Neurology

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

The Department of Neurology is one of the distinctive disciplines of Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University. It was founded in 1950 by Professor Zhang Yuanchang, a renowned neurologist who had returned to China after advanced study at Queen Square in the United Kingdom at that time. It was one of the earliest departments of neurology established in China and is also an important cradle for the training of clinical neurology professionals in China. At the beginning of the founding of New China, in order to support the development of the health undertakings of New China, it sent a large number of elite backbones to various parts of the country, where they successively established departments of neurology and continuously trained leading professionals. In 1980, the Institute of Neurology approved by the Ministry of Health was established, and in 1981 it became one of the first doctoral degree-granting sites in neurology nationwide. In the early 1990s, Professor Lü Chuanzhen led the discipline's development, forming four major professional directions: cerebrovascular disease, neuroimmune diseases, movement disorders and degenerative diseases, and epilepsy and sleep disorders. In 1995, it became a key discipline among Shanghai's leading medical specialties, and in 2000 it was listed as a construction discipline under Fudan University's “985 Project.” It is currently a national key discipline of the Ministry of Education, a clinical key specialty of the Ministry of Health, a major department of the “National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases” of the Ministry of Science and Technology, a core department of the “National Center for Neurological Disorders” of the National Health Commission, a Shanghai top-priority clinical medical center, and the National Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Brain Diseases. It has ranked among the top of the Fudan specialty rankings for 10 consecutive years. In 2021, the National Health Commission decided to establish the National Center for Neurological Disorders with Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University as its main body, with Capital Medical University Xuanwu Hospital and Beijing Tiantan Hospital jointly constituting the National Center for Neurological Disorders, in order to drive the construction and development of the National Center for Neurological Disorders in the field of neurological medicine nationwide.

The Department of Neurology of Huashan Hospital adheres to the departmental motto of “Down-to-earth and rigorous, diligent and tireless; broadly learned and devoted to helping the world, united and striving forward.” After more than 70 years of development through trials and tribulations, it has 2 professors emeriti, 14 doctoral supervisors, 12 master's supervisors, 15 chief physicians, and 28 deputy chief physicians currently on staff. The discipline has now formed subspecialty groups for cerebrovascular disease, movement disorders, neuromuscular diseases, cognitive impairment, neuroimmunology, epilepsy, and sleep medicine, and has opened more than 20 specialized disease outpatient clinics. It currently has 6 independent wards across 3 campuses—the main campus, Hongqiao Campus, and Baoshan Campus—with 281 beds, as well as the Institute of Neurology, which conducts clinical translational research and clinical testing in neuroscience. Annual outpatient visits have reached 460,000, and annual discharges have reached 13,000. The Department of Neurology of Huashan Hospital has become the largest comprehensive neurological specialty in Shanghai. Its professional directions are based on the needs of research into major national diseases, and it is gradually becoming a leading domestic and world-class clinical medical center for neurological diseases integrating medical care, teaching, and scientific research.

| Discipline Features/Subspecialty Features |--------------

Cerebrovascular Disease Group

The Cerebrovascular Disease Group was established in 1996. It was the first in China to establish standardized procedures for intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular intervention for ischemic stroke, formed a cerebrovascular disease integrated ward featuring multidisciplinary collaboration led by neurology and neurosurgery, and took the lead in establishing Shanghai's stroke prevention and treatment service system. It is currently a designated institution of the Shanghai Neurology Medical Quality Control Center.

The subspecialty admits more than 3,000 cases of various cerebrovascular diseases every year. It has established specialized disease outpatient clinics for stroke, stroke screening, cerebral small vessel disease, cognitive screening for cerebral small vessel disease, carotid/cerebral artery stenosis, young-onset stroke, and other conditions, with more than 13,000 specialized disease outpatient visits annually. It has established a nationwide multicenter multimodal imaging cohort for acute ischemic stroke, a hereditary cerebral small vessel disease cohort, a cerebral amyloid angiopathy cohort, a vascular cognitive impairment cohort, and a cohort of uncommon and rare young-onset stroke, achieving standardized management and follow-up for specialized diseases. For patients with difficult/complex cerebrovascular diseases, it has opened a cerebrovascular disease MDT outpatient clinic composed of senior experts from multiple departments, providing comprehensive, standardized, professional, and integrated diagnosis and treatment plans including etiological diagnosis, disease treatment, and rehabilitation guidance.

Over the past five years, it has successively led multiple major special projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology under the 13th and 14th Five-Year Plans, General and Young Scientists Fund projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, municipal major science and technology special projects, and others, and has been selected for multiple municipal talent programs. It has led multiple nationwide multicenter clinical trials, including CHABLIS-T, CHABLIS- T II, TOPS-CSVD, and Be-CLEVER. As the leading Chinese institution, it has participated in multiple international multicenter clinical trials. More than 400 Chinese- and English-language articles have been published in renowned professional journals including LANCET NEUROLOGY, Brain, Circulation Research, and Alzheimers & Dementia.

Movement Disorders Group

The Parkinson's disease (PD) and Movement Disorders Group was established in the 1970s. In recent years, the subspecialty has accumulated extensive experience in the field of movement disorders, focusing on molecular imaging diagnosis of brain function in PD, research on etiology/pathogenesis/new treatment methods, chronic disease long-term management, genetic analysis and functional research, and deep brain stimulation neuromodulation intervention. The subspecialty has launched specialized diagnostic and treatment programs in its outpatient clinics, including “PD Brain Function Imaging,” “Genetic Testing and Genetic Counseling for Movement Disorders,” “DBS Neuromodulation,” “Botulinum Toxin Injection for Dystonia,” and “Multidisciplinary Joint Outpatient Clinic for Movement Disorder Neuromodulation.” In 2021, it established the first “one-stop specialized disease center integrating online and offline services for PD” nationwide, providing optimized diagnostic and treatment services for Parkinson's disease/Parkinsonism, dystonia, essential tremor, cerebellar ataxia, motor neuron disease, and other conditions. Since 2011, it has provided chronic disease management through an online database for PD patients receiving long-term follow-up. Relying on this platform, it established the PD collaborative research platform “China e-Pa Alliance” in 2018. Currently, the number of people registered in the database has exceeded 20,000, and molecular imaging of brain function and precise diagnosis have been performed for more than 3,000 PD patients among them. More than 130 hospitals nationwide have joined the “China e-Pa Alliance.” The subspecialty has currently obtained more than 20 national-level projects, including projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology, and has published more than 200 SCI papers. Relevant research findings have been published in professional journals including JAMA Neurol, Cell Res, Cell Rep Med, Brain, Cell Discov, Nat Commun, EBioMedicine, and Mov Disord. It led the international expert consensus on the “Application of DAT Molecular Imaging in Parkinson's Disease.” It has led multiple clinical trials of Parkinson's disease drugs and genes, including WD1603 and VGN-R09b. It has received honors including the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award and the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award.

Neuromuscular Disease Group

The Neuromuscular Disease Group was established in 2005. Over nearly 20 years, it has worked intensively in the field of neuromuscular diseases and accumulated abundant case resources and diagnostic and treatment experience. It took the lead in establishing the Pan-Yangtze River Delta Neuromuscular Disease Alliance and the Rare Disease Center of Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University. It is currently the leading institution of the Chinese Myasthenia Gravis Collaborative Group, with influence ranking among the top nationwide. The Huashan Hospital neuromuscular disease team organized China's first RCT clinical trial of myasthenia gravis treatment and completed the first phase II and phase III clinical trials of myasthenia gravis treatment with positive results. The team's main diseases include: (1) myasthenia gravis; (2) peripheral neuropathy; (3) muscle diseases; in 2019, it took the lead in establishing the Pan-Yangtze River Delta Neuromuscular Disease Alliance, whose member institutions include more than 100 hospitals covering 24 provinces, cities, and centrally administered municipalities nationwide. The team has now led 19 domestic and international multicenter clinical studies, taken the lead in drafting 3 diagnosis, treatment, and management consensuses related to myasthenia gravis, undertaken 12 projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and 4 projects at the Shanghai municipal level or above, obtained 5 invention patents, and received the Third Prize of the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award. The team has contributed multiple clinical research findings in the field of myasthenia gravis, discovered and reported a novel pathogenic gene for oculopharyngodistal myopathy in Chinese patients, and established multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment teams for myasthenia gravis, spinal muscular atrophy, late-onset Pompe disease, and hereditary peripheral neuropathy. The team's research findings have resulted in nearly 180 papers published in SCI journals including JAMA Neurology, Lancet Neurology, and Brain. Over the past 10 years, the number of SCI articles published in the field of myasthenia gravis has ranked second worldwide, next only to the Mayo Clinic.

Cognitive Impairment Group

The Cognitive Impairment Group is one of the first “Core Advanced Cognitive Impairment Diagnosis and Treatment Centers” nationwide and is the main entity of the Fudan University Institute of Cognitive Impairment. In recent years, the subspecialty group has carried out a series of studies on the pathogenesis, precision prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cognitive impairment diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), led the development of international guidelines for AD prevention, discovered novel fluid and imaging biomarkers of AD, and led multiple clinical trials of new drugs and diagnostics, including Remternetug, Trontinemab, and [18F]florzolotau, strongly promoting clinical research in the field of cognitive impairment. The group has established Shanghai's first specialty ward for cognitive impairment (Hongqiao Campus), equipped with multiple neuropsychological assessment rooms, and opened special-needs outpatient clinics, expert outpatient clinics, a specialized memory impairment outpatient clinic, and memory screening and prevention and treatment outpatient clinics, providing full-dimensional assessment and all-round diagnosis and treatment services for patients with AD, mild cognitive impairment, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease dementia, frontotemporal dementia, multiple system atrophy, autoimmune dementia, rapidly progressive dementia, and other cognitive impairment-related diseases. With support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and others, the group took the lead in establishing the “China Health Aging and Dementia Community Cohort (HEAD)” and the Huashan Cognitive Impairment Clinical Cohort, accumulating abundant biological samples and clinical data. The subspecialty group actively conducts interdisciplinary and integrative collaborations, constructs multi-omics maps including proteomics of health and disease, and seeks new targets for disease treatment. Relevant research findings have been published in top journals including Cell, Nat Hum Behav, Nat Commun, and Lancet Neurol. It has published more than 200 SCI papers in total and received multiple honors including the First Prize of the Provincial Natural Science Award and the Second Prize of the Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.

Neuroimmunology Group

The Neuroimmunology Group is characterized by the close integration of clinical diagnosis and treatment, development of testing technologies, and clinical research. The subspecialty has accumulated extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune and infectious encephalitis and meningitis and paraneoplastic syndromes, and focuses on clinical diagnosis and treatment practice, large-scale clinical cohort studies, and long-term disease management for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and MOG antibody-associated diseases. It took the lead in establishing the Central Nervous System Neuroimmunology and Infection MDT outpatient clinic, which has provided services to more than 1,200 patients from 27 provinces and cities nationwide to date, and received honors including the Regional Excellence Award of the 7th China Hospital Management. It took the lead in forming the “Pan-Yangtze River Delta Demyelinating Disease Alliance” and the “National Huashan Hospital Neurology Neuroimmunology and Infection MDT Diagnosis and Treatment Alliance.” It was an early domestic institution to carry out immune parameter and oligoclonal band testing and central nervous system autoantibody testing, and was the first in China to use the kappa free light chain index for the diagnosis of MS. It led a multicenter study to establish a standardized testing process for oligoclonal bands, successfully translated 1 autoantibody testing patent, and obtained approval for 2 medical technologies, the first of their kind in Shanghai. In clinical trials, it has led multiple multicenter clinical trials of MS and NMOSD, including the PERSUS, REMODEL, and FREXALT studies; it has undertaken 6 Phase I, II, and III international and domestic multicenter clinical trials and 7 IIT studies of new drugs for neuroimmune diseases, including monoclonal antibodies and small-molecule immunomodulators. It took the lead in formulating 《Chinese Expert Consensus on the Evaluation and Management of Neurological Complications Associated with Novel Coronavirus Infection (2023 )》; participated in formulating the 《International DELPHI Consensus on the Treatment of AQP4 Antibody-Positive NMOSD》; and drafted a series of expert recommendations of the Pan-Yangtze River Delta Alliance, including 《Standardized Evaluation of MS》 and 《Standardized Evaluation and Structured Reporting of Brain and Spinal Cord MRI in MS》. Research findings have been published in journals including Nat Struct Mol Biol, JAMA Network Open, Journal Of Neurology Neurosurgery And Psychiatry, Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm, and Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging.

Epilepsy Group

The Epilepsy Group was founded in 1956. In 2004, the “Fudan University Epilepsy Diagnosis and Treatment Center” was established. It is one of the first “China Association Against Epilepsy EEG Training Bases” and “Comprehensive Epilepsy Centers” nationwide.

This professional group has conducted extensive innovative, advanced, and distinctive research on the etiology/pathogenesis of epilepsy, the development of new drug targets and treatment methods for drug-resistant epilepsy, precise localization of epileptogenic foci based on brain function imaging, construction of an AI-assisted decision-making system for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of adult epilepsy covering warning-diagnosis-preoperative assessment, construction of a long-term follow-up and management platform for patients with epilepsy, the pharmacokinetics and safety of new antiseizure medications, and comprehensive regulation and intervention for drug-resistant epilepsy in collaboration with functional neurosurgery. It has launched outpatient programs including “Long-Term Management of Epilepsy Medication and Monitoring of Adverse Reactions,” “Genetic Testing and Health Counseling for Genes Associated with Hereditary Epilepsy,” “Promotion of the Concept of Wearable EEG Device Monitoring and Home Monitoring of Vital Signs,” and “Comprehensive Assessment with Brain Function Imaging and Neuroimaging.” It admits nearly 1,000 hospitalized patients with epilepsy annually, has the earliest and largest specialized disease outpatient clinic in East China, and conducts more than 10,000 epilepsy patient follow-up visits annually. The subspecialty group has also comprehensively integrated the advantageous resources of functional neurosurgery, electrophysiology, imaging, pharmacy, and other disciplines to conduct joint epilepsy MDT outpatient clinics, accumulating extensive experience in individualized and precise diagnosis and treatment. The 2023 edition of 《Clinical Practice Guidelines, Epilepsy Volume》, of which this professional group was the chief editor, is highly recognized in this field.

Over the past 5 years, this professional group has led 6 General projects and 4 Young Scientists Fund projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and led and participated in multiple important tasks including subprojects of the National Key R&D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology and subprojects of major special projects of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission. Members of the group have published more than 100 SCI papers, including in high-level journals such as Lancet Neurology and Epilepsia. Relevant findings have received the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award and the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award, and 4 national invention patents have been approved.

Sleep Medicine Group

The Sleep Medicine Group was established in 2005. In 2007, a sleep center was established under a multidisciplinary co-construction model; in 2010, the standard sleep monitoring room was opened to clinical use; and in 2020, an independent ward was opened at Hongqiao Campus. During nearly 20 years of discipline development, it has continuously worked to enhance the discipline's overall strength. The subspecialty group has accumulated abundant cases in clinical practice and successively established the world's largest single-center RBD cohort and a narcolepsy cohort, as well as constructed a chronic insomnia cohort and a multimodal characterization cohort of sleep-disordered breathing. In collaboration with the imaging expert team of Huashan Hospital, it has conducted research on imaging biomarkers of the progression of RBD to neurodegenerative disease. In 2019, it was invited to become a member of the International RBD Study Group. Since 2010, through WeChat groups such as the “Huashan RBD Community” and the “Huashan Narcolepsy Community,” the group has continuously provided patients with the latest developments in this disease field in the form of health education. In terms of standardized discipline development, the subspecialty group participated in drafting multiple guidelines, including the 《Guidelines for the Construction of Chinese Sleep Medicine Centers》, the 《Guidelines for the Standardized Construction of Chinese Sleep Medicine Centers》, and 《Sleep Medicine Terminology》. Since 2017, it has been an AASM-authorized overseas training center for international registered sleep technologists; in 2024, it was invited by the National Health Commission Capacity Building and Continuing Education Center to become a designated China sleep technologist competency training center. The group continuously explores new diagnostic and treatment technologies, attempts to combine traditional medicine with Western medicine, conducts research and development of wearable sleep diagnostic technologies, and explores new approaches to treating sleep disorders through noninvasive neuromodulation technologies using sound, light, electricity, and other means. To date, the team has led or participated in a total of 10 projects, including National Natural Science Foundation of China projects, key special projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and international (regional) cooperation and exchange projects, as well as 3 projects of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission. Nearly 50 papers have been published in journals including Brain, Sleep, IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, J Cereb Blood Flow Metab, J Neurol., NPJ Parkinsons Dis., and Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging.

| Teaching |--------------

The Department of Neurology of Huashan Hospital conducts three-dimensional, stratified, precise, and full-coverage teaching. Professor Dong Qiang has received the National Outstanding Base Director award, and many teachers have received the Shanghai Outstanding Clinical Teaching Teacher and Fudan University Outstanding Clinical Teaching Teacher awards. In 2008, Neurology received the Shanghai High-Quality Course award. From 2021 to 2024, the Neurology (MBBS) course received support multiple times from programs including the “Shanghai Municipal Key Courses of Higher Education Institutions” and “Fudan University Shanghai Medical College English-Taught Courses.” Over the past 5 years, the department has jointly compiled 10 textbooks and 28 monographs and popular science works, and has undertaken 7 undergraduate teaching classes in Neurology and Diagnostics across multiple educational tracks and 1 MBBS all-English teaching class at Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, as well as 3 graduate courses. The Department of Neurology has 13 doctoral supervisors and 14 master's supervisors, and trains more than 20 master's and doctoral students each year. Since the establishment of the standardized resident training base of the Department of Neurology in 2010, more than ten years ago, 100 base trainees have successfully completed their programs. Every year, multiple graduate students and base trainees receive honors including National Scholarships, Shanghai Outstanding Graduates, and Shanghai Outstanding Residents, as well as funding from Young Scientists Fund projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shanghai Sailing Program, and the Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program. In terms of continuing education, it trains more than 100 clinical visiting physicians and subspecialty visiting physicians every year and organizes multiple national and municipal continuing education courses. At the same time, the Department of Neurology teaching team promotes neurology teaching through the “Shencai Feiyang” and “Huashan College” online platforms, covering modules including “Case-Based Practice,” “Guideline Interpretation/Standardized Diagnosis and Treatment,” and “Clinical Research/Translation,” achieving development from “stratified teaching” to “three-dimensional teaching.”

| Research |--------------

Over the past 5 years, it has received multiple grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, including 1 key project, 29 General projects, 20 Young Scientists Fund projects, 1 cultivation project, 1 subproject of a project for the integration of industrialization and informatization, and 1 integrated project of a major research program; the National Health Commission National Clinical Key Specialty Construction Project; multiple projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, including the Major Project for Sci-Tech Innovation 2030, subprojects of the Major Project for Sci-Tech Innovation 2030, and subprojects of the National Key R&D Program; multiple Shanghai municipal projects, including 3 subprojects of Shanghai municipal major special projects, 7 funded projects of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, 10 projects of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, 1 project of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and 3 projects of the Shanghai Shenkang Hospital Development Center; multiple Fudan University-funded projects, including the Everest Talent Cultivation Project of the Fudan University Center for Brain Science Frontiers, the cultivation funding of the Brain Plan Project of the Fudan University Center for Brain Science Frontiers, and clinical research projects of Shanghai Medical College; and multiple grants from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and others.

Over the past 5 years, more than 1,000 academic papers have been published, including more than 100 SCI papers with an impact factor greater than 10. Many academic papers have been published in internationally top journals including Nature, Cell, Lancet Neurology, JAMA Neurology, and Brain, and multiple national-, municipal-, and university-level talent honors have been received.

| Departmental Honors |--------------

The department has ranked among the top of various specialty rankings in China for many years and has received honors including “National Excellent Quality Control Center” and “Shanghai Worker Pioneer.”

Multiple experts from the department serve as expert committee members of important academic societies and associations including the Neurology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, the Neurology Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and the International Disease Association. They have participated in compiling the textbook 《Neurology》 under the 13th Five-Year Plan project of the People's Medical Publishing House and serve as editorial board members of domestic and international journals. The department has hosted major international academic conferences multiple times and led the drafting of or participated in international English-language/domestic Chinese-language disease guidelines and consensus statements.