Laboratory Medicine

The Laboratory Department of Shenzhen Children's Hospital is a comprehensive clinical laboratory for diagnostic testing integrating medical care, teaching, and research. The department has always adhered to the quality policy of “accuracy and efficiency, quality service, and continuous improvement,” providing precise and efficient medical laboratory services to safeguard the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric patients. The department has continued to grow and expand while supporting the overall development of the hospital. It strictly follows the ISO15189 laboratory accreditation standards and has established a standardized laboratory accredited for quality and competence. In line with the high-quality development requirements for tertiary-grade A hospitals, it has now entered a new stage of coordinated advancement and homogenized management between Futian and Longhua under the “one hospital, two campuses” model. At present, the department has established a new structure featuring well-developed subspecialty groups, a rationally configured talent pipeline, and distinctive professional and technical strengths.

The two campuses have a combined area of 4,600 square meters, with more than 670 instruments and equipment units (sets), original assets valued at nearly RMB 100 million, and a cumulative total of 691 laboratory items performed. In 2025, nearly 10 million tests were completed, and the annual testing capacity ranked among the leading children's hospitals in South China.

Key Strengths and Features The Laboratory Department comprises 6 professional groups: Clinical Basic Laboratory Testing (including outpatient, emergency, and inpatient testing), Clinical Biochemistry, Clinical Immunology, Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Hematology, and Molecular Diagnostics. It also has a Research Group dedicated to building a precision laboratory testing platform. The department is equipped with advanced automated testing equipment from China and abroad, providing robust support for clinical testing and scientific research. Major equipment includes: Abbott fully automated biochemistry and immunoassay line; Roche and Siemens fully automated chemiluminescence analyzers; Shimadzu tandem mass spectrometer; bioMérieux fully automated bacterial identification/antimicrobial susceptibility testing system; Langmai fully automated urinalysis line; URIT fully automated urinalysis line; Sysmex fully automated blood cell analysis workstation; Mindray fully automated blood cell analysis workstation; Sysmex CN-6000/CN-6500 fully automated coagulation analyzers; STAGO fully automated coagulation analyzer; BD Canto II three-laser, eight-color multicolor flow cytometer; Mindray MX three-laser, eight-color/14-color multicolor flow cytometer; Roche gene amplification instrument; Sebia fully automated capillary electrophoresis analyzer; VITEK 2 COMPACT fully automated bacterial identification/antimicrobial susceptibility testing system; BD fully automated blood culture system; ABI7300 nucleic acid amplification instrument; COBAS Z480 fully automated PCR analyzer; Phadia Immuno CAP1000 allergen analyzer; and GeneChip System 3000 gene chip system, among other advanced equipment from China and abroad. Each professional group closely follows the development of clinical disciplines and has established clinical laboratory platforms closely integrated with clinical practice.

Professional Group | Professional Features Clinical Laboratory Group | Body-fluid cytomorphology; point-of-care pathogen testing Biochemistry Group | Mass spectrometry detection of trace elements; hormone testing Immunology Group | Allergen testing; autoantibody testing Hematology Group | Flow cytometry; bone marrow morphology; coagulation testing; chromosome karyotype analysis Microbiology Group | Flight mass spectrometry detection of pathogens Molecular Diagnostics Group | Multiplex PCR pathogen detection; thalassemia gene screening

At the same time, focusing on the diagnostic and treatment needs of pediatric diseases, the department has developed six precision laboratory testing technology platforms: the cytomorphology testing platform, flow cytometry testing platform, mass spectrometry testing platform, pediatric allergen testing platform, cytogenetics testing platform, and high-throughput pathogen nucleic acid testing (NGS) and antimicrobial resistance monitoring platform, providing key decision-making support for clinical practice.

Expert Team The department has a highly qualified professional and technical team with strong professional ethics and a rational structure. The department currently has 104 employees, including 8 full-time doctoral degree holders and 41 master's degree holders; 6 senior professionals and 19 associate senior professionals; 16 personnel with qualifications as licensed clinical physicians; and 8 master's supervisors (at Shantou University and Southern University of Science and Technology).

At present, the department has established a talent pipeline centered on the department director, with professional group leaders and young and middle-aged professionals serving as its backbone. It has the capacity to resolve laboratory diagnostic issues involving complex and difficult pediatric diseases and is committed to providing high-quality and efficient testing and consultation services for clinical departments and pediatric patients.

Talent Development and Continuing Education The department undertakes teaching and talent development responsibilities. It is a full-time master's degree training site in the School of Medicine of Shantou University (Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics) and serves as a teaching and internship base for Chongqing Medical University, Bengbu Medical University, Jiaying University, Gannan Medical University, and many other higher-education institutions, forming a teaching system ranging from undergraduate internships to master's postgraduate training. The department emphasizes substantive development. Over the past five years, it has received 4 municipal-level awards for excellent graduation theses and 14 university-level awards for excellent graduation theses; it has been rated an “Excellent Internship Base” by Chongqing Medical University for many years and has received the hospital’s honorary title of “Advanced Teaching Collective” on multiple occasions. At the same time, the department actively conducts clinical teaching reform and has been approved for several undergraduate teaching reform research projects for clinical teaching bases by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education.

In continuing education, the department holds 1~2 provincial- or municipal-level continuing education conferences each year, focusing on the latest advances in pediatric pathogen diagnostics and flow cytometry, and continuously promoting the dissemination and improvement of pediatric laboratory medicine technology in the region.

The department emphasizes improving employee competencies and has established distinct teaching and training systems for personnel at different levels. Through lectures and supervised instruction, it stimulates employees’ enthusiasm for learning and continuously improves their professional competence. In 2025, a total of 209 training sessions were organized, including orientation training, night-shift training, professional study, ISO15189, and biosafety training. Each year, 20-30 professional backbones are sent to various academic conferences in China and abroad. The department has also sent professional and research backbones to Yale School of Medicine in the United States, the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada, and renowned institutions in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and other locations in China and abroad for advanced study.

Scientific Research and Academic Standing The department places great emphasis on scientific research innovation and clinical translation and routinely conducts medical-education-research MDT activities. A research group has been established, consisting of members with master's degrees or higher. Academic activities are held routinely every Friday, including English literature reading and discussion, basic scientific research skills training, and multidisciplinary medical-education-research collaboration. Through continuous standardized research activities, the quantity and quality of the department’s research projects and outputs have steadily improved.

In recent years, the department has undertaken more than 10 projects at various levels, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, key and general projects of the Shenzhen Municipal Commission of Science and Innovation, and the Shenzhen Medical Research Special Fund, with cumulative research funding exceeding RMB 10 million.

The department has achieved abundant academic results. Its team has published high-quality SCI papers in authoritative international journals including Genome Biology, Briefings in Bioinformatics, ACS Sensors, and Haematologica. In 2025, 25 SCI papers were published (with a cumulative impact factor of 92 points). In terms of professional influence, department experts have actively participated in formulating multiple national industry standards and expert consensuses, served as chief editors or contributing editors of numerous professional works, and obtained authorization for multiple invention patents, thereby achieving clinical translation. The department has profound academic expertise and influence in pediatric hematological diseases, rare diseases, and infectious diseases.

Future Development Plan Building on the present and looking to the future, the Laboratory Department will remain clinically needs-oriented and driven by technological innovation, actively introduce cutting-edge technologies and methods, and focus on building a high-quality service platform in which routine testing and pediatric specialty testing develop in parallel, providing solid support for the development of clinical specialties and subspecialties.

The department will continue to deepen the development of precision laboratory testing platforms and further strengthen its core technology platforms, focusing on the construction and improvement of: an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry platform; a pathogen NGS sequencing platform; a genetic NGS sequencing platform; a pediatric bacterial and fungal antimicrobial resistance monitoring network platform; and a pediatric hematological disease big-data and intelligent analysis platform, creating a new blueprint for precision laboratory testing. In addition, the department will focus on using digital transformation to drive laboratory services, improve quality and efficiency, and comprehensively advance the development of a smart laboratory. Relying on the coordinated development model of “one hospital, two campuses,” it will achieve regional information interconnection, deepen the smart laboratory information system, and improve laboratory-clinical decision-making capabilities. At the same time, the department will strictly align itself with the three standards of international hospital accreditation, tertiary-grade A hospital evaluation, and the ISO15189 management system. Through systematic, standardized, and refined management, it will continuously improve testing quality and service capacity and establish a high-level pediatric clinical laboratory diagnosis center.

Contact Information (Futian Campus) 3rd Floor, Building A; 3rd Floor, Building B, No. 7019 Yitian Road, Futian District, Shenzhen; (Longhua Campus) 3rd Floor, No. 198 Minzhi Avenue, Longhua District, Shenzhen.