General Medicine/Geriatric Medicine Department

The Department of Geriatric Medicine of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, was established in 1955; a geriatric medicine teaching and research section was established in 1988, and the Institute of Geriatrics was founded in 2012. It is one of the earliest geriatric specialties established among general hospitals nationwide; it is a key clinical specialty under the Ministry of Health, the Hubei Branch of the National Center for Geriatrics, the Hubei Geriatrics Center, the National Demonstration Base for the Implementation of Clinical Nutrition in Geriatrics, the National Clinical Drug Trial Base for Geriatric Cardiovascular Diseases, the Hubei Demonstration Base for Academician and Expert Services, the Hubei Clinical Medical Research Center for the Prevention, Treatment and Healthcare of Geriatric Diseases, the Wuhan Clinical Research Center for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Geriatric Multiple Organ Dysfunction, the Institute of Geriatrics of Tongji Hospital, and a training site for master’s and doctoral students specializing in geriatrics. The Department of Geriatric Medicine of Tongji Hospital focuses on building eight distinctive medical centers: the Standardized Vascular Aging Management Center, Health Management Center, Geriatric Difficult, Emergency and Critical Illness Treatment Center, Geriatric Clinical Nutrition Demonstration Center, Geriatric Comprehensive Assessment Center, Geriatric Organ Rehabilitation and Sleep Center, Geriatric Chronic Disease H2H Integrated Care Center, and Geriatric Perioperative Assessment and Management Center. It leads three major research directions—vascular aging, immunosenescence, and intestinal microecology—and has become an industry benchmark for geriatric medicine in central China. Our department now has complete geriatric subspecialties, including geriatric cardiovascular medicine, geriatric respiratory medicine, geriatric gastroenterology, geriatric endocrinology, geriatric nephrology, geriatric neurology, geriatric oncology, geriatric general surgery, geriatric urology, and a geriatric ICU. It has more than 300 beds and an annual outpatient volume of 100,000 visits. More than 9,000 patients are admitted annually, of whom patients with difficult or critical illnesses account for more than one-third. Academic leader Professor Zhang Cuntai is a Level-II Professor, chief physician, and doctoral supervisor. He received his doctorate in internal medicine from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2003 and studied cardiac electrophysiology for more than one year at the Graduate School of Medicine of Kyoto University in Japan. He is primarily engaged in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and has extensive clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases. In recent years, he has achieved notable results in the diagnosis and treatment of geriatric cardiovascular diseases, particularly vascular aging and immunosenescence. He is currently Honorary Director of the Department of General Medicine/Geriatric Medicine of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Director of the Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging of the Ministry of Education; Director of the Institute of Geriatrics; and Director of the Hubei Clinical Medical Research Center for the Prevention, Treatment and Healthcare of Geriatric Diseases. He is Chair of the Geriatrics Branch of the Chinese Medical Association; Vice President of the Geriatric Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; an Executive Council Member of the Chinese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics; an Executive Council Member of the Hubei Medical Association; and President of the Hubei Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. He serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Geriatrics, the Chinese Journal of Geriatric Disease Research (Electronic Edition), Aging Medicine, and the Journal of Internal Medicine in Critical Care, and as an executive editorial board member or editorial board member of several other journals, including the Chinese Journal of Multiple Organ Diseases in the Elderly. He has been engaged in teaching for 41 years and is Editor-in-Chief of Geriatric Medicine, the first edition of the tenth-round planning textbook for the five-year undergraduate clinical medicine program. He is the chief expert of a major special project of the Ministry of Science and Technology; he has led eight National Natural Science Foundation of China projects, including one Regional Joint Fund project, and 17 provincial- and ministerial-level key projects and other funded projects; and he has published 186 SCI-indexed papers. His main research directions are the mechanisms of vascular aging and translational medical research, clinical detection and regulation of immunosenescence, and the diagnosis and treatment of geriatric emergency and critical illnesses. He has received two First Prizes of the Hubei Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, one Second Prize of the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Award, and one of Wuhan’s first Core Medical Technologies (Leading Technologies). In 2015, he was named a Young and Middle-Aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions by the National Health and Family Planning Commission; in 2017, the Hubei Federation of Trade Unions awarded him the Hubei May 1 Labor Medal; in 2019, the People’s Daily awarded him the Third National Famous Doctor Award for Outstanding Achievement; in 2019, he was selected by the Provincial Health Commission as a member of the second cohort of Hubei Medical Leading Talents; in 2023, he received the State Council Special Government Allowance; and in 2024, he received the Jingchu Role Model—Most Beautiful Health Guardian award. Director Zhao Chunxia is a professor, chief physician, and doctoral supervisor. She has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of various cardiovascular diseases. Her principal work involves electrophysiological examinations, radiofrequency ablation of various tachyarrhythmias, permanent pacing, CRT/CRTD and ICD implantation, and she specializes in X-ray-free radiofrequency ablation guided by a three-dimensional mapping system. She studied for more than two years at the University of North Carolina, a renowned national university in the United States. She has published more than 30 clinical and research papers, including more than 10 SCI-indexed papers, and has undertaken and completed multiple National Natural Science Foundation projects. She is currently a member of the Arrhythmia Group of the Sixth Committee of the Cardiovascular Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; a member of the Cardiovascular Group of the Eleventh Geriatrics Branch; a member of the Women’s Arrhythmia Committee of the Ninth Arrhythmia Branch of the Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering; Vice Chair of the Hubei Alliance of the China Green Electrophysiology Alliance; Secretary-General of the Council of the Hubei Provincial Center of the Hypertension Medical Consortium of the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases; and a member of the Hypertension Group of the Cardiovascular Professional Committee of the Wuhan Medical Association, among other positions. She has continuously undertaken the supervision and teaching of clinical student internships and served as a clinical mentor for the eight-year program, while teaching some undergraduate Internal Medicine courses and major lectures for the eight-year program. The research projects of graduate students under her clinical supervision involve animal experiments, cell culture, molecular biology, and many other fields; she has extensive experience and capability in experimental research. Led by Academic Leader Professor Zhang Cuntai and current Department Director Professor Zhao Chunxia, the department focuses on building the eight distinctive medical centers and has become a benchmark for geriatric medicine departments nationwide. It led the drafting of the Expert Consensus on Vascular Aging Biomarkers (2023), and spearheaded the establishment of the Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging of the Ministry of Education and the Standardized Vascular Aging Management Center (VMC). At present, 216 hospitals nationwide have registered, 38 subcenters have been established, and VMC co-construction alliances have been formed in 11 provinces, providing standardized vascular management services to more than 15,000 patients and strongly advancing scientific research and clinical prevention and treatment of vascular aging. It led the organization of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of terazosin hydrochloride tablets for the treatment of arteriosclerosis. The study is progressing smoothly and will become the world’s first large multicenter research cohort focused on vascular aging. Based on clinical cohort data from more than 100,000 person-visits, machine-learning algorithms were used to establish a vascular biological age formula for the Chinese population and a risk-prediction model for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In 2020, it led a collaboration among 16 domestic medical institutions and research institutes that obtained a National Key Research and Development Program project entitled Research on the Assessment and Intervention Measures for Changes in Vascular Function and Morphology in the Elderly. Based on the research results, it proposed a complete clinical assessment system for vascular aging and applied for an invention patent. It led the drafting of the Expert Consensus on the Clinical Assessment and Intervention of Vascular Aging and formulated a framework for vascular-aging biomarkers: the consensus statement of the Senescence Biomarkers Alliance. At the same time, the hospital’s independently developed electronic medical record system has been used to digitize case records, with rigorous and standardized collection of case data; frontline physicians have received standardized clinical research training and obtained GCP certificates. Academic Leader Professor Zhang Cuntai and current Department Director Professor Zhao Chunxia have fully leveraged the department’s strengths to extend and enhance regional medical service capacity. Together with 27 well-known medical institutions inside and outside Hubei, including Wuhan Central Hospital, Yichang Central Hospital, and Shiyan Taihe Hospital, they established the Tongji Hospital Geriatrics Medical Consortium, implemented a targeted “department-to-department” assistance model, and promoted the development of geriatric disease prevention and treatment in Hubei Province. They also joined with medical institutions in Hubei to organize training courses for directors and head nurses of geriatric departments and geriatric talent training courses, as well as various free-clinic and public-awareness activities under the theme New Journey of Patriotic Health, Healthy China in Action. The team has visited Longquan in Yichang, Zhuxi County in Shiyan, Taikang Chuyuan, Jingmen, Jingzhou, Enshi Prefecture, Huanggang, the Hubei Provincial Party School, the General Office of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, and the Hubei Provincial Senior University, providing the public with health education, popularizing medical first-aid knowledge, conducting free clinics, and providing training in the prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and emergency response skills, thereby making due contributions to Healthy Hubei and Healthy China. While performing its clinical work, the Department of Geriatric Medicine has taken scientific research as a breakthrough, established distinctive disciplinary strengths, and focused on three major research directions: vascular aging, immunosenescence, and gut microbiota. The Institute of Geriatrics has advanced equipment, includes postdoctoral researchers, and has seven full-time research personnel. It conducts research on aging and aging-related diseases in multiple fields, including molecular biology, genetics, and immunology. It has developed distinctive strengths and made substantial progress in vascular aging, reaching a domestically leading level. It has prominent clinical and research strengths in multiple organ dysfunction, has successfully implemented comprehensive assessments of older patients, and was the first in Hubei Province to establish a treatment and rehabilitation center for geriatric multiple organ dysfunction. Under the leadership of Professor Zhang Cuntai, the Department of Geriatrics of Tongji Hospital has achieved comprehensive improvement in clinical care, teaching, research, and health services, and its development is showing strong momentum. There are currently 357 employees, including 103 physicians, 7 full-time research personnel and postdoctoral fellows in mobile/workstation programs, 185 nurses, 5 technical personnel, 3 administrative personnel, and 54 others. The physician workforce includes 87 people with doctoral degrees, 10 with master’s degrees, and 6 with bachelor’s degrees. There are 13 personnel with senior-level titles, 32 with associate-senior titles, 32 with intermediate titles, and 26 with junior titles. There is 1 dual-appointed faculty member: Zhu Lingqiang (Professor, Huazhong University of Science and Technology); and 1 person in talent development: Liu Yu (physician), a 2022 Wuhan Shuguang Talent. The department has also established a Geriatric Comprehensive Critical Care Team. Top medical experts from all specialties of Tongji Hospital, including Academicians Chen Xiaoping and Ma Ding, are team members, and the team has achieved outstanding results in the treatment of geriatric critical illness. The department has committee members in all 12 groups of the Geriatrics Branch of the Chinese Medical Association: Zhang Cuntai is Chair of the Geriatrics Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and Vice President of the Geriatric Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; Zhao Chunxia is a member of the Geriatric Cardiovascular Group; Zheng Kai is Deputy Leader of the Geriatric Neurology Group; Gao Hongyu is Deputy Leader of the Nephrology Group; Xia Qin is Deputy Leader of the Geriatric Bone Metabolism Diseases Group; Mi Tao is Deputy Leader of the Malnutrition and Sarcopenia Group; Wang Mei is Leader of the Geriatric Nursing Group; Tu Ling is a member of the Geriatric Rehabilitation Group; Yin Tiejun is a member of the Gastroenterology Group; Wu Xiaofen is a member of the Geriatric Epidemiology Group; Zhang Yan is a member of the Geriatric Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Group; Yu Weiwei is a member of the Respiratory Group; Qiao Lifen is a member of the Respiratory Group; Peng Yang is a member of the Gastroenterology Group; Huang Kui is a member of the Geriatric Rehabilitation Group; Yan Jinhua is a member of the Malnutrition and Sarcopenia Group; and Zhang Le is a member of the Basic Sciences Group. The department has successfully held 13 Central China Geriatrics Congresses (2013-2025); 12 Vascular Aging Congresses (2014-2023, 2025-2026); 10 China Geriatric Medicine and Healthy Aging Industry Congresses (CCGI), including the Geriatric Heart Failure Forum and the Basic and Translational Vascular Aging Forum (2015-2020, 2022-2025); 9 China Geriatrics Congresses, including the Geriatric Cardiovascular Forum, Geriatric Critical Care Forum, Geriatric Lipid Forum, Geriatric Basic and Translational Medicine Forum, Geriatric Nursing Forum, Geriatric Organ Rehabilitation Forum, Basic and Translational Vascular Aging Forum, International Exchange Forum, and Geriatric Heart Failure and Immunity Forum (2016-2025); 7 National Symposia on the Prevention and Treatment of Common Diseases in Older Adults, including the Nephrology Forum, Cardiovascular Forum, Geriatric Multimorbidity Forum, and Basic and Clinical Translational Vascular Aging Forum (2016-2025); and 6 National Geriatric Cardiovascular Disease Congresses (2017-2023). It has also held the Annual Meeting of the Geriatric Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, including the Geriatric Atrial Fibrillation Forum, Geriatric Thrombosis Forum, Geriatric Comprehensive Assessment and Cardiac Rehabilitation Forum, and Geriatric Critical Care Forum, as well as many other forums, exerting influence nationwide. Statistics are current through May 2026.