At the 20th Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) Congress, held September 6-9, 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Professor Zeng Xiaofeng from our Department of Rheumatology and Immunology was elected APLAR vice president.

Professor Zeng is currently director of Chinese Rheumatology Association, CRA and president of Rheumatology and Immunology Physicians Committee of CMDA. He is the founder of big data of rheumatic diseases in China. His department, working together with colleagues from across the country, established the Chinese Rheumatism Data Center (CRDC) and Chinese Rheumatology Center Alliance (CRCA), in which nearly a thousand centers from across the country have joined and nearly 100,000 cases have been collected. As a result, cohorts for various diseases have been established, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), scleroderma, vasculitis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), all of them being the largest sized in the world.

Zeng is also a promoter of rheumatic diseases treatment in China. The medical pattern he advocated “one city, one department, one center” greatly encouraged doctors in the same field and treatment at grassroots levels has been remarkably boosted. Chinese rheumatology study is ushering in a historical opportunity which is believed to be the “golden decade”.