In 1978, Professor Xixian LIU at School of Basic Medicine of the former Tongji Medical University took the lead in establishing Medical Genetics Laboratory that represents the first one in central south China to carry out research on genetic diseases such as hemophilia A, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and tumors. Moreover, this lab has reaped advanced results in the field of human high-resolution chromosome banding pattern research. Medical Genetics Laboratory started to enroll graduate students in 1983 and was responsible for giving lessons to graduates in the former Tongji Medical University. In 1986, medical genetics teaching and research office was established and took charge of giving lectures to both undergraduates and graduate students in the former Tongji Medical University. In 2008, under the unified planning of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Medical Genetics came into being with Prof. Huiping CHEN as the first department chair.
In 2013, Prof. Anbing SHI served as head of Department of Medical Genetics and gradually switched the research focus of this department to the translational and applied research on genetic diseases at the molecular level. Since 2016, Prof. Zheng GUO took over the department chair, Prof. Xuan CAO served as deputy chair and secretary of the party branch, and Prof. Ximiao HE worked as the director of the Gene and Proteomics Research Center. As School of Basic Medicine introduces an increasing number of overseas talents, the department now has 9 full-time faculty members and one laboratory technician. Three of them are professors, five associate professors and one lecturer. All faculty members possess a doctoral degree and have overseas experiences.
Department of Medical Genetics put in place its research platform thanks to the scientific planning and firm support of School of Basic Medicine, creating an atmosphere of free exploration, equipment sharing and mutual help. Immersed in such a warm atmosphere, the department flourishes in teaching, research and social services. Recent years have witnessed a number of papers published in internationally recognized journals such as Nature Communications, Scientific Report, small GTPases, Journal of Neuroscience, Molecular Neurobiology, etc. Besides, it has undertaken 19 projects at national or provincial level. Going forward, Department of Medical Genetics will make good use of rich medical resources of Tongji Medical College and strive to make innovative research on the pathogenesis and treatment of human genetic diseases with sights set on the frontier of international scientific research.
