Pathology

The Department of Pathology of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology—also known as the Institute of Pathology of Tongji Hospital—traces its origins to the Pathology Department of Baolong Hospital affiliated with the German Medical School, established in Shanghai in 1907 (now Wuhan Tongji Hospital). With the guidance and support of leaders at all levels, the Institute of Pathology was established in 2007 through the integration of the Department of Pathology of Tongji Medical College and the Department of Pathology of Tongji Hospital, bringing together pathology education, research, and clinical services. During the century-long glorious history of Tongji Pathology, internationally renowned and nationally leading pathologists emerged, including Liang Boqiang, Wu Zaidong, Yang Shuzu, Wu Zhongbi, Wu Min, and Deng Zhongduan. Among them, Professor Liang Qiang and Professor Wu Min were successively elected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, while Professor Wu Zhongbi was elected an academician of the German Academy of Sciences. This discipline was among the first group of pathology disciplines in China authorized to confer doctoral and master’s degrees; in 1991, it was approved to enroll postdoctoral fellows; in 1992, it was approved to establish the Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases of the Ministry of Health (Pathology Division); in 1994, it was approved as a provincial key discipline; in 2007, it was selected as a national key discipline by the Ministry of Education; in 2010, it was selected as a national key clinical specialty by the National Health Commission; in 2022, it was selected as a national key clinical pathology standardized residency training base; and in 2023, the Pathology course was selected as a national first-class undergraduate course by the Ministry of Education. The pathology discipline currently has 113 staff members, including 52 faculty members: 8 professors, including 5 doctoral supervisors, and 14 associate professors. The overwhelming majority have studied or received further training overseas, while nearly all teaching-support and laboratory technical personnel have at least a university degree. The faculty structure has become increasingly well developed. The discipline has one standing committee member of the Pathology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and one vice-president of the Pathology Equipment Branch of the China Equipment Association, and it is the host institution of the Hubei Clinical Pathology Quality Control Center. Among its national-level talents, one has received the Distinguished Young Scholars award, one has received the Excellent Young Scholars award, and two have been selected for the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talents Program. In clinical pathology diagnosis, the Department of Pathology draws on its strong talent base to establish a relatively comprehensive three-tier physician diagnostic system and a system assigning responsibility for the initial diagnosis. Its subspecialty diagnostic system has become increasingly mature, greatly improving the quality of clinical pathology diagnosis. In recent years, it has completed more than 100,000 clinical pathology biopsy diagnoses annually while also undertaking pathology consultations on a large number of difficult cases from throughout the country. In recent years, it has established a high-level molecular pathology testing platform and carried out molecular pathology diagnosis, providing a molecular basis for the diagnosis of certain difficult cases and for targeted treatment of diseases. The pathology discipline undertakes all pathology teaching for the medical college. The Pathology course was selected as a national first-class undergraduate course. As the lead editor, it spearheaded the compilation of the National Case Database for Curriculum-Based Ideological and Political Education in Clinical Medicine Programs in Higher Medical Education—Pathology. As editor-in-chief, it organized the preparation of Advanced Pathology: A Tutorial, published by the People’s Medical Publishing House. As deputy editor-in-chief, it contributed to the national planned textbooks published by the People’s Medical Publishing House, including Pathology for the Five-Year Clinical Medicine Program, Pathology for the Eight-Year Clinical Medicine Program, and the organ-system integrated textbook Cardiovascular System and Diseases, as well as the graduate textbook Molecular Pathology. It established the online pathology course—a MOOC entitled Pathology—and the teaching outcomes have received high praise from all learners. Between February and June 2020, 63,000 learners enrolled in the course, making an important contribution to nationwide pathology education during the pandemic. In 2016, it led the establishment of the Tongji Pathology Teaching Website, placing all practical-course content, which accounts for 50% of pathology teaching, online. Students can study pathology anytime and anywhere, and successive cohorts of students have expressed great appreciation. The main current research directions are tumor molecular pathology, immunopathology, smart pathology, and cardiopulmonary and cardiovascular pathology. At present, Tongji Pathology is developing rapidly in discipline development, talent cultivation, teaching, research, and clinical services. Tongji Pathology has once again encountered new opportunities for development, and its members will further strengthen high-quality discipline development and construction, unite in striving forward, and work diligently. We firmly believe that the future of Tongji Pathology will be even brighter!