Urology

The Department of Urology of Peking University Third Hospital was founded in 1958. Through the unremitting efforts of the successive department heads Professor Yang Wenzhi, Professor Chen Zhongxin, Professor Ma Lulin and Professor Zhang Shudong, it has developed into a large urology diagnosis and treatment centre integrating clinical practice, research and teaching and enjoying a high reputation in China. It is now a National Key Clinical Specialty Construction Unit of the National Health Commission, an Endoscopic Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Training Base, a National Key Discipline of the Ministry of Education, a key construction discipline of Peking University Third Hospital, and a doctoral degree-granting unit in surgery of Peking University. The department currently has 42 full-time physicians, 7 doctoral supervisors and 11 master's supervisors, 95 standard inpatient beds and an annual surgical volume of more than 4,000 operations, of which nearly 500 are robot-assisted laparoscopic operations. It comprises 18 medical groups: the adrenal disease group, the renal tumour group, the upper tract urothelial carcinoma group, the bladder cancer group, the stone group, the kidney transplantation group, the andrology group, the urinary continence group and others, covering a broad range of the discipline with strong comprehensive strength.

The current department head and discipline leader, Chief Physician Zhang Shudong, is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Peking University, a member of the Minimally Invasive Group of the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a standing committee member of the Urological and Male Genital Tumour Professional Committee of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, and a member of the Kidney Cancer Expert Committee of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology. He specialises in robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery for difficult and complex tumours and has been repeatedly invited to give live surgical demonstrations at the CUA National Congress, the Minimally Invasive Annual Meeting and the academic annual meetings of various provinces and cities. He has led more than 20 projects, including those of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Beijing Natural Science Foundation and the National Health Commission. He has received honours including the Rising Star Award of the World Chinese Urological Society and the Young Post Expert title of the Peking University Health Science Center.

The former department head, Professor Ma Lulin, is a Grade II Professor of Peking University, a doctoral supervisor and Vice President of Beijing Haidian Hospital. He is a standing committee member of the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and deputy head of its Tumour Group, vice-chairman of the Urology Professional Committee of the Beijing Medical Association, former head of the Kidney Transplantation Group of the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, head of the Chinese Collaborative Group for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Renal Cancer with Inferior Vena Cava Tumour Thrombus, deputy editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Minimally Invasive Surgery and a standing editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Urology. He is a first-class domestic expert in urological laparoscopy, giant and complex tumours, vena cava tumour thrombus diagnosis and treatment, and kidney transplantation, with superb skills and a reputation at home and abroad.

The overall discipline development goal of the Department of Urology of Peking University Third Hospital is to become an internationally renowned urology diagnosis, treatment and research centre, leading the development of the discipline in fields such as the diagnosis and treatment of renal cancer with inferior vena cava tumour thrombus, nephron-sparing surgery for complex renal tumours, and comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. At present the department has an independent urology laboratory and a clinical biospecimen bank, and is staffed with 3 full-time research personnel. Its main research projects include clinical and basic research on renal cancer and tumour thrombus, precision medicine research on prostate and bladder cancer, artificial intelligence and radiomics research on urological tumours, and clinical and basic translational research on male reproductive system diseases.

In terms of research, the Department of Urology of Peking University Third Hospital has an independent laboratory and has carried out a number of basic and translational studies. It has led 20 projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 1 National Key Clinical Specialty Construction Project of the National Health Commission, 4 key research and development projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, 1 Supporting Programme Project Fund, 1 National 973 Evidence-Based Medicine Fund, 1 National 211 Project Fund, and a number of provincial, ministerial and Peking University research projects, with a total amount of more than 20 million yuan. Under the leadership of successive department heads, it has translated or compiled more than ten urology monographs, published more than 900 scientific papers and more than 220 SCI papers in international journals, with important findings published in internationally recognised high-quality journals such as Advanced Materials, Nature Communications and Oncogene, the highest single-article impact factor exceeding 30. The department has served as chief editor or co-editor of 9 clinical guidelines and 62 professional books and has obtained 32 patents; it has participated in 81 phase III and phase IV clinical trials of new drugs and 11 clinical device development projects. The Department of Urology of Peking University Third Hospital has long maintained close academic cooperation with a number of renowned foreign academic institutions, including the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States, Massachusetts General Hospital and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and has achieved fruitful research results.

After more than sixty years, the Department of Urology of Peking University Third Hospital has come of age. The older generation worked hard and cultivated diligently, establishing outstanding achievements for the discipline; the new generation carries forward the mission and brings the spirit of its predecessors to greater heights. Led by Professor Zhang Shudong, the department is advancing simultaneously in clinical research, basic research and translational medicine through platform development, talent cultivation, subspecialty development and domestic and international cooperation, striving continuously to become an internationally renowned research-oriented department of urology at an early date.