General Surgery Hepatobiliary Surgery Center

| Basic Overview |--------------

The Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, as a national key discipline, a key discipline under the national “Project 211” and “Project 985,” and a national clinical key specialty designated by the National Health Commission, has a long history and outstanding achievements. Since its establishment in 1932, after more than 90 years of development, it has become a leading clinical medical center in China and a world-class center integrating medical care, teaching, and research. In 2014, Professor Qin Lunxiu became Director of the Department of General Surgery, and the Hepatobiliary Surgery Group of the Department of General Surgery was formally established. Over the past decade, the Hepatobiliary Surgery Group has achieved substantial development in clinical care, scientific research, and teaching.

In 2023, to promote the development of specialized disciplines within general surgery, with the strong support of the hospital leadership, the Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, was formally established (hereinafter referred to as the Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital). Upholding the principles of “minimally invasive” and “precision,” it is promoting the development of a diagnosis and treatment center for hepatobiliary tumors. The department currently has 7 professors (chief physicians) and 5 associate professors (deputy chief physicians), with 63 open beds, and performs nearly 2,000 surgical and endoscopic procedures annually for various benign and malignant hepatobiliary diseases. Professor Qin Lunxiu is the academic leader, Professor Chen Jinhong is Director of the Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery, and Chief Physicians Lu Lu, Jia Huliang, and Yin Baobing are Deputy Directors of the Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery.

Academic Leader—Qin Lunxiu

Group Photograph of the Department Center

| Clinical Features |--------------

1. Minimally invasive and precision treatment: The Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital upholds the principles of “minimally invasive” and “precision” and is promoting the development of a minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment center for hepatobiliary tumors. The department performs more than 1,000 liver tumor surgeries annually, including laparoscopic liver resection for tumors in all parts of the liver, including tumors of the caudate lobe; laparoscopic procedures account for more than 40% of all surgeries. In addition, the department routinely performs highly complex procedures, including laparoscopic procurement of living-donor liver grafts, da Vinci robot-assisted liver resection, and laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy. The minimally invasive treatment of hepatobiliary tumors has reached a leading level nationally and internationally.

2. Precision diagnosis and treatment through multidisciplinary teams (MDTs): The department’s hepatobiliary tumor MDT and colorectal cancer liver metastasis MDT establish individualized, precision diagnosis and treatment plans for patients with hepatobiliary tumors. Comprehensive multidisciplinary discussion and management are conducted throughout the entire process, including early tumor diagnosis, precise staging, surgery and local treatment, preoperative conversion therapy, and postoperative adjuvant therapy, providing optimal treatment plans for patients with complex conditions such as intermediate- and advanced-stage liver cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, and colorectal cancer liver metastases. Through comprehensive diagnosis and treatment, unresectable tumors can be converted into resectable tumors, greatly improving treatment outcomes and achieving long-term patient survival.

The department has joined forces with several highly capable departments, including the Department of Infectious Diseases, the Liver Transplantation Center, the Department of Oncology, the Department of Gastroenterology, the Department of Radiology, and the Department of Pathology, to jointly establish the Huashan Hospital Liver Disease Center, providing “one-stop” services for patients with hepatitis, liver cancer, and liver transplantation.

3. Benign disease diagnosis and treatment based on the principle of “minimally invasive” care: For benign diseases such as gallbladder stones/polyps, bile duct stones, and benign splenic tumors, the department routinely performs minimally invasive procedures, including laparoscopic cholecystectomy, combined laparoscopic and endoscopic minimally invasive treatment of intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile duct stones, and laparoscopic partial splenectomy. The department strives to achieve the transformation of open surgery into “minimally invasive” surgery and minimally invasive surgery into “scarless” surgery.

| Scientific Research |--------------

Relying on the Fudan University Institute of Tumor Metastasis, the Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital has conducted a series of innovative studies in the field of “digestive system tumor metastasis.” The center has received scientific and technological awards including the First Prize of the Science and Technology Award of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and the Tan Jiazhen Life Science Award. More than 300 SCI papers have been published in authoritative international journals such as Cancer Cell, Cell Metabolism, Gut, Hepatology, and Science Advanced. The center has published oncology monographs including Modern Tumor Metastasis: Basic and Clinical Aspects and Precision Oncology, and has obtained authorization for and transferred or commercialized multiple invention patents. The department has undertaken a cumulative total of 28 national-level projects, including projects under the National Key Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology, key projects, key support projects, and general projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It has also undertaken multiple provincial- and ministerial-level scientific research projects, with cumulative research funding exceeding RMB 30 million.

| Talent Structure |--------------

The Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital is renowned for its strong talent base and professional team of experts. The department has an elite team composed of senior professors and highly qualified physicians, including 7 professors (chief physicians) and 5 associate professors (deputy chief physicians), as well as a research and teaching team led by doctoral and master’s supervisors, fully demonstrating the department’s profound academic and clinical foundation.

The department has performed outstandingly in developing its talent structure, bringing together excellent experts and promising young professionals at different levels to form a professionally structured and dynamic team. The department’s experts and talents include recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars; Distinguished Professors of the Changjiang Scholars Program; recipients of the State Council Special Government Allowance; chief scientists of the 973 Program; National Health Commission young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions; members of the Shanghai Municipal Key Innovation Team of High-Level Local Universities (Original Biologics Discovery and Translation Team); outstanding academic leaders of Shanghai; Shanghai Young Science and Technology Rising Stars; Shanghai Medical Garden New Stars—Outstanding Young Medical Talents; Shanghai Medical Garden New Stars—Young Physicians; recipients of the Shanghai “Sailing Plan”; Fudan University “Tomorrow’s Stars”; participants in the Fudan University Clinical Famous Physicians Training Program; and young elite talents in the Huashan Hospital Outstanding Talent Development Program. These honors and titles span national, Shanghai municipal, university, and hospital levels. More than half of the department’s young physicians have experience undertaking national-level scientific research projects. The department’s experts enjoy a strong reputation in academic circles both in China and abroad. They are active on the stage of international collaboration, conduct research in partnership with the world’s leading medical institutions, continuously introduce the latest medical technologies and concepts, and maintain the international leading position of our diagnostic and treatment services.

| Teaching Achievements |--------------

The Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital directs and undertakes multiple undergraduate and postgraduate teaching courses at Fudan University. Among them, Surgery B was named a High-Quality Undergraduate Course at Fudan University. The featured courses Establishment and Improvement of Clinical Thinking, Narrative Medicine and Doctor–Patient Communication, Clinical Thinking, and Medical Humanities have received widespread acclaim. Professor Qin Lunxiu, the academic leader of the center, also serves as Director of the Standardized Surgical Training Base and the Specialty Training Base of Huashan Hospital. Chief Physician Lu Lu serves as the base secretary and leads various teaching activities at the surgical training base. Deputy Chief Physician Xiang Yang serves as an expert on the Accreditation Committee for Medical Schools of the Ministry of Education and as Deputy Chair of the Expert Committee for the Development of Clinical Medicine Examination Questions of the National Medical Examination Center. He has participated in the Ministry of Education’s accreditation of clinical medicine programs at 10 medical schools, including Peking Union Medical College.

The center has compiled and published monographs including Tumor Metastasis—Biological Basis and Treatment, Fundamentals and Clinical Practice of Minimally Invasive Surgery, and An Overview of Standardized Patients, and has served as the lead translator of Clinical Reasoning—From Introduction to Practice. It developed the Clinical Thinking Assessment System of the National Medical Examination Center (Clinical Thinking Assessment, CTA), which is used in clinical medicine proficiency testing at medical schools, and participated in formulating teaching standards including the Standards for Teaching Ward Rounds in the National Standardized Residency Training Program and the Physician Thinking Ability Assessment System CTA.

Medical personnel at the center have received multiple teaching awards and participated in talent programs, including the “Zhong Yang-Style Good Teacher of Fudan University” award (Qin Lunxiu), the “Outstanding Teacher Award of Shanghai Medical College” (Lu Lu), and the Fudan–Harvard T2T Faculty Training Program. The center conducts multiple sessions of advanced training courses and on-site demonstration workshops in hepatobiliary surgery techniques, promoting the surgical concepts of “minimally invasive + precision.”

The department places great emphasis on the training and development of young talent and has brought together nearly 10 experienced doctoral and master’s supervisors. Under the guidance of these supervisors, more than 30 doctoral and master’s students are currently enrolled. They receive not only rigorous scientific research training but also participate in extensive clinical practice. Our talent development program focuses not only on improving their professional skills but also on stimulating their innovative thinking and broadening their international perspectives, with the expectation that they will lead trends in the medical field in the future and contribute to the cause of human health.

| Future Prospects |--------------

The Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital will continue to uphold the treatment principles of “minimally invasive” and “precision,” continuously strengthen clinical and translational research, and strive to build a research-oriented team that places equal emphasis on technology and academic achievement. In terms of clinical services, the department will implement a strategy of “dual-wheel drive and continuous pursuit of excellence,” striving to provide patients with comprehensive, high-quality medical services.

The department will also actively promote the deployment of an intelligent full-course management platform for hepatobiliary tumors. Through this platform, full-process management from diagnosis and treatment to follow-up will be achieved, with the aim of improving the efficiency of medical services and optimizing patients’ healthcare experience. In addition, the department will follow the trend of technological development and actively embrace artificial intelligence. By introducing the large language model-supported HS-MIND system, the department will provide patients with cutting-edge medical services in diagnostic staging, treatment decision-making, surgical assistance, and patient follow-up, thereby leading the trends of the times.

At the same time, through the “Huashan Hepatobiliary” health education and publicity brand, the department will continue to actively conduct health education activities across multiple new media platforms, disseminating knowledge related to hepatobiliary surgery to patients, family members, and the broad community of medical enthusiasts, expanding the reach and influence of medical services, and benefiting more members of the public.

With a spirit of embracing the new wholeheartedly and advancing fearlessly, the Hepatobiliary Surgery Center of the Department of General Surgery of Huashan Hospital will continue to pursue excellence, devote itself to providing patients with the highest-quality medical services, and make unremitting contributions to the development of the medical profession.