The Department of Respiratory Medicine at Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine was founded in 1952 and has a history of over 60 years. Under the leadership of Chinese pulmonology experts including Professors Sun Tongnian, Hu Zengji, Deng Weiwu, Huang Shaoguang, and Wan Huanying, the department has long been engaged in clinical, research, and teaching tasks related to respiratory system diseases. In its clinical work, the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Ruijin Hospital has continuously innovated, accumulated experience, and served patients. The rigid bronchoscopy performed in the 1950s, the fiberoptic bronchoscopy performed in the 1970s, the diagnosis and treatment of sleep respiratory diseases in the 1980s, and the respiratory intensive care unit established in the 1990s were all among the first such services to be carried out in China. Since entering the 21st century, the department has developed rapidly and has successively carried out cutting-edge technologies such as medical thoracoscopy and EBUS. The achievements of our department in the clinical field have been widely recognized by peers and society. It has received the Advanced Collective award for 10 consecutive years, won first place in the Shanghai Respiratory Medicine Quality Control Inspection in 2010, was designated a National Key Clinical Specialty in 2012, and ranked 9th in the 2012 National Best Specialty Ranking of Hospitals. "Moderate hypercapnic ventilation therapy for blood CO2 in severe asthma" and "Clinical research on sleep apnea" have won multiple Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Awards and Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Awards. The department has shouldered important responsibilities in public health emergencies (such as SARS and H1N1) and major medical support missions (such as the Tangshan earthquake, Wenchuan earthquake, and Shanghai World Expo), and has therefore received multiple national, provincial, and ministerial-level awards for advanced collectives and individuals. The Department of Respiratory Medicine has abundant expert resources and has held or currently holds positions including National Vice Chairman of the Respiratory Disease Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and expert of the Central Health Commission, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Medical Association Pulmonary Science Society, Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Rehabilitation Medical Association, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases. It has participated in the formulation of guidelines and consensus statements for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma, chronic cough, COPD, sleep respiratory diseases, and community-acquired pneumonia. The current Director of the Department at Ruijin Hospital is Professor Shi Guochao, and the Deputy Directors are Professor Li Qingyun and Professor Zhou Min. There are nearly more than 100 medical and nursing staff in total, including 13 physicians with senior professional titles, 4 doctoral supervisors, and 4 master's supervisors. In the selection of teaching demonstration bases of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the respiratory ward has consistently ranked among the top at Ruijin Hospital, and in 2012 it won first place as a Teaching Demonstration Ward of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. More than 100 graduate students have graduated, 40 national advanced training courses for respiratory physicians have been held, and more than 1,200 trainees have completed the courses. The Department of Respiratory Medicine currently has 110 beds (including 10 emergency observation beds), an independent outpatient and emergency service, and an annual outpatient and emergency volume of more than 140,000 patients, of which patients from other regions account for about 25%–30%, and the admission rate for difficult and critical diseases is about 40%. It has the Institute of Respiratory Diseases and Infectious Diseases of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 4 national-level bases including the Ministry of Health Endoscopy Training Base, Clinical Pharmacology Base, Resident Standardized Training Base, and National Clinical Pharmacist Training Base, 5 diagnosis and treatment centers including the Chronic Airway Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Sleep Monitoring Center, Difficult Thoracic Disease Consultation Center, Thoracic Disease Interventional Diagnosis and Treatment Center, and Respiratory Intensive Care Center, as well as 7 specialized disease clinics. The Department of Respiratory Medicine is a national key discipline of the Ministry of Education (Internal Medicine). In recent years, it has undertaken multiple projects including the National 973 Science and Technology Tackling Program, the Support Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Major Disease Special Project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and major projects of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission. In addition, the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Ruijin Hospital has continuously participated in multiple large international multicenter clinical drug studies over the past 20 years, such as ANSORP, SAVE, TORCH, START, GOAL, and JMEN. It has published multiple SCI papers in Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol and Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol.