qingdao University's international students, seven-year-program students, five-year medical students, dental students, and nursing students. It is the host institution of the person responsible for the doctoral discipline in Qingdao University's Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism. Each year, it admits and trains through graduation more than 50 postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and master's students in endocrinology and metabolic diseases.

6. Guide to Medical Visits

(1) Department Location

Outpatient clinics:

Shinan Campus: 4th floor of the Outpatient Building

Gout Clinic: Deying Building

Laoshan Campus: 2nd floor of the Outpatient Building

West Coast Campus: 3rd floor of the Outpatient Building, General Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic

Shibei Campus: 1st floor of the Outpatient Building, Internal Medicine Consultation Area

Inpatient wards:

Shinan Campus: Dexian Building

Department of Metabolic Diseases: Dexian Building

Laoshan Campus: 11th floor of the Inpatient Building

West Coast Campus: 20th floor, Block B of the Ward Building

Shibei Campus: 3rd floor of General Internal Medicine

(2) Consultation Telephone Numbers

Shinan Campus: 82911399

Laoshan Campus: 82913168

West Coast Campus: 82913038

Shibei Campus: 82912779