Endocrinology

Peking University Third Hospital (PKU Third Hospital) Department of Endocrinology was established in 1984 under the leadership of the renowned internist Professor Huang Dayou and was formally founded in 1985. Through the tireless efforts of successive department directors, including Li Qiongfang, Deng Zhengzhao, and Hong Tianpei, the department has developed strong overall capabilities in clinical care, education, and research, and has become one of the leading endocrinology teams among major hospitals in China. The Department of Endocrinology currently has 49 physicians, nurses, and technicians, including 5 professors/chief physicians, 2 research fellows, 7 associate professors/associate chief physicians, 10 attending physicians, 1 associate research fellow, 6 resident physicians, 3 senior technicians, 2 associate chief nurses, 7 charge nurses, and 5 nurses, of whom 23 hold doctoral degrees. Two diabetes specialist nurses have received professional training at the Joslin Diabetes Center in the United States and in Hong Kong. The department comprises the Endocrinology Ward (30 beds, with 20 beds at the Airport Campus), the Endocrinology Outpatient Department, the Endocrinology Laboratory, and the Clinical Pharmacology Unit, among others. In recent years, under the leadership of Department Director Professor Hong Tianpei, a group of renowned young and accomplished experts and academic leaders has emerged, and the department has repeatedly been recognized by PKU Third Hospital as an outstanding management team. The department emphasizes using research projects to drive disciplinary development and places great importance on the close integration of clinical care, education, and research. Research on the pathophysiology of pancreatic β-cells, stem cell differentiation, and endocrine and reproductive diseases is at the forefront in China and has also achieved a certain degree of international influence, with numerous papers published in high-level international academic journals such as JAMA. The Department of Endocrinology of Peking University Third Hospital has been nominated for seven consecutive years in the Fudan Version of the China Hospital Specialty Reputation Ranking. In the “2022 Specialty Reputation Ranking” released on November 25, 2023, it ranked 16th nationally and 6th in North China; in 2021, it ranked 16th in the specialty ranking by scientific and technological influence of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and it ranked joint 10th overall from 2016 to 2021. In October 2023, the Department of Endocrinology of Peking University Third Hospital was approved as a 2023 National Clinical Key Specialty Development Project and received central government financial support.

I. Clinical Work

With the rapid development of the social economy, endocrine and metabolic diseases have increasingly become major diseases threatening public health. The annual outpatient volume of the Department of Endocrinology has exceeded 150,000 visits, making it one of the endocrinology departments with the largest outpatient volumes in Beijing. The department admits approximately 1,200 inpatients annually, with an average length of stay of approximately 7 days. Diabetes and thyroid diseases are the major focuses of the department’s clinical work. The department also has a high level of expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of endocrine and metabolic diseases, including adrenal diseases, pituitary diseases, gonadal diseases, growth and developmental abnormalities, obesity, and bone metabolic diseases. In addition to routine specialist and subspecialty outpatient clinics, the department has established a diabetes patient education clinic and a nutrition counseling clinic in response to the needs of patients with diabetes. Specialist nurses and dietitians provide patients with one-on-one answers to their questions, improve patients’ awareness of self-management, and establish electronic management records. In response to the needs of patients undergoing assisted reproduction, the department has established a specialized endocrinology and reproductive medicine clinic, providing systematic preconception, antenatal, and postpartum management for women of childbearing age with thyroid or other endocrine diseases. In particular, the department has accumulated extensive clinical data on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with thyroid autoimmunity undergoing assisted reproduction. In December 2017, together with the Reproductive Medicine Center, it published a large randomized controlled clinical study in JAMA (impact factor: 44.405), thereby generating significant international influence for the department’s clinical expertise in this field. In addition, the Department of Endocrinology sends experts to community hospitals every week to provide guidance, contributing to alleviating the difficulty patients experience in accessing medical care and making useful explorations of an integrated management model for large hospitals and community hospitals.

The Endocrinology Ward is equipped with advanced medical devices, including continuous glucose monitoring systems, insulin pumps, and an insulin clamp testing system. The Endocrinology Laboratory performs laboratory testing for diabetes, thyroid diseases, and various endocrine and metabolic diseases. It also conducts various endocrine function tests, including the dexamethasone suppression test, ACTH stimulation test, hypoglycemia provocation test, water deprivation–desmopressin test, and GnRH stimulation test. In recent years, the proportion of difficult-to-diagnose and rare diseases has increased year by year. Taking DRG (Diagnosis-Related Group) classification as an example, the Department of Endocrinology covers a broad range of DRGs with a high level of complexity and has accumulated extensive experience in diagnosing and treating many difficult and critical cases, including Kallmann syndrome, MEN2, Erdheim-Chester syndrome, lymphocytic hypophysitis, and adrenal crisis, demonstrating the department’s high level of clinical expertise.

In addition to routine diagnosis and treatment of endocrine diseases, the department also explores new approaches to disease diagnosis and treatment. Since 2000, the Department of Endocrinology has taken the lead in China in conducting preclinical research on stem cell therapy for diabetes. In 2017, it promoted stem cell therapy for diabetic nephropathy into the clinical trial stage and submitted the project for filing with the National Health Commission. In 2009, it was the first in China and internationally to elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of diabetes in patients with aniridia. In 2010, commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Department Director Hong Tianpei led the development of the health industry standard of the People’s Republic of China, “Screening and Diagnosis of Diabetes.” In 2015, the department collaborated with the Department of General Surgery to establish a metabolic and weight-reduction clinic. In 2017, it took the lead in developing the “Expert Consensus on the Use of Glucose-Lowering Medications in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease.”

The Department of Endocrinology’s clinical expertise has received recognition from peers and professional societies in China. Ten department members have, on separate occasions, held important academic positions, including Deputy Chair of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Standing Committee Member of the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Vice President of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Chair of the Endocrinology Branch of the Beijing Medical Association, Chair and Deputy Chair of the Endocrinology Branch of the Beijing Medical Association, Standing Council Member of the Endocrinology Specialist Physicians Branch of the Beijing Medical Doctor Association, Chair of the Endocrinology Professional Committee of the Beijing Nursing Association, and committee member of several other professional societies. Young academic leaders in the department serve as members of the Youth Committees of all relevant specialty branches of the Chinese Medical Association/Chinese Medical Doctor Association. All staff members with senior professional titles serve as members of at least two study groups of specialty branches of the Chinese Medical Association. In 2018, Department Director Hong Tianpei received the “National Renowned Physician—Outstanding Achievement” award.

II. Research Work

Academic research in endocrinology begins with clinical problems and is guided by translational medicine. Major research directions include stem cell differentiation; basic and clinical research on pancreatic β-cells and endothelial dysfunction; and basic-to-clinical translational research on diabetes, prediabetes, thyroid diseases, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, and other conditions. The department has been responsible for more than 70 national- and provincial/ministerial-level projects, including projects under the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National 973 Program, the National 863 Program, the Science and Technology Support Program, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, the Beijing Natural Science Foundation, the Ministry of Education Doctoral Program Foundation, Ministry of Health research projects, and the Chinese Medical Board of New York, USA. Members of the department have received National Natural Science Foundation funding for 7 consecutive years (11 years in total), with ³2 projects per year; in 2023, the department received funding for 5 general projects of the National Natural Science Foundation. To date, the department has received a cumulative total of 37 National Natural Science Foundation-funded projects.

The department has published more than 300 academic papers in core journals in China and abroad, including more than 80 papers in SCI-indexed journals. It has received numerous awards, including the Beijing Science and Technology Award, the Science and Technology Progress Award of the State Education Commission (Class A), the Beijing Medical Science and Technology Award, the Kuang Ankun Award for Outstanding Contribution of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, the Beijing Science and Technology Progress Award, and the New Star Award for Research on Insulin Secretion in China. In addition, the department took the lead in organizing important national conferences, including the First Translational Medicine Forum on Endocrinology and Metabolism of the Chinese Medical Association, the First Young Physicians Forum of the Youth Committee of the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and the Beijing Annual Conference on Endocrinology and Diabetes. Department members have repeatedly delivered plenary presentations, special reports, oral presentations, and poster presentations at important academic conferences in China and abroad.

III. Teaching Work

Since its establishment, the Department of Endocrinology has attached great importance to teaching and has made full use of the mentoring and role-modeling contributions of renowned experts in medical, nursing, and research education. Many physicians and nurses have successively received honors including Outstanding Teacher of Peking University Health Science Center, Outstanding Teacher of Peking University Third Hospital, and “Good Mentor and Helpful Friend” for graduate students. PKU Third Hospital was the first institution within the Peking University medical system to offer a doctoral program in endocrinology and was also among the earliest institutions in China to establish such a doctoral program. It has trained more than 50 postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and master’s students. The Department of Endocrinology also undertakes extensive teaching responsibilities for 8-year medical students, graduate students, Beijing resident physicians, visiting physicians, international students, and others. It has long organized various continuing education programs at the national, Beijing municipal, district, and county levels, covering comprehensive prevention and treatment of diabetes, diabetes screening and early diagnosis, endocrine diseases and reproductive health, and other topics. The department regularly provides training in comprehensive diabetes management for community physicians from 34 institutions in its specialist medical consortium and holds educational and training courses in cities and counties surrounding Beijing, enabling large numbers of primary care physicians to supplement and update their knowledge.

In recent years, the Department of Endocrinology of PKU Third Hospital has made substantial progress in disciplinary development. It has established eight subspecialties: endocrinology, metabolism and reproductive health; diabetes; thyroid diseases; obesity; osteoporosis and bone metabolic diseases; adrenal diseases; rare diseases and pituitary diseases; and community chronic disease and health management. It has also established more than 10 disease-specific outpatient clinics, serving large numbers of patients from across China. The department has implemented hospital-wide blood glucose management within the hospital, providing support for blood glucose management in all inpatients. It also conducts two-way patient referral management with community healthcare institutions. In 2022, it received approval for two Beijing Municipal Health Commission projects for the development of specialty departments for specific diseases at community health service institutions (type 2 diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis).

In summary, the Department of Endocrinology follows the development trends of endocrine system diseases while taking its own characteristics into account, actively strengthening disciplinary development and making full use of the advantages of a large comprehensive teaching hospital affiliated with Peking University. It strives to achieve comprehensive development in clinical care, education, and research, continuously improve the department’s overall capabilities, and build the discipline into a national clinical key specialty recognized by patients, respected by peers, distinctive in its strengths, and outstanding in its professional services.