Endocrinology

Tongji Hospital’s specialty in endocrinology and metabolic diseases was established in the 1950s by Professor Shao Bingyang, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. With the strong leadership and support of the hospital Party Committee and administration, the department has continuously developed and expanded under the direction of successive department chairs—Professors Jin Zhixin, Cai Shilin, Zhang Muxun, and Yu Xuefeng—and has become a leading and distinctive discipline in China. It has successively been approved as a subcenter of the National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases and as the Hubei Provincial Clinical Medical Research Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases. The current academic leader is Professor Yang Yan. The department comprises 7 subspecialties: diabetes, thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, gonadal, bone metabolism, and rare diseases. It has a specialized clinical laboratory for endocrinology at the main campus and 2 research laboratories at the Sino-French New City campus. It has 5 wards, with 160 specialized beds; it admits more than 9,000 inpatients annually and records nearly 190,000 outpatient visits each year. There are 32 staff physicians, including 7 physicians with senior professional titles, 15 with associate-senior professional titles, 5 doctoral supervisors, and 8 master’s supervisors. Professor Yang Yan is a Standing Committee member of the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. Professor Yu Xuefeng is a Standing Committee member of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a Standing Committee member of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and Chair of the Hubei Society of Endocrinology. Professor Chen Yong has received the “Qiushi” Outstanding Young Scientist Award, been selected for the National High-Level Talent Program, the Excellent Young Scientists program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and other programs, and is a Hubei Province Hundred Talents Distinguished Professor; he serves as Deputy Chair of the Insulin Resistance Group of the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and as a committee member of the Obesity Branch of the Chinese Society for Biophysics. Professor Yuan Gang is Deputy Chair of the Hubei Society of Diabetes and Chair of the Diabetes Society of the Wuhan Medical Association. Professor Liu Zhelong is a Standing Committee member of the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Research Hospitals Association, Deputy Chair of the Osteoporosis Committee of the Hubei Medical Association, Deputy Chair of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Professional Committee of the Hubei Preventive Medicine Association, Deputy Chair of the Endocrinology Branch of the Wuhan Medical Association, and Chair of its Youth Committee. Under the leadership of the hospital Party Committee and administration, Tongji Hospital’s Department of Endocrinology has made significant progress in medical care, education, and research. Through innovative diagnostic and treatment models, a strong teaching environment, and outstanding research capabilities, the Department of Endocrinology has made important contributions to the development of endocrinology and metabolic diseases in China and plays an important leading role in Central China and nationwide. The department has established multiple alliances centered in Hubei and extending to surrounding areas, including alliances for obesity, diabetic eye disease, pituitary diseases, adrenal diseases, thyroid diseases, type 1 diabetes, and refractory wounds. Through these alliances, MDT outpatient clinics, and other measures, it has enhanced its ability to diagnose and treat complex and critically ill patients and attracted large numbers of patients from outside the province. In education, the department undertakes extensive teaching for postgraduate students, undergraduate students, visiting trainees, and physicians undergoing standardized residency training, providing the field with a large number of highly qualified professionals. In research, the department’s strength has consistently ranked among the best in China. Over the past 5 years, it has ranked near the top of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Science and Technology Evaluation Metrics (STEM) comprehensive rankings; in 2024, it ranked 7th nationally and 1st in Hubei Province. The department has cumulatively led 43 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and, in 2024, also received 1 National Major Science and Technology Project in the field of endocrinology and metabolic diseases. Through participation in major projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology as subproject leaders and key members, it has achieved a series of major results. It has published more than 650 papers as first or corresponding author, including more than 300 indexed by SCI, in internationally authoritative journals such as Nature Communications, Hepatology, Diabetes Care, Cardiovasc Diabetol, and Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism. Owing to its strong academic influence in China, experts from the Department of Endocrinology have served as editors-in-chief or contributing editors of numerous authoritative clinical guidelines, consensus statements, and professional works in the field. The department led the development of several expert consensus statements, including the “Expert Consensus on Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients with Diabetes” (2021 edition), “Management of Obesity-Related Metabolic Comorbidities in Adults: Consensus Statement and Endocrinology Expert Recommendations,” and “Expert Guidance on the Clinical Application of Empagliflozin/Metformin Combination Preparations.” It also served as editor-in-chief of “Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases” and “Standards for the Use of Insulin Pumps in In-Hospital Blood Glucose Management,” and as deputy editor-in-chief of “Systemic Endocrinology.”