Shanghai Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Clinical Medical Center was established in 2001. This Discipline was approved in 1997 as a key discipline established as an item by 211 Engineering, in 2001 passed check and acceptance by 211 Engineering and in the same year was rated as Shanghai Clinical Medical Center of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, one of the 11 clinical medical centers in Shanghai. This specialty consists of 3 parts: Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Institute and Diabetes Center of Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Second Medical University. At present this Discipline is a key discipline of State Education Commission, Key Laboratory of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of State Ministry of Public Health and a key construction discipline of 211 Engineering, a degree conferring point of Ph.D and masters and a post doctoral mobile station and one of the most important bases for advanced studies of physicians of the specialty of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, having successively held 27 sessions of classes for advanced studies nationwide entrusted by Ministry of Public Health.

Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Second Medical University was established in the 50’s of the last century. Under the leadership of the late famous endocrinologist Prof. Kuang Ankun and domestically well-known experts Prof. Chen Jialun, Prof. Xu Manyin and Prof. Luo Bangyao through continuous development for more than 50 years it has become the most important basic and clinical research base of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases in the country. Our Department now has 60 sickbeds among which are six specially required sickbeds catering to needs at different levels and a staff of 24 physicians, among whom are 2 tenured professors, 5 professors and 4 associate professors. This Department is in the lead in basic and clinical research of diabetes, has formed distinctive features in diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, diagnosis and treatment of chronic complications and self-care of diabetes and propaganda and education of diabetes and has done a lot of highly effective work in respect of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, IGT, obesity, abnormal blood lipid and the role of primary hypertension in coronary disease and has won a third Prize of Progress in Science and Technology of Shanghai Municipality and a second Prize of Ruijin Medical Results of the first session. This Department is in the lead in diagnosis and treatment of pituitary and adrenal diseases at home. Since diagnosis and treatment of the first case at home of primary aldosteronism nearly 1000 cases of primary aldosteronism, more than 600 cases of Cushing’s syndrome and over 300 cases of pheochromocytoma have been diagnosed, among which the case of primary aldosteronism is one of the largest series on the globe. “Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Aldosteronism” has won a second Prize for Progress in Science and Technology of State, a second Prize for Progress in Science and Technology of Ministry of Public Health and Shanghai Municipality. This Department has accumulated precious experiences in respect of diagnosis and treatment of thyropathy, pancreopathy and diabetes insidus etc., having considerable influences in the country. In recent years this Department has addressed itself to the clinical and basic research of obesity and osteoporosis etc. and obtained a large number of fruits and is one of the units that were the earliest to carry out systematic research in this connection. “Taking the patients as the center and continuously enhancing the quality of treatment” is the aim of Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases. At the same time it established the detection targets for diabetes and its complications and established earlier in the country Section for Non-Invasive Determination of Diabetic Neural Function, by means of which diabetic neuropathy can be diagnosed from neural evoked potential, sensory nerve, cardiac autonomic nerve and gastrointestinal autonomic nerve, enhancing the ability to diagnose diabetic neural complications and forming a series of effective therapies.

The Diabetes Center of Ruijin Hospital was established in 1994 and since then has addressed itself to the education, prevention and treatment of diabetes. In recent years the Diabetes Center, apart from continuously strengthening its coordination with other hospitals and training of teachers of diabetes, has been the first across the country to establish the therapeutic educational projects for diabetics and systematically carrying out education of the victims. Among them are the education of a big group consisting of hundreds of persons, the education of a group consisting of 20～30 persons with their relatives invited for participation and a team consisting of physicians, nurses and nutritionists and strengthened education carried out around diabetes difficult to cure etc.. The project introduced the schedule of evaluating the educational result of diabetes abroad and initially developed the evaluation schedule suited for the Chinese patients. Up to now the number of persons for group education whose project has been carried out has reached over 3000 while the number of victims for individualized strengthened education is nearly 300. Through years’ clinical practice with perseverance and consistency the victims participating in this project all achieved satisfactory therapeutic results. With group education the victims’ average blood glucose was controlled at the rate of over 50% while with strengthened education it was 80%. In the course of unfolding the education of the victims the project group paid special attention to the establishment of an atmosphere in which the victims offered as a tribute and helped each other. Let’s take the group education for example. All the participating victims while having a free diabetic nutritious lunch symbolically offered one yuan to be used to purchase diabetic tools or in other ways helped those diabetics and their families impoverished by illnesses. The continuous development of the victims’ educational project of the Diabetes Center is welcome to all circles of society and broad victims.

With the concerted efforts made by several generations represented by such famous experts of internal medicine and endocrinology as Prof. Kuang Ankun, Prof. Chen Jialun, Prof. Xu Manyin and Prof. Ding Ting, famous medical expert and biochemist and others, the Department established Research Section of Endocrinology of Shanghai Second Medical University in the 60’s of the last century and at the end of the 70’s established Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Institute, which became a degree station for our country’s first batch of Ph. D students containing the two specialties of endocrinology and endocrinology of Chinese medicine combined with Western medicine and was subsequently fixed as a mobile disciplinary station for postdoctorals of clinical medicine. In October 1994 the Department was approved as Key Laboratory of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Public Health and entrusted by Chinese Medical Association, took charge of the editorial work and publication of “Chinese Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases”, in 1989 and 1990 was successively chosen as a key discipline of State Education Commission and of Bureau of Higher Education of Shanghai Municipality and in 2001 passed the initial examination for a key discipline of State Education Commission. In its continuous development the Department has persisted in attaching equal importance to medical, teaching and research and in integrating them and in overall actual strength is one of the most important research centers of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases at home, has formed distinctive features of its own in many aspects and is developing at the same speed with the international advanced level. In respect of diabetes it has accomplished multiple items of clinical research and has obtained a series of important results in respect of research of scanning and screening genomics of susceptible gene locuses of type 2 diabetes of Chinese Han nationality and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. Not only is its clinical research still in the lead at home but also its basic research is in the lead at home and in an advanced position internationally. In recent years the establishment of pituitary-adrenal gene pool and the discovery of new genes have been highly evaluated both at home and abroad. The Department has reached the best level since its establishment in respect of either basic construction or echelon construction and represents the highest level of our country, possessing the actual strength for participating in international competition. The establishment of micro, rapid and accurate detection methods for all kinds of hormones has considerably enhanced the level of diagnosing endocrinlogic and metabolic diseases. At present it has become the center for carrying out the most detection items of endocrinologic and metabolic hormones nationwide.

The Department has formed an academic echelon with relatively strong actual force, possessing a few domestically well-known endocrinologists who have relatively high academic position and considerable celebrity both at home and abroad. At present it has 10 professors, 7 associate professors, 22 physicians with intermediate academic titles, 15 Ph. D and 12 masters, having formed an academic echelon with relatively strong actual force. Prof. Chen Jialun, leading person of the discipline, is director member of Endocrinology Society of Chinese Medical Association for two sessions, general editor of Chinese Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases for two sessions, director member of Sub-Committee of Examination of New Drugs of Endcrinological and Rheumatic Diseases of Ministry of Public Health for two sessions, leader of Clinical Medicine Group and Clinical Pharmacology Group of Pharmacopeia Committee of Ministry of Public Health for two sessions, member of Disciplinary Evaluation Group of Degree Committee of the State Council for two sessions, member of the Central Committee of International Endocrinology Association for two sessions and deputy chairman of Asia and Oceania Thyroid Association for two sessions etc.. Experts of the older generation still play a role in determining the orientation of development of the discipline and directing research work.

In recent years the young scientific and research technicians and graduate students have made a lot of progress in research of scanning and screening of whole genomics, gene mutation, gene differentiation analysis, protein purification and structure and function with initial formation of young basic scientific and research ranks of research from nucleic acid to protein with ability to take strong fortifications.