On the afternoon of November 16, 2023, PUMCH welcomed the delegation led by Eric Rubin, the Editor-in-Chief of the “New England Journal of Medicine” (NEJM). President Zhang Shuyang warmly welcomed the delegation on behalf of the hospital and accompanied them throughout the visit. The two sides engaged in in-depth discussions on how to identify clinical issues, design research protocols, and innovate clinical practices, laying a solid foundation for friendly cooperation down the road.
▲President Zhang Shuyang conferred a certificate of appreciation upon Professor Eric Rubin
Founded in 1812, NEJM has always been widely recognized as one of the most prestigious journals among medical professionals. Professor Jeffrey Drazen, the former Editor-in-Chief of NEJM, once visited PUMCH and delivered a lecture. Professor Eric Rubin joined NEJM as Editor-in-Chief in September 2019. The visit to PUMCH is his first academic visit to China since taking on the position. Other members of the delegation included Jackie Prince, Executive Director Business and Content Strategy at NEJM; Charlotte Haug, Executive Editor of NEJM AI; Li Pei and Zhao Jianfei, General Manager and Deputy Editor of NEJM Yi Xue Qian Yan (a Chinese-language digital platform providing medical information from NEJM Group) respectively.
▲From left to right: Zhao Jianfei, Jackie Prince, Eric Rubin, Charlotte Haug, and Li Pei
Case Report by Young Physicians
During the case report and discussion session, Prof. Li Taisheng, the Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, first briefed the audience about the leading role that PUMCH played in driving HIV/AIDS research in China. Deputy Director Cao Wei moderated the session, and Li Chunlei, a clinical postdoctoral fellow from the Department of Internal Medicine, and Liu Xinchao, Assistant Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, presented their respective case report.
▲The case report session
Li Chunlei presented a case of a 17-year-old man with multiple bone lesions. He had been diagnosed elsewhere a rare disorder Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD). However, in PUMCH, elusive clues of tuberculosis were identified. Of note, the three-color fluorescence analysis of tuberculosis-specific T-cell response, a novel testing that PUMCH still develops, suggested a high possibility of active tuberculosis, which was confirmed by pathological examination of the affected vertebral body biopsy. Patient was treated accordingly, and his condition significantly improved. Professor Rubin listened with great interest. He commented that bone tuberculosis without pulmonary involvement was extremely rare, which makes the case well worth teaching and the testing method well worth studying.
Liu Xinchao reported a case of AIDs combined with Talaromyces marneffei infection and central nervous system lymphoma. Upon hearing the final pathological diagnosis, Professor Rubin exclaimed: “Wow!” He shared his own experiences and commented: “HIV infection combined with fungal infections is quite common. Your diagnostic and treatment strategies, as well as the timing of surgery, are all very appropriate. Thanks to all of you, this young man could survive such complicated and critical conditions and continue a high-quality life with the aid of medications from then on. Kudos to PUMCH!”
Session on rare diseases
“I know that, in China, rare diseases are, in one sense, not rare. With such a large population, the total number of rare disease patients in China is quite huge,” Prof. Rubin said during the discussion with the rare diseases specialty.
▲The discussion on rare diseases
President Zhang Shuyang told the delegation that PUMCH had assembled a multidisciplinary team that combines clinical practices and basic research to tame rare diseases. Backbone personnel and young scholars from the Department of Rare Diseases, the Department of Nephrology, and Clinical Research Institute that attended the discussion take on rare disease diagnosis, treatment and research at PUMCH on a daily basis, along with many other departments that have long been specialized in rare diseases at the hospital.
Professor Shen Min, Deputy Director (presiding) of the Department of Rare Diseases, moderated the discussion. Chen Limeng, the Director of the Department of Nephrology, presented on “Advancing Rare Disease Service in China: Explorations and Practices by PUMCH”. According to her, to address challenges concerning the shortage and inaccessibility of rare disease drugs, her team has made a series of achievements in drug development over the past five years. They are actively exploring gene therapy and conducting clinical trials of new drugs for rare diseases.
Prof. Rubin lavished praises on the achievements of PUMCH in rare disease diagnosis, treatment and research. He expressed great concern about the global challenge of orphan drug development and inquired in detail about the approval process for clinical trials and medications in China, the progress of development and clinical trial use of some new drugs. He clarified that “the number of cases is not the decisive factor for publication; journals primarily value novelty and reliability. Even with a small number of cases, groundbreaking results are worth publishing.” He also encouraged young medical professionals and researchers to think diligently and critically and apply innovative methods to solve clinical problems.
PUMCH International Master Forum
At around 17:00, the multifunctional hall on the third floor of the teaching building was already packed. Despite the setup of breakout rooms with livestreaming at the hospital, eager listeners still chose to stand in the lecture hall for listening to the professional advice from the Editor-in-Chief in close proximity.
▲Prof. Rubin’s lecture
Prof. Rubin, in an affable and humorous manner, introduced the distinctive features of NEJM, its rigorous editorial process, and the perspectives of the editors in reviewing contributions. He went over a number of articles published in NEJM to demonstrate the international reach and impact of NEJM with data and examples. Prof. Rubin pointed out that China has become the second largest contributor to NEJM after the United States. Chinese authors accounted for 12.4% of the authors that published articles between 2018 and 2022. NEJM Yi Xue Qian Yan is a “Chinese-language special issue” provided by the NEJM Group specifically for Chinese scholars, digitally publishing Chinese translations of articles from NEJM Group. In addition, NEJM AI, the new NEJM journal, will be officially launched in 2024. NEJM and its various journals welcome contributions from physicians and researchers at PUMCH.
During Q&A, young physicians and experts from PUMCH actively spoke up, calling for more attention from international academic journals to clinical research with Chinese characteristics and for joint efforts to promote advancements in medical science.
On that day, Prof. Rubin and other delegation members also visited the hospital history museum, taking in the century-long history of PUMCH. To his surprise, Prof. Rubin spotted a photo of Jeffery Drazen, the former NEJM Editor-in-Chief, and happily took a photo with it.
Written by Fu Tanpin, Xu Lubin and Wang Yao
Translated by Liu Haiyan
Reviewed by Wang Yao