About Us

The Department of Pathology and physiopathology of Zhejiang University School of Medicine consists of pathology, physiopathology, and forensic science. With the achievements of the professional teachers, the department is the key national supported institution and is enlisted in the national first-class university and academic program in China. The department has set up a Zhejiang province key laboratory for disease proteomics and set up an internationally cooperative research platform under the national plan for the university science innovation and talent recruitment. In addition, through cross-collaboration with multiple disciplines and affiliated hospitals in the university, the department is the core member of the cancer research center, molecular and cellular medicine research center, as well as the national clinical pathology center, etc. The cross-disciplinary studies mainly focus on cancer pathology and pathophysiology, cell and genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology, immunology, pharmacology, and systems biology. At present, the department has a high level full-time and part-time faculty team to take on the national key research projects as well as the provincial major research projects, to run the national quality courses. Entitled as the national excellent teaching team, besides raising talents in the related scientific research domestically, the department is, to some extent, internationally influential in the field.

The department has a long history that can be dated back to the former Medical School of Zhejiang University in 1948. Since its establishment, the department has always been the key discipline of the university and has raised a large number of renowned professors in the field, among others, Professor Chen Lvgao, Professor Chen Xingruo, Professor Xu Yinghan, Professor Yu Yingnian, Professor Lou Dingan, Professor Shi Qiunian, and Professor Lai Maode. As early as in 1983, the department had been certified for resuming the graduate admissions in pathology and physiopathology and issuing master's degrees. In 1986, it was certified for the physiopathology doctorate degree awarding. In 1997 and 1998, the department entered Zhejiang province and the National 211 key constructed disciplines. In 2003, it became the national 985 plan key construction disciplines program. In 2006, it was certified as the national key supported discipline. In Sept. 2017, the department, as one of the kernel discipline in Zhejiang University School of Medicine, was listed in the national first-class university and academic program of China.

Faculty

The department has an esteemed faculty team. The total faculty number is 35, among whom 12 are the full-time professors, 15 associate professors, and 1 clinical pathologist in chief. Among the faculties, 86% have doctorate degrees. Many of them have been specially entitled domestically and abroad. There is 1 academician from the German Academy of Sciences, 1 professor enlisted by the national “Top 100, 1k, 10k Talents” program, 1 award winner of the national fund for the excellent young scientists, 3 enlisted by the national Top 1k Young Talents program, 1 awarded Excellent Youth program of the National Natural Science Foundation, and 3 who gained supports from the Ministry of Education’s New Century Talents program.

Besides, there are 12 part-time professors, one of whom is the Zhejiang University Bao Yugang chair professor, namely, Professor Müller-Hermelink, an academician of German Academy of Sciences and the chairman of the German Keele Lubeck Joint Medical Center H.K. The other 11 part-time professors are the experts of the National 111 Talents Program. Among others, Professor X. Chris Le is an academician of the Royal Canadian Academy of Sciences and a professor of University of Alberta, Canada; Professor Riccardo Fodde is an academician of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and a professor of  Erasmus Medical Center, Netherlands; Professor Andreas von Deimling, dean of the Pathology Department of Heidelberg University, Germany; Professor Albert Roessner, director of the Pathology Institute of the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Germany; and Professor Axel zur Hausen, director of the Pathology Department of Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands.

Research

The department has carried on programs funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, covering the general programs, key programs, major programs, Excellent Young Scientists programs, and Distinguished Young Scientists programs. The Department has also been funded by the National Sci-tech Support Plan, the 973 Plan, the 863 Plan, the National Science and Technology Major Project, the National Key Research and Development Plan, and the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities of China. By cooperating with the renowned institutes and experts home and abroad, the research fields in basic and clinical researches of major diseases cover such active frontiers in modern biomedicine as cancer pathology and molecular diagnosis, cancer pathogenesis, cancer precision medicine ang immunotherapy, tumor metabolism, thrombotic diseases, disease signaling models and genetics, diabetes, and forensic pathology, etc. The research is made from the whole organ level into the cellular, molecular and atomic levels, discussing the occurrence and outcome, and the rules of development of the diseases through the multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research, aiming to provide important scientific and technical support for the prevention of some major diseases and for their diagnosis and treatment. As to publications, the team has been awarded multiple national and ministry-level prizes for their papers published on such international mainstream journals as Cell Research、Gut、J Eep Med、Molecular Cell、Hepatology、Blood、Cancer Research、J Biol Chem. The team has also gained several patents issued by the nation.

Teaching

As a team honored with the national quality courses and the national excellent teaching team, the department has been the editorial institute or the second editorial institute of the textbooks Molecular Biology of Medicine, and Pathology, which are published by People's Medical Publishing House. The team has also participated with editing and publishing some other textbooks published by the PMPH. Besides, the team has been granted quite a few teaching programs and awards. Among others, the team has been honored with the National Talent Cultivation and Fundamental Course Teaching Base, has taken on the programs of the National Natural Science Foundation Talent Cultivation Program, the Digital Information of Diseases Program for China Academic Digital Associative Library, as well as many teaching programs funded by the national or provincial institutes. The quality courses include the national quality course Basic Medical Integration Course, the publicly shared national quality course Physiology Experiments, the innovative course of the Ministry of Education Digital Medicine Course, and the brand course Pathology supported by the Ministry of Education and taught in English to the international students in China.

The department recruits more than 30 post-doctorates, doctorates, and master candidates every year, and collaborates with some well-known universities and research institutes from America, Germany, Canada, and Switzerland. The department runs 8 year and 5 year diploma programs from the bachelor’s degree to the doctorate degree majoring in clinical medicine, biomedicine, stomatology, public health, and pharmacy, etc.

Major events:

ž   In 1983, was certified by the Ministry of Education as one of the earliest master degree awarding institutes in pathology and physiopathology

ž   In 1984, was certified to be a Provincial Important Discipline

ž   In 1986, was certified by the Ministry of Education as a PhD awarding discipline in physiopathology

ž   In 1997, was certified as a key discipline of the 211 projects of Zhejiang province

ž   In 1998, was included as one of the institutes in the country’s 211 program

ž   In 2000, set up the ZJU Institute of Pathology and Forensic Studies    

ž   In 2002, was certified as the doctorate degree awarding institute in physiopathology and pathology

ž   In 2003, was honored as a key discipline of the 985 projects of Zhejiang University

ž   In 2004, regained the provincial fund for the important disciplines in the new round of application

ž   In 2004, was authorized as the Zhejiang University Judicial Expertise Center by the provincial Justice Department as well as the Ministry of Justice

ž   In 2006, Pathology and Physiopathology were approved by the Ministry of Education as the national key disciplines (for talent cultivating)

ž   In 2008, Pathology was honored as a national quality course by the Ministry of Education

ž   In 2009, set up the key laboratory of disease proteomics of Zhejiang province

ž   In 2010, Basic Medical Sciences was honored as a national quality course

ž   In 2010, was honored as a national excellent teaching team

ž   In 2010, Prof. Lai Maode was elected as the chairmen of the Pathology Sub-association of the Chinese Medical Association

ž   In 2011, Prof. Lai Maode was elected an academician of the German Academy of Sciences

ž   In 2012, was granted by the National Bureau of Foreign Affairs the higher education institutes discipline innovation initiative project

ž   In 2013, Prof. Lai Maode was appointed as the vice chairman of the Ministry of Education Teaching Guidance Committee (Basic Medicine)

ž   In 2013, Prof. Zhou Ren was appointed as the vice chairman of the Ministry of Education Teaching Guidance Committee (forensic)

ž   In 2013, was awarded by the Ministry of Education the brand course taught in English for the international students in China

ž   In Sept. 2017, Basic Medicines of Zhejiang University was honored as a First-class University and Academy Discipline in China