The Department of Nephrology at Renji Hospital was established in the 1970s, making it one of the earliest hospitals in China to establish a nephrology department. From 1962 to 1963, an integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine ward was set up within the Internal Medicine ward of Renji Hospital, carrying out integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine treatment for kidney diseases and renal insufficiency, with "conquering the incurable disease—uremia" as the main direction. In 1976, the Department of Nephrology was independently established. Under the leadership of successive department heads, Professor Chen Meifang, Professor Zhang Qingyi, Professor Qian Jiaqi, Professor Ni Zhaohui, and Professor Gu Leyi, it has now been developed into a National Clinical Key Specialty, a Key Discipline of the Ministry of Education, one of the first batch of Peritoneal Dialysis Training Centers of the Ministry of Health, the Shanghai Branch of the National Clinical Medical Research Center for Chronic Kidney Disease, the Uremia Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Shanghai Peritoneal Dialysis Research Center, the Asia-Pacific Peritoneal Dialysis Clinical College, the nation's first Home Dialysis Training Center, and it also possesses a Level III Laboratory of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine—the Molecular Cell (Nephrology) Laboratory. The Department of Nephrology currently provides outpatient and inpatient services at three campuses (East Campus, West Campus, and South Campus), with a total of 72 specialty beds, 134 hemodialysis machines, and 16 CRRT machines. The discipline has a high-quality academic team. Under the leadership of Director Ni Zhaohui and Director Gu Leyi, there are currently 49 physicians, including 11 professors and chief physicians, and 8 associate professors and associate chief physicians. This discipline is a training site for doctoral and master's degree students in nephrology, with 4 doctoral supervisors and 5 master's supervisors. 100% of the department's staff have postgraduate degrees, and over 67% hold doctoral degrees. The discipline focuses on clinical and basic research aimed at delaying the progression of chronic kidney disease and carrying out integrated treatment for end-stage renal disease. Its sub-specialties cover acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine prevention and treatment of kidney diseases, critical kidney disease rescue, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and kidney transplantation, and it has won widespread recognition and praise from patients over the years. Discipline goal: "Domestically leading, internationally advanced, first-class in Asia"; Discipline purpose: "Patients first, quality-oriented, invigorating the department through science and education, striving for first-class"; Discipline direction: "First-class quality, first-class service, first-class management, first-class environment." I. Medical Care The Department of Nephrology at Renji Hospital is composed of the nephrology ward, nephrology outpatient clinic, hemodialysis center, peritoneal dialysis center, molecular cell (nephrology) laboratory, and renal pathology room. It has 72 specialty beds, with more than 6,000 inpatient admissions per year and over 170,000 outpatient visits per year. In addition to daily specialty outpatient services, it also offers many specialized disease clinics, such as lupus nephritis specialty clinic, refractory nephropathy specialty clinic, diabetic nephropathy specialty clinic, gout specialty clinic, chronic kidney disease specialty clinic, peritoneal dialysis follow-up clinic, kidney transplantation follow-up clinic, urinary tract infection clinic, tumor-related nephropathy and metabolism-related nephropathy specialty clinics, etc. It also has expert clinics, special needs senior expert clinics, and appointment clinics to meet the needs of patients at different levels. Replacement therapy for end-stage renal disease is also a feature of this discipline, occupying a relatively high position domestically and enjoying a certain reputation abroad. In 1996, a Sino-foreign cooperative medical institution—the "Renji NMC Hemodialysis Center"—was established. The department currently has three hemodialysis centers across two campuses, the East Campus, West Campus, and South Campus, all using internationally advanced multifunctional blood purification machines, automatic CRRT machines, and plasma exchange machines. It has pioneered a series of new technologies in China and can perform various blood purification treatments. It is especially skilled in dialysis for highly difficult, high-risk, emergency patients, and elderly patients; it applies single- or double-filter plasma exchange therapy to treat various refractory nephropathies, secondary nephropathies (including severe lupus erythematosus), and anti-rejection therapy after kidney transplantation. This dialysis center not only focuses on the quality of dialysis treatment but also cares about patients' psychological well-being and quality of life, regularly carrying out a rich variety of patient education and publicity activities. The Department of Nephrology at Renji Hospital has been responsible for compiling Shanghai dialysis registration data for 15 consecutive years, and as China's only data, it has been adopted by the US USRDS for global publication. Peritoneal dialysis treatment for uremia is one of the department's key features, holding a relatively high domestic position and enjoying international prestige. Related research has won multiple scientific research awards, including the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. In 2012, it was selected and rated as a Peritoneal Dialysis Training Center of the Ministry of Health. At present, there are more than 760 peritoneal dialysis patients under long-term follow-up and more than 530 hemodialysis patients. The Department of Nephrology has long persisted in integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine research, applying diagnostic methods from both Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, and has achieved relatively good efficacy in treating chronic kidney disease, chronic renal insufficiency, and uremia. It features the treatment of various difficult and critical kidney diseases, such as primary and secondary kidney diseases including lupus nephropathy, diabetic nephropathy, and renal hypertension. A series of studies on Astragalus in the prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease and diabetic nephropathy won the Science and Technology Progress Award of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine and the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award of Integrative Medicine. II. Scientific Research This discipline possesses a Level III Laboratory of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine—the Molecular Cell (Nephrology) Laboratory. In the past five years, it has led and undertaken more than ten national-level projects, including key special projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology and National Natural Science Foundation projects, as well as multiple provincial and ministerial-level projects. It has published nearly 200 papers in various journals, with more than 100 indexed by SCI. The scientific research achievements obtained include multiple awards such as the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the Second Prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award, the First Prize of the Science and Technology Award of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine, the Third Prize of the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award, the Second and Third Prizes of the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award, and the Second Prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Award of Integrative Medicine, and it has obtained multiple national invention patents. It participated in the compilation of the Ministry of Health's "Standard Operating Guidelines for Blood Purification 2021 Edition" and "Standard Operating Guidelines for Peritoneal Dialysis." At the same time, it participated in the compilation of multiple diagnostic and treatment norms and guidelines for kidney diseases. It served as chief editor for monographs such as "Clinical Therapeutics," "Clinical Nephrology Volume," "Dietary Therapy for Kidney Diseases," "Internal Medicine Outpatient Manual," and "Diagnosis and Treatment Strategies for Kidney Diseases," as associate chief editor for "Standard Operating Procedures for Peritoneal Dialysis," and participated in the compilation of monographs such as "Internal Medicine Theory and Practice," "Practical Internal Medicine," "Chinese Internal Medicine," "Clinical Therapeutics," "Practical Nephrology" (1st Edition), "Nutrition—Kidney Disease Section," "Merck Manual—17th Edition," "Practical Critical Care Treatment," "Nephrology," "Chinese Medical Encyclopedia (Nephrology Volume)," and "Chinese Dietotherapy." III. Teaching In the past 10 years, the Department of Nephrology has trained a total of 52 doctoral students, 55 master's students, and 1 postdoctoral fellow. A large number of physicians from Shanghai and from 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country have come to the department for further training. To date, it has trained more than 100 nephrology specialty trainees. It served as chief editor for the national higher education "13th Five-Year Plan" medical organ-system integrated planning textbook—Urinary System, and "Complex Diseases of the Urinary System." Since 1997, it has continuously held 23 sessions of the national continuing education project "Peritoneal Dialysis Basics and Clinical Practice" training classes, training more than 2,000 peritoneal dialysis professionals for the country. In 2003, it was approved by the Ministry of Health as one of the first batch of national-level continuing medical education training bases. It is responsible for clinical and preclinical teaching for eight-year, seven-year, and five-year medical undergraduates (Chinese and English classes), junior college students, and trainee physicians. It has won the "Baosteel Teaching Award," and multiple staff members have received the title of "Outstanding Teacher" at the university and hospital levels. National Clinical Key Specialty of the Ministry of Health, Level III Laboratory of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, one of the first batch of Peritoneal Dialysis Training Demonstration Centers of the Ministry of Health, Asia-Pacific Peritoneal Dialysis Clinical College, Uremia Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Key Specialty of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Demonstration Ward of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Outstanding Teaching Team