Professor Sun Xiaodong of Shanghai General Hospital Honored with the 25th Wu Jieping–Paul Janssen Medical & Pharmaceutical Award

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FoAvg2bv6wNpyHFVXq7sLQ

On April 8, the 25th Wu Jieping–Paul Janssen Medical & Pharmaceutical Award (commonly known as the "Wu-Yang Award") was officially announced. Professor Sun Xiaodong, Director of the Ophthalmology Center at Shanghai General Hospital, was named one of this year’s recipients.

Established in 1994 with approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology's awards office, the Wu-Yang Award aims to recognize and commend outstanding young and middle-aged professionals in the medical and pharmaceutical fields who have made significant contributions and earned widespread recognition from both peers and society. The award's secretariat is housed within the International Exchange and Cooperation Center of the National Health Commission. Thanks to its rigorous and scientific selection process and serious, professional evaluation standards, the Wu-Yang Award has become a highly respected honor in China's healthcare community.

A Lifetime Devoted to Preventing Blindness—Holding on to a Ray of Hope for Patients

Professor Sun Xiaodong is a chief physician, doctoral supervisor, and recipient of numerous prestigious honors, including the Chang Jiang Scholars Distinguished Professorship awarded by the Ministry of Education, the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and the title of Outstanding Young and Middle-Aged Expert with Significant Contributions from the State. He is also the 2024 recipient of the Wu Jieping Award for Pharmaceutical Innovation.

He currently serves as Vice President of Shanghai General Hospital, Director of the Ophthalmology Center, Deputy Director of the National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, and Director of the National Key Clinical Specialty (Ophthalmology). Additionally, he chairs the Ophthalmology Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association and serves as a national committee member for the Ophthalmology Branch of both the Chinese Medical Association and the Chinese Medical Doctor Association. Internationally, he has been invited as a faculty member by the European Retina Educational Society, an international fellow of the American Macular Society, and a member of the American Society of Retina Specialists.

As the principal investigator, Professor Sun has led eight major national research projects, including the "863" and "973" programs, the 13th and 14th Five-Year National Major New Drug Development Projects, National Natural Science Foundation key programs, and National Basic Science Centers. Throughout his 30-year medical career, Professor Sun has remained committed to the clinical treatment and research of eye diseases in China.

In recent years, breakthroughs in gene therapy have opened revolutionary new possibilities for treating various diseases. At the forefront of this global medical field, Professor Sun and his team have pioneered a diagnostic and treatment system for hereditary retinal diseases. After a decade of persistent efforts, his team has developed a patient-centered gene therapy research and development system, overcoming key technological barriers in gene therapy. They have also established a comprehensive clinical diagnosis and treatment process, genetic testing and analysis pipeline, and clinical research evaluation system tailored to the Chinese population and aligned with international standards. He has led the development of five Chinese expert consensus guidelines.

Professor Sun holds 12 national invention patents and has successfully translated six research achievements into clinical application. In 2021, he led the first gene therapy for a hereditary eye disease (LCA) in China, achieving a groundbreaking “zero to one” milestone. This therapy received an IND approval from China’s drug authority and an orphan drug designation from the U.S. FDA. It is now in Phase III clinical trials.

To date, he has led four clinical studies on advanced gene and cell therapies as the principal investigator, helping 57 patients with inherited eye diseases regain their sight. He also established the Rare Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center under the National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, which has been approved as the Shanghai Gene Therapy Clinical Medical Research Center.

Professor Sun has published 199 SCI-indexed papers in top journals including Science Translational Medicine, JAMA Ophthalmology, Nature Communications, and Ophthalmology, with 116 of them as corresponding or co-corresponding author, totaling an impact factor of 1089 and with the most cited paper reaching 233 citations—one of which is an ESI highly cited paper. In addition, he has authored 87 papers in core Chinese journals and contributed to eight clinical guidelines, pathways, and expert consensus documents.

His research achievements have earned him 13 national and provincial science and technology awards, including the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the First Prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award, the Second Prize of the Ministry of Education's Science and Technology Progress Award, the Chinese Ophthalmology Society Award, and recognition as one of the Top Ten Advances in Retinal Disease Research in the Past Decade in China.

He has been selected for numerous national talent programs, including the "National Outstanding Young and Middle-aged Expert with Significant Contributions," the “National Ten Thousand Talents Program,” the Ministry of Education’s “New Century Excellent Talents Program,” and the Shanghai Leading Talent Program.

Beyond his research, Professor Sun is also deeply committed to supporting the eye health of underserved populations. As the initiator of the “Eye Health Public Welfare Fund Project,” he has helped alleviate the social problems of blindness and poverty caused by illness. To date, the project has provided aid to 2,500 patients with eye diseases and contributed significantly to the "Vision 2030" health initiative—benefiting both the country and its people.

Contributors:

Correspondent: Jia Huixun, Ophthalmology Center

Editor: Cai Shishi, Department of Publicity and Spiritual Civilization