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Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College (CAMS/PUMC)

The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College (CAMS PUMC) is dedicated to promoting international cooperation and wants to share its vision, progress, and knowledge with colleagues and friends worldwide by encouraging scientific exchange and joint training of young scientists and graduate students. CAMS PUMC opens its research facilities to the international science community and supports international collaborations in order to promote well-being for humanity, innovation of medical science and technology, and the development of China's health care services.

CAMS PUMC have established cooperative relationships in scientific research, education, and medical practice with medical colleges and research institutions in more than 240 countries and regions. Over 250 foreign experts and scholars have been awarded the title of honorary professor or guest professor at PUMC. Among these are former China Medical Board President Buchanan Schwartz, former US President Bill Clinton, former World Health Organization Director-General Lee Jong-Wook, Thai Princess Sirindhorn, and many Nobel Prize winners. Furthermore, CAMS PUMC maintains close ties with prominent medical colleges and research institutions around the world, such as Yale University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Oxford University, Heidelberg University, Karolinska Institute, and the US National Institutes of Health.

History & Organization

Established in 1917, PUMC was the first medical college to offer the eight-year MD program and the undergraduate nursing program in China. As the nation’s top medical research institution and medical college, PUMC has been at the forefront of medical research and education in China for over a century. PUMC has nurtured distinguished scholars, physicians, scientists, medical educators, and health specialists and played essential roles in the scientific work of the discovery of Peking man, the theory of protein denaturation, the extraction of ephedrine monomer and the study on kala-azar.

CAMS, founded in 1956, is a leading multidisciplinary medical research institution. CAMS and PUMC were merged in 1957 and are interdependent and complementary, providing mutual benefits in medical education and research. Together, CAMS and PUMC have been at the forefront of medical research, education, services, and industry, with 19 research institutes, 6 affiliated hospitals, and 9 schools. The internationally renowned clinical medical system combines the functions of medical care, education, and scientific research.

Medical Education

For over a century, PUMC has been the innovator and pioneer in medical education in China. Since its founding in 1917, PUMC has never lost its focus on comprehensive medical education on clinical medicine and nursing, and it strives to maintain that elite model. In 2018, PUMC was the first to initiate the 4+4 MD Program in China, attracting interdisciplinary talents who graduated from leading universities in the world. PUMC works towards the mission to cultivate more superb physicians and medical leaders with global vision, spirit of innovation, and professional skills. PUMC has a strong team of renowned experts and professors with rich experience, remarkable accomplishments, and outstanding contributions in the fields of medicine and health. In 2019, PUMC was the first institution to introduce the Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty system in China, gathering global talents with international academic impact and engagement in medical research and education.

In addition to the school of medicine, The School of Population Medicine and Public Health (renamed in 2020 from the School of Public Health, originally established in 1989) is comprised of the following departments: Chronic Diseases, Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Environmental and Occupational Health, Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Geriatric Health, Vaccinology, Health Economics, and Health Laboratory Sciences. It also has four centers: Center for Public Health Research, Center for Bioethics and Policy Research, Center for Global Health, and Center for Tobacco Control. Among these, the Center for Global Health provides MPH and PhD training in global health diplomacy and health security, explores exchange and cooperation with foreign countries on strategies and policies, and undertakes national and international research projects on global health including respiratory diseases, cancer, COVID-19, and other priority areas.

Clinical Care

CAMS PUMC have six affiliated hospitals. Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) was established by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1921 and has been one of the top ranking academic medical centers in China for over 90 years. The hospital spans two campuses in central Beijing that house 53 clinical departments. PUMCH serves as a major tertiary referral center for patients from all over the country and accommodates over 2,000 inpatient beds, and over 10,000 outpatient visits daily. With the establishment the PUMCH National Center for International Exchange and Cooperation in 2021, the hospital has become a crucial player in the global medical system, facilitating high-level and substantive international cooperation and exchanges. The other five affiliated hospitals are Plastic Surgery Hospital, National Cancer Center, Cancer Hospital of CAMS/PUMC, Fuwai Hospital in Beijing, Skin Diseases Hospital in Nanjing, and the Blood Diseases Hospital in Tianjin.

Biomedical Research

A wide range of projects are undertaken across the 19 CAMS research institutes, in areas such as clinical investigation, medical biology, drug discovery, public health, biomedical informatics, and many emerging fields of biomedical science. The projects fall into three categories: 1) research on frontier science, including stem cell technology, precision medicine, and genomics; 2) long-term public health studies that support national health policies; 3) and healthcare quality standards and health management policies.

Current CAMS PUMCH Program Faculty

  • Chen Wang

    CAMS PUMC

    Dr. Chen Wang is a specialist in respiratory medicine and critical care medicine. He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, an international member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, a foreign member of Academia Europaea, an ordinary member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and a member of the CAMS Academic Advisory Committee. He is also the Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, President of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Director of the National Center for Respiratory Medicine, Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Medical Journal. Dr. Wang has over 30 years of experience and specialties in pulmonary and critical care medicine. His primary research areas include clinical and basic research for complex conditions in respiratory medicine, population medicine, and public health. He has made several important innovations to improve healthcare practice in the areas of chronic airway disease, pulmonary embolism, respiratory failure, emerging respiratory infectious diseases, and smoking control.

  • Taisheng Li

    PUMCH, CAMS PUMC

    Dr. Li is Professor and Director of Infectious Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH); Dr. Li received his medical degree from the Sun Yat-Sen Medical University in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and completed his residency at PUMCH. He subsequently obtained his Ph.D. in Immunology from the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, France. Today, Dr. Li is a leading physician-scientist in the field of HIV/AIDS in China. He has been a leader in the national response to HIV/AIDS, as well as SARS, SARS-CoV2 and other emerging infectious diseases in China. He also established a large network of collaborating clinical research centers across China and organized a series of multi-center clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of antiretroviral regimens for Chinese individuals with HIV/AIDS, as well as those co-infected with TB, HCV, and HBV. In recent years his research has been devoted to understanding how to establish comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment strategies for Chinese patients with HIV/AIDS.

  • Mengtao Li

    PUMCH, CAMS PUMC

    Mengtao Li is Professor of Medicine, and Director in the Department of Rheumatology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) and Director of Key Laboratory of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China. He is also vice President of the Chinese Rheumatology Association (CRA), vice President of Chinese Association of Rheumatology and Immunology Physicians (CARIP), Head of Pulmonary Vascular/Interstitial Lung Diseases Group, as well as President of Beijing Rheumatology Association (BRA). Dr. Li was appointed Secretary-General of Chinese SLE Treatment And Research group (CSTAR), Chinese Rheumatism Data Center (CRDC), which encompasses nation-wide registries for over 20 rheumatic diseases that have involved 2074 tertiary referral centers, established a network of 8051 rheumatologists across the country with a strong training component, and created a mobile application platform coordination of clinical and research activities and a biobank. He is also the associate editor of Rheumatology and Immunology Research.

  • Ying-Chun Xu

    PUMCH, CAMS PUMC

    Dr. Yingchun Xu is Professor and former Director, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), and current Head for the Faculty of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics at Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). He is an PhD supervisor and is qualified to receive postdoctoral trainees in the hospital. Dr. Xu’s team specializes in the area of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics, focusing specifically on laboratory-based diagnosis and surveillance of pathogenic microorganisms. Recent research has particularly focused on diagnosis, prevention and mechanisms of invasive fungal infections, to assist control of the rapid spread of antifungal resistance.

  • Chao Ma

    Institute of Basic Medical Sciences

    Dr. Chao Ma graduated from PUMC in 1999 and obtained his MD degree. After a year of surgical residency in the PUMC Hospital, he became a Postdoctoral Associate at the Department of Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine in 2000. He was promoted to Associate Research Scientist in 2003 and Assistant Professor in 2008 and started a research laboratory to investigate the neural mechanisms of pain and itch under the support of NIH. In December 2011, Dr. Ma returned to China and was appointed as Professor and Chair of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology in the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, CAMS PUMC. Dr. Ma was appointed as the Director of Medical Education at PUMC in 2015. Dr. Ma was also the founding director of Human Brain Banking Project at CAMS since 2012 and the National Human Brain Bank for Development and Function since 2019. His research focused on the mechanisms of neurological disorders including chronic pain and Alzheimer’s Disease.

  • Youlin Qiao

    National Cancer Center and School of Population Medicine and Public Health

    Dr. Qiao is Professor & Director, Center for Global Health, School of Population Medicine & Public Health, CAMS PUMC. He received his Medical Diploma from Sichuan Medical College, his Master Degree in Medicine from Dalian Medical College in China, PhD from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and postdoc in National Cancer Institute/NIH, USA. As an expert in cancer prevention and control, he is involved in many national and international projects to study etiology, primary intervention including HPV vaccines, and early detection of a variety of cancers through multidisciplinary and global collaborations for helping to promote cancer prevention and control programs in developing countries. His main areas of research include: 1) Global health applied research; 2) Cervical cancer vaccination/screening technology and prevention and control strategy model research; 3) Breast/esophageal/lung cancers screening method research; 4) Digital health and AI technology R&D and application; 5) Social behavioral research focused on women and adolescents.

  • Fanghui Zhao

    National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital

    Dr. Zhao is the Director of Cancer Epidemiology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/National Cancer Center. She worked as a visiting fellow at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NCI/NIH), USA, in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control from 2003-2004 and in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics (DCEG) as well as the Center for Global Health (CGH) from 2013-2014. Dr. Zhao’s research encompasses primary cancer prevention and intervention, cancer screening, early detection, public health promotion, and health policy. She has achieved leading results in cervical cancer prevention and control, including basic research, evidence-based transformation, and health economics, each playing a crucial role in advancing public health initiatives in China and globally. She has been the primary mentor for NIH Fogarty and Fulbright Scholars in China, for the Chicago University D & A China Bridge Fellowship Program, and the course director of CICAMS-IARC joint Training Program for China-ASEAN Cancer Prevention and Control.

  • Ruitai Shao

    School of Population Medicine and Public Health

    Dr. Ruitai Shao is Professor and Director of the Non-Communicable Diseases Department at the School of Population Medicine & Public Health, CAMS PUMC. Dr. Shao served as a senior expert in the Department of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases at the WHO from 2001-2021. His primary activities included promoting WHO member states to formulate national chronic disease plans, plans and strategies, scientifically optimizing NCD intervention measures, formulating implementation plans and conducting supervision and evaluation. Current research directions: etiology and pathogenesis of chronic diseases, intervention measures and their implementation in the real world, NCD prevention and control strategies, policy development and evaluation, research and implementation of comprehensive interventions for diabetes, hypertension, obesity and related behavioral risk factors, health services and delivery for NCDs in the population, theory and application of evidence-based public health, research on population health measurement methods and tools, and the application of digital health technology in the prevention and control of NCDs.

  • Xiaomei Zhai

    School of Population Medicine and Public Health

    Dr. Zhai is Professor and Director of the Center for Bioethics Research at the School of Population Medicine & Public Health, CAMS PUMC. She is a researcher at the Hastings Research Center in the United States, member of the World Health Organization’s Global Gene Editing Ethics Committee, the Ethics Committee of the International Stem Cell Society, the National Science and Technology Ethics Committee, deputy director of the Medical Ethics Expert Committee of the National Health Commission, member of the Science and Technology Ethics Committee of the National Ministry of Education, Deputy Director of the Ethics Committee of the Chinese Genetics Society, and Deputy Director of the Ethics Committee of the Beijing Medical Association. In recent years, her team has played an important role in the training of ethics review committees in many provinces and cities of China and has contributed to promoting the construction of ethics review capacity across the country. Dr. Zhai’s main research directions include bioethics and policy research.

  • Simiao Chen

    School of Population Medicine and Public Health

    Dr. Chen is Head of Research Unit for Health and Population Economics at Heidelberg Institute of Global Health at Heidelberg University in Germany, Visiting Professor in the School of Population Medicine and Public Health, CAMS PUMC, and Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow. Her primary areas of research include population health, health economics, aging, health systems, and health policy, mainly focusing on public health emergency response policies, the interrelations between health status and economic growth, the impacts of health and economic development policies, and the social determinants of health. Dr. Chen has also been a consultant for the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Population Council in Pakistan. She received her bachelor’s in industrial engineering from Tsinghua University, a master’s in management science from Columbia University, and a doctorate in population health economics from Harvard University.