Chronic kidney disease is a global public health problem that seriously threatens people's health. In order to strengthen the prevention, early diagnosis and individualized treatment of chronic kidney diseases, and to promote the application and innovation of new medical practices such as precision medicine, translational medicine, and smart medicine, ECNU decided to set up a new academic institute --- the ECNU Kidney Health Institute (ECNU-KHI). Co-hosted by ECNU Health Science Center and ECNU Wuhu Hospital, an opening ceremony was held on August 26, 2023 in the Minhang campus of ECNU.
Dignitaries including Dr. Weiping Jia, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Dr. Esteban Ballestar, Academician of the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences; ECNU Vice Presidents Qili Lei and Guoyue Shi, and Dr. Chaoshu Tang, a renowned medical educator in China and an outstanding cardiovascular disease expert, attended the ceremony. In addition, the inauguration of ECNU-KHI also received strong support from prominent experts in the fields of nephrology, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic diseases across the country. More than 30 renowned domestic and foreign experts, including over 20 national-level talents such as Changjiang Scholars, Distinguished Young Scholars, and Excellent Young Scholars, participated the inauguration. In addition, over 130 people, including leaders from functional departments such as the Personnel Department, Science and Technology Department, and Graduate School of ECNU, leaders from related faculties, presidents and key representatives of affiliated and collaborative hospitals, and intramural and extramural teachers and students, attended the conference offline.
Professor Youfei Guan, VP Qili Lei, Dr. Esteban Balletar and Dr. Chaosu Tang delivered enthusiastic speeches to hail the setting-up of ECNU-KHI. Together with VP Guoyue Shi, and a number of VIPs, these speakers officially inaugurated the establishment of ECNU-KHI.
With the establishment of ECNU-KHI, representatives from ECNU-KHI, ECNU Wuhu Hospital, ECNU Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nantong University Affiliated Hospital and Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital signed strategic agreements to form a Yangtze River Delta Center of ECNU-KHI , in order to strengthen long-term collaborative research between the hospital and the medical school and promote the integration of basic medical research, translational medical applications, and clinical medical practice in the Delta Region.
Following the opening ceremony of ECNU-KHI, a series of keynote speeches, presentations and discussions were organized, which included a report by Academician Weiping Jia that focused on the epidemiological characteristics and key influencing factors of diabetic nephropathy in China, as well as how to carry out effective early diagnosis and prevention and treatment at the grassroots level. Academician Esteban Ballestar discussed the important role of epigenetic regulation in human diseases and specifically demonstrated how epigenetic regulation affects the differentiation and inflammatory phenotype of macrophages.