“AI-Driven Academia: Shaping the Next Frontier”- the 2nd Tsinghua Medical Journal Innovation and Development Conference convened in Beijing
On April 26, the 2nd Tsinghua Medical Journals Innovation and Development Conference, featuring “AI-Driven Academia: Shaping the Next Frontier”, was held in Beijing.
The opening address is delivered by WANG Hongwei, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Tsinghua University Committee and Vice President of Tsinghua University (TU); LI Jun, Executive Vice President of China Periodicals Association and ZHAO Xin, President of Tsinghua University Press (TUP). WONG Tienyin, Vice Provost and Senior Vice-Chancellor of Tsinghua Medicine (TM) gives concluding remarks. The opening ceremony is chaired by Prof. ZHANG Zongjiu, Vice-Chancellor of TM. Attendees include: YANG Zhenlin, Senior Researcher of Periodicals Office, Publication Bureau, Publicity Department of the CPC; MENG Xianfei, Director of Research & Development Affairs Office, TU. ZHOU Yuehong, Party Committee Secretary of Tsinghua Changgung Hospital; LI Wei, Party Committee Secretary of Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital; and Li Haitao, Dean of School of Basic Medical Sciences, TU; LI Xiaobei, President of Beijing Chest Hospital, and YAN Xue, Vice President of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University; SUN Yu and SHI Lei, Associate General Editors of TUP host the conference. Presentations are delivered by GAO Jiping, Deputy Director of Scientific Metrics and Evaluation Research Center at Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China and LIU Xiaomin, Researcher of National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences. WU Shicai, Member of the Executive Board of China Disabled Persons' Federation and Party Committee Secretary and Director of China Rehabilitation Research Center; ZHENG Linxiong, Party Committee Secretary of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University; SUN Luying, President of Fangshan Hospital Beijing University of Chinese Medicine; LIU Juwei, Vice President of the Eighth Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital; QU Wenrui, Vice President of the Second Norman Bethune Hospital of Jilin University; ZHANG Haiou, Full-time Deputy Party Committee Secretary of Beijing Children's Hospital; YIN Xiaoping, Vice President of Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University; ZHANG Changhua, Vice President of the Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University; ZHENG Qian, Vice President of Shijiazhuang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital; Professor HUANG Hongyun, editor in chief of Journal of Neurorestoratology; Professor LIU Jie, executive editor-in-chief of iLABMED participate in the thematic discussions, alongside over 100 faculty and staff from TM and Institute for Hospital Management of Tsinghua University (IHMTU) and editorial board members and editors from “Life Sciences and Medicine Journal Cluster”.
The conference is co-organized by TUP, TM, and IHMTU and along with the editorial boards of all journals in the “Life Science and Medical Journal Cluster” of TUP.
WANG Hongwei, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Tsinghua University Committee and Vice President of TU delivers the opening address
In his remarks, WANG Hongwei states as TU progresses toward world-class university status, it has implemented a tripartite strategy—cluster development, digital transformation, and global engagement—to cultivate internationally competitive journal platforms. The institution remains committed to harnessing academic publications as interdisciplinary bridges, nurturing an inclusive knowledge ecosystem that advances China's ambitions for technological enhancement in medical sciences. Through implementation of the Tsinghua Global Strategy 2030, the university will amplify its global influence in medical innovation while fostering transnational cooperation to address healthcare challenges.
LI Jun, Executive Vice President of China Periodicals Association presents the opening remarks
In his speech, LI Jun emphasizes that scientific journals serves as a vital platform for scholarly discourse and function as an essential force for research advancement. The exponential progress of information technologies has radically reshaped the dynamics of knowledge diffusion across scope and pace. Although AI-driven open science paradigms pose existential challenges to traditional medical journals, they simultaneously unlock groundbreaking possibilities. This conference’s strategic emphasis on convergence between AI and medical science, coupled with multi-disciplinary co-innovation, renders it both historically pertinent and academically profound.
ZHAO Xin, President of TUP gives the opening speech
ZHAO Xin highlights in his address that for 45 years, TUP has dedicated itself to upholding TU’s legacy, advancing academic excellence, and fostering innovation through world-class, globally oriented scholarly publishing and knowledge services. To meet the challenges of the new era, TUP focus on three key strategic priorities: first, advancing cutting edge research in medicine to become a globally recognized hub for academic publishing; second, harnessing intelligent technologies to develop an AI-enhanced knowledge service ecosystem; and third, strengthening international collaboration to create an open platform for medical research exchange. These efforts will drive high-quality, transformative growth in China’s medical publishing sector and accelerate progress toward the Healthy China vision.
The opening ceremony is chaired by Professor ZHANG Zongjiu, Vice-Chancellor of Tsinghua Medicine
ZHANG Zongjiu underscores that innovation in medical science and technology is pivotal to national strategy, forming the foundation for safeguarding public health and driving medical progress. As vital conduits for research dissemination and scholarly dialogue, medical journals are now steering disciplinary advancement and supporting the Healthy China initiative through data-driven, AI-enabled approaches. He envisioned a future where smart healthcare serves as the catalyst and data-driven strategies as the cornerstone, fostering partnerships to build a globally impactful academic platform, which contributes a new vision of high-quality development in medical publication and amplifies Tsinghua’s role in advancing the Healthy China Initiative.
WONG Tienyin, Vice Provost and Senior Vice-Chancellor of TM delivers concluding remarks
In his closing address, WONG Tienyin outlines three key growth opportunities for China's academic journals: first, capitalizing on the synergy between "clinical practice, education and research," by establishing a national rare disease registry and reporting system; second, stimulating innovative research while accelerating AI adoption in scientific exploration; third, transcending conventional boundaries to enable interdisciplinary collaboration. He emphasizes leveraging clinical expertise to create global platforms that would shift China's role from trend-follower to trendsetter. Noting that medical research progress serves a worldwide mission, he calls for enhanced global engagement of Chinese academic publications.
SUN Yu, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Editor of TUP, presides over the ceremony
The conference features three concurrent ceremonies: the launch of the "Academic Communication Vanguard" Party-Industry Alliance, the unveiling of TUP's Life Sciences and Medicine Journal Workstations, and the award ceremony for Council members of TUP's Life Sciences and Medicine Journals.
ZHAO Xin, President ofTUP, confers the official plaque to member institutions of the "Academic Communication Vanguard" Party-Industry Alliance
At the 2024 inaugural conference, TUP pioneered the establishment of the "Academic Communication Vanguard" Party-Industry Alliance and Journal Workstations, developing an innovative "Party-Academia Integration" paradigm that effectively bridges institutional governance with scholarly practice. This transformative model has substantially improved research dissemination efficiency, as demonstrated by the participation of 19 institutional party committees representing universities, hospitals and professional associations in the alliance's inauguration ceremony.
SUN Yu and SHI Lei, Associate General Editors of TUP, present plaques to representatives of TUP’s Life Sciences and Medicine Journal Workstations and its Council members
The plaque unveiling ceremony brings together representatives from journal workstations and partner institutions: Professor YIN Xiaoping, Vice President of Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University (iLIVER); Dr. LIU Guiling, Beijing Chaoyang Digital Medical Validation Center (Health Care Science); and Dr. FAN Yan, Liaocheng People's Hospital (Brain Science Advances). The event also welcomes delegates from iLABMED's governance bodies: Merit Choice Bioengineering (Beijing) Co., Ltd. as Executive Council member, alongside Council members Beijing Tri-Prime Gene Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Dynamiker Biotechnology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.
The report session is chaired by LI Xiaobei, President of Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, and ZHOU Yuehong, Party Committee Secretary of Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital. Presentations are delivered by LIU Xiaomin, National Science Library, Researcher of Chinese Academy of Sciences and GAO Jiping, Deputy Director of Scientific Metrics and Evaluation Research Center at Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China.
The conference features invited presentations by LIU Xiaomin, Researcher of National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who delivers a report titled "Strategic Opportunities for Hospital-Based Research: Policies, Technologies and Data in Scientific Journals," and Gao Jiping, Deputy Director of the Scientometrics and Evaluation Research Center at the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, who presents on "Safeguarding Academic Publishing Through General Artificial Intelligence Technology". The presentation session is co-chaired by Dr. Li Xiaobei, President of Beijing Chest Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, and Zhou Yuehong, Party Committee Secretary of Tsinghua Changgung Hospital.
The thematic discussion is chaired by LI Wei, Party Committee Secretary of Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital; SHI Lei, Deputy General Editor of TUP; YAN Xue, Vice President of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University; and LI Haitao, Dean of School of Basic Medical Sciences, TU
The conference organizes four focused panel discussions addressing critical issues in medical research and publishing: "Hospital Research Development Planning: AI for Scientific Breakthroughs", "Building Specialty Clusters: Journal-Powered Research Advancement", "Bridging the Innovation Gap: Collaborative Solutions for Research Translation", and "The AI Revolution in Scholarly Publishing". These sessions are expertly moderated by: LI Wei, Party Committee Secretary of Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital; SHI Lei, Deputy General Editor of TUP; YAN Xue, Vice President of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University and LI Haitao, Dean of School of Basic Medical Sciences, TU.
Thematic discussion
The panel discussions features distinguished experts across four themes: For Theme one, participants includes QU Wenrui, Vice President of the Second Norman Bethune Hospital of Jilin University and LIU Juwei, Vice President of the Eighth Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital; ZHANG Haiou, Full-time Deputy Party Committee Secretary of Beijing Children's Hospital; YIN Xiaoping, V Vice President of Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University; YAN Shuai, China Advisor, International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM); and CHEN Guodong, Chief Physician of Organ Transplant Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University. Theme two panelists comprise ZHANG Changhua, Vice President of the Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University; SUN Luying, President of Fangshan Hospital Beijing University of Chinese Medicine; LIN Siyong, Director of Medical Department, Tsinghua Changgung Hospital; CHEN Qiuxia, Chief Product Manager for Content & Policy, Global Research Data Platforms, Elsevier; and TANG Liuying, Researcher of National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention. Theme three includes ZHENG Linxiong, Party Committee Secretary of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University; WU Shicai, Member of the Executive Board of China Disabled Persons' Federation and Party Committee Secretary and Director of China Rehabilitation Research Center; ZHENG Qian, Vice President of Shiiiazhuang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital; LIU Wenting, Deputy Director of the Medical Affairs Department, China-Japan Friendship Hospital; NING Bi, Business Director, Clarivate; and QIAN Haili, Researcher of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Theme four contains Professor HUANG Hongyun; HU Yong, Researcher, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital; Director MA Dedong and Prof. LIU Jie of Key Laboratory of Infectious Respiratory Diseases Diagnosis and Treatment in Shandong Province; CHEN Lin, Chief Physician, Beijing Electric Power Hospital; and CAI Lei, Researcher of Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing University.
The contributions from participating scholars have infused new vision and energy into Tsinghua medical journal development. Guided by its core values of "innovation, intelligence, internationalization and integration", Tsinghua medical journal remains dedicated to fostering premium academic publications, with the dual mission of cultivating world-leading scientific journals and supporting China's advancement as a scientific powerhouse.