Tuberculosis Department

The Department of Tuberculosis of Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, was established in 1933. It is one of the earliest institutions in China for tuberculosis prevention, treatment, and research, and houses the country’s first provincial- and ministerial-level key laboratory for tuberculosis. It was among the founding institutions of the Tuberculosis Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, the Chinese Antituberculosis Association, the Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Branch of the China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care, and the Tuberculosis Specialty Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association. Commissioned by the Ministry of Health, it organized the first national epidemiological survey of tuberculosis and, as a subcenter for tuberculosis control, was responsible for technical guidance and training in tuberculosis prevention and control in 16 southern provinces. In 2017, it was selected as one of Shanghai’s most important clinical key disciplines; in 2019, it received support from the Shanghai Clinical Key Specialty Development Program. In 2020, the Shanghai Clinical Medical Research Center for Infectious Diseases (Tuberculosis) was established. The department is also a national demonstration base for the prevention and control of drug-resistant tuberculosis, a national continuing education base, a national standardized training base for nontuberculous mycobacterial disease, and a designated hospital in Shanghai for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

At present, the department has 5 wards and 240 beds. It admits more than 18,000 inpatients and diagnoses and treats approximately 150,000 outpatients annually. It is at the national leading level in the differential diagnosis and treatment of difficult and complicated pulmonary diseases; bronchoscopic interventional therapy; the diagnosis and treatment of NTM pulmonary disease, drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis, extrapulmonary tuberculosis, and severe tuberculosis; and the clinical research and application of new anti-tuberculosis drugs. In the promotion and application of new technologies for rapid molecular diagnosis of tuberculosis and new treatment regimens and strategies, it is synchronized with international developments and has reached a leading level in China. At the same time, as the leading institution of the Shanghai Expert Group on multidrug resistance, it guides the differential diagnosis and treatment of multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis throughout Shanghai. As a designated institution for cadre health care in Shanghai, it undertakes the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis among cadres receiving health care throughout the city.

The department has 49 physicians and 5 full-time scientific researchers, including 8 senior professionals, 16 associate senior professionals, and 5 doctoral supervisors. Its experts and academic leaders include recipients of the State Council Special Government Allowance; members of the Tuberculosis Expert Advisory Committee of the former Ministry of Health; core members of the WHO Global Tuberculosis Guidelines Development Group and the Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Initiative Working Group; honorary chairpersons and standing committee members of the Tuberculosis Branch of the Chinese Medical Association; the head of the Clinical Group of the Tuberculosis Branch of the Chinese Medical Association; the chairperson of the Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria Professional Committee of the Tuberculosis Branch of the Chinese Medical Association; the founding chairperson and standing committee members of the Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Branch of the China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care; executive council members of the Chinese Antituberculosis Association; the chairperson of the Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria Branch of the Chinese Antituberculosis Association; deputy editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases; editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Antituberculosis; the chairperson of the Tuberculosis Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association; and the vice-chairperson of the Shanghai Antituberculosis Association. The department brings together high-level professionals, including State Council Special Government Allowance experts, Chang Jiang Scholars, National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars awardees, Shanghai Leading Talent awardees, Shanghai Medical Leading Talent awardees, and outstanding academic leaders in public health.

The department has successively undertaken more than 30 national and provincial- or ministerial-level projects, including projects under the National Major Science and Technology Special Projects of the 11th, 12th, and 13th Five-Year Plans; the National Major Science and Technology Special Project for the Prevention and Control of Emerging, Sudden, and Major Infectious Diseases; the National Key Research and Development Program; key and general projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China; projects funded by the Global Fund; key projects of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology; and key projects of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health. These projects involved research funding of more than RMB 80 million. The department has participated in multiple global multicenter clinical trials of new anti-tuberculosis drugs. It holds numerous invention patents and, in recent years, has received 5 awards, including the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award, the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award, and the Shanghai Technology Invention Award. More than 100 SCI papers have been published over the past five years. Entrusted by the Chinese Antituberculosis Association and the Tuberculosis Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, the department has successively taken responsibility for drafting more than 10 national- or provincial- and ministerial-level technical standards, guidelines, and expert consensuses, including the Opinions on the Chemotherapy of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (Trial), Guidelines for the Chemotherapy of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease, Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease, Expert Recommendations on the Diagnosis and Management of Drug-Induced Liver Injury Caused by Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs, Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Retreatment Tuberculosis, Expert Consensus on Risk Management of Tuberculosis Infection in Adult Hemodialysis Patients, Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Schools in Shanghai, 2022 Edition, Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis, 2025 Edition, Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Combined Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Pulmonary Disease and Bronchiectasis, Expert Consensus on the Molecular Diagnosis of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease, and Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Preventive Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Close Contacts of Patients with Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis. These documents were subsequently issued nationwide to tuberculosis prevention and control institutions by the Tuberculosis Branch of the Chinese Medical Association or the Chinese Antituberculosis Association.