The rheumatology specialty group of Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University was established in 1993, and the specialty ward was established in the same year. On August 21 in 2011, the rheumatology group was officially independent as the rheumatology department. As one of the earliest established rheumatology specialty in Shanghai and even in national tertiary hospitals, our department has devoted comprehensive and persistent efforts in medical care, education and training, and academic research. We have especially provided the professional medical services for the critically severe and refractory patients from surrounding areas in the East China, which greatly enhanced our hospital's capabilities in comprehensive diagnosis and management of severe and complicated diseases. We have also standardized guidelines in diagnosis and management for common rheumatic diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis, dermatomyositis/polymyositis, Sj?gren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, large-vessel vasculitis, and gout, etc..

Professor Lindi Jiang serves as the head of the rheumatology department and holds key academic titles in medical societies. She is the candidate chairwoman of the Rheumatology Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association, the standing committee member of the Rheumatology Society of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, the member of the Rheumatology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association (9th, 10th and 11th sessions), the standing committee member of the Immunoadsorption Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, the standing member of the Rheumatology and Immunology Committee of the Cross-Straits Medical and Health Exchange Association and its deputy leader of the Vasculitis Group, the vice chairwoman of the Rheumatology Committee of Immunotherapy Engineering Branch of the Chinese Biomedical Engineering Society, the standing member of Bone and Joint and Rheumatology Committee of Chinese Rehabilitation Medical Association, the standing member of Rheumatology and Immunology Committee of Chinese Research Hospitals Society, the standing member of Rheumatology and Immunology Committee of Chinese Women Physicians Society, the member of expert group of Evidence-based Medicine Center in Fudan University, and the vice director of rheumatology, immunology and allergy center in Fudan University. The department has gradually built a high-quality talent team specializing in health care, medical training and academic research. Key research directions have been identified and targeted, and clinical pathways for common diseases and key research diseases have been formed gradually. By strengthening the responsibilities and capabilities of medical professionals, the department has significantly increased the influence at each level. By June 2022, the talent team has included one professor and director physician, 3 associate director physicians, 8 attending physicians, and one resident physician; one doctoral supervisor, 11 graduates holding doctoral degrees and one post-doctoral training program. In recent years, the department pioneered a model of multidisciplinary treatment to optimize the diagnosis and treatment in rheumatic field. Based on clinical difficulties and needs, we have explored alternatives and innovations, and accumulated rich experience in comprehensive diagnosis and management as well as in academic research, with the series of achievements such as presentations at domestic and international academic conferences, paper publications more than 60 SCI, and book writing over 20 including 2 as the chief editor and one as the associate editor. Our department has led project supports of one General Program and 7 Youth Program of National Natural Science Foundation, one China Postdoctoral Program, 3 Shanghai Science and Technology Commission Project, one Shenkang Project, one Applied and Technological Research Project of Wu Jieping Medical Foundation, and one project from the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

Under the leadership of Professor Lindi Jiang, our department focuses on the field of vasculitis. We explored applications of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), ultrasound, positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), and serological markers to diagnose vasculitis, evaluate activity, and further establish comprehensive protocols of clinical practice for Takayasu vasculitis. We pioneered to develop MRA as new diagnostic technique, first proposed new MRA-based criteria for disease activity evaluation, and established semi-quantitative scoring systems for disease activity evaluation based on contrast-enhanced ultrasound and PET-CT examinations. All these improved the accuracy of diagnosis and the effectiveness of disease activity assessment for large vessel vasculitis, resulting in the establishment of a personalized comprehensive platform for disease diagnosis and treatment. Our department has also collaborated with other departments including vascular surgery, cardiac surgery, and thoracic surgery to explore comprehensive treatment strategies for large vessel vasculitis. In 2018, the project "Establishment and Application of a Gout Diagnosis and Treatment System" won the Silver Award of Excellent Invention at the 30th Shanghai Excellent Invention Selection Competition (as the first contributor). In 2017, the project "Application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging Black Blood Technology to Evaluate Arterial Wall Inflammation in Large Vessel Vasculitis" won the Bronze Award of Excellent Invention at the 29th Shanghai Excellent Invention Selection Competition (as the first contributor). In 2021, the project "Mechanism of Inflammatory Fibrosis in the Aorta Area of Takayasu Arteritis and its Clinical Promotion of Targeted Diagnosis and Treatment " won the third prize of the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award. In 2020, our department ranked 15th in China and 5th in the East China region in the specialty ranking. Especially, the specialty of vasculitis is domestic leading. We published the first consensus "Chinese multidisciplinary recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of Takayasu’s Arteritis-induced renal arteritis (TARA)" in 2019, and the second consensus " Chinese multidisciplinary recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of Takayasu’s arteritis-induced hypertension (TARH)" in 2021, which has been promoted nationwide. The department was awarded the titles of "Shanghai Civilized Posts for Women" and "March 8th Red-Banner Holding Collective of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning" In 2015.