Faculty

Nov 1995 – Feb 2004:

Vice President, Fuwai Cardiovascular Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Director, Cardiovascular Surgery Department

Distinguished Professor & Doctoral Advisor, Peking Union Medical College

Mar 2004 – Present:

Founder & Director, Heart Center, Tsinghua University First Hospital

Jul 2006 – Jul 2017: President of Tsinghua University First Hospital; Vice Chair, Tsinghua University Academic Committee

With 40+ years of clinical and foundational research in cardiovascular surgery, he has achieved breakthroughs in:

• Congenital heart disease (e.g., Ebstein’s anomaly, Tetralogy of Fallot)

• Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)

• Valvular heart disease (e.g., Ross procedure)

• Aortic diseases and mechanical circulatory support (e.g., LVAD)

  His outcomes in complex congenital, valvular, and coronary surgeries rank among the world’s highest.

• 4× National Science and Technology Progress Awards (Second Class)

• 10× Provincial/Ministerial-Level Awards

• 481 publications (210 as first/corresponding author)

• 15 textbooks (editor/co-author)

• Mentored 59 PhD/Master students, many now leading experts

Pioneering Surgical Innovations

Congenital Heart Disease

• Ebstein’s Anomaly: Developed a groundbreaking anatomical correction technique praised by Dr. Roger B. B. Mee (Cleveland Clinic) as a "major advancement." Dr. Joseph A. Dearani (Mayo Clinic) led a team to China in 2004 to learn this method. Holds the world’s highest surgical volume and success rate for Ebstein’s repair.

• Tetralogy of Fallot: Increased radical correction success rate from 90% to 99%—a global benchmark. His surgical principles remain foundational. Annals of Thoracic Surgery featured his work, with Dr. C. W. Lillehei (pioneer of open-heart surgery) endorsing it as "likely the best results in English literature."

• Complete Arterial Switch: Successfully performed on a 2-hour-old neonate (2014) and an 11-hour-old neonate (2008) with transposition of great arteries (TGA).

• World-First Radical Surgery (2006): Corrected a rare complex deformity (dextrocardia + L-TGA + single atrium + double-outlet LV + complete ECD + PS + persistent LSVC) with asplenia syndrome. No prior cases reported globally.

Coronary Artery Disease

• Elevated CABG success to 99.5% (3,500+ cases since 1993).

• Led China’s first live-streamed CABG (2000) and trained generations of surgeons.

• Won National Science and Technology Progress Award (2002) for research optimizing coronary surgery outcomes.

Mechanical Support & Transplantation

• LVAD + Heart Transplant: First in China to implant a long-term LVAD (2001), followed by successful transplant after 25 months—a record in Asia.

• ECMO: Saved a patient with post-op refractory hypoxemia using 17-day ECMO support (2005)—longest duration in China at the time.

Valvular & Aortic Surgery

• Ross Procedure: Introduced in China (1998) with modified techniques surpassing mechanical valve outcomes.

• Double-Switch Operation: Pioneered for corrected TGA (2001).

Other Milestones

• First off-pump bidirectional Glenn shunt (1999)

• Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Innovated endarterectomy techniques (1997)

• Heart-lung transplant (1994): Achieved China’s then-best survival record (15 days)