Shanghai Jiao Tong University aims to accelerate the development of a world-class university and medical school with distinct Chinese characteristics, Yang Zhenbin, Party secretary of the university said at an event on Tuesday.

The event commemorated the founding of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in 2005, a merger between the university and the former Shanghai second medical university.

"We will continue to be guided by the objective of building a first-rate institution, freeing our minds, and enhancing reform efforts to enable mutual empowerment," Yang said.

Xia Qiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Renji Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, recounted his journey since joining the hospital in 2004. He led a young team to establish the liver surgery department from scratch.

Over the past two decades, the department has been transformed from a small unit with just 13 beds into a major department with seven wards and over 160 medical workers. It has also developed a comprehensive interdisciplinary platform and talent pipeline.

"Both the liver surgery department and my personal career have greatly benefited from the collaborative efforts between the university and its school of medicine," Xia said.

Zhou Yongfeng, director of the division of research management at SJTU, highlighted the impact of the university's medical-engineering interdisciplinary research fund. Since its inception, approximately 674 million yuan ($95 million) has been invested, supporting over 2,000 projects. This funding has provided crucial initial support for over 1,900 researchers from the university's school of medicine and affiliated hospitals, enhancing the university's original innovation capabilities in interdisciplinary and translational medicine, he said.

Looking ahead, Yang stressed the importance of balancing organized support with granting autonomy, and strengthening coordination among the university, the school of medicine, and the affiliated hospitals. He underscored the need to leverage SJTU's multidisciplinary strengths to promote deeper integration between medical and other academic disciplines.

"In line with the university's 'big health' strategic framework, the role of the school of medicine will be further refined to foster integration across basic medicine, pharmaceutical research, medical device development, and clinical and translational applications," he said.