Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Diabetes and Its Complications is a comprehensive laboratory integrating medical treatment and scientific research on diabetes and its complications. The current Director of the Academic Committee is Professor Liu Yu from the Department of Endocrinology. The committee members include professors from the Department of Endocrinology, Department of Nephrology, Department of Respiratory Medicine, and Department of Cardiology.

I. Academic Focus

With the economic and technological development in China, the improvement in people's living standards, and the increase in life expectancy, the alarming rise in diabetes prevalence, the high cost of diabetes treatment, and the high mortality and disability rates caused by its complications have drawn global attention. The urgent task facing the field of diabetes today is to effectively reduce and delay the occurrence of diabetes and its complications in China, provide a scientific theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications, and offer theoretical support for identifying new treatment directions and early diagnostic indicators for clinical intervention in diabetes.

The laboratory focuses on diabetes as its research subject, making full use of abundant clinical case resources and leveraging the advantages of close collaboration among multiple disciplines such as cell biology, molecular biology, pathology, and clinical medicine. It conducts clinical and basic research on diabetes and its complications to reduce the mortality and disability rates caused by diabetes and improve the quality of life for diabetic patients. Through continuous development, the laboratory has evolved into a multidisciplinary research entity integrating cell biology, molecular biology, pathology, and other fields, accumulating a solid foundation and achieving significant results.

II. Research Directions and Achievements

Main research directions include: immunological pathogenesis and early prevention of diabetes; genetic studies on diabetes; stem cell therapy for diabetic foot; pathogenesis and early prevention of diabetic retinopathy; pathogenesis and early prevention of diabetic lung disease, diabetic cardiovascular complications, and diabetic nephropathy.

In recent years, laboratory staff have published over 300 papers, including more than 100 in core journals, with 51 included in SCI since 2012. The laboratory has received funding from multiple projects, including the General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National 973 Program, and sub-projects of the National 863 Program.

III. Open Exchange and Collaboration

Overview of collaboration and exchange: In terms of academic exchange and scientific research, the laboratory promotes international, interprovincial, and cross-regional exchanges and encourages collaboration with advanced domestic laboratories. It has hosted three international conferences, such as the First, Second, and Third Spring City Diabetes Forum, and nine domestic conferences, such as the Insulin Pump Workshop. Laboratory members have participated in over 10 international conferences, ensuring they stay at the forefront of technological developments domestically and internationally. The laboratory actively creates opportunities for participation in international academic conferences to keep pace with global advanced levels. Each laboratory member attends approximately 4-6 domestic conferences annually, and about 2-3 doctors are sent to international diabetes-related conferences each year, such as the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Scientific Sessions, and the International Congress on Diabetes and Immunology. The laboratory also emphasizes regularly inviting internationally renowned experts in clinical and basic research on diabetes and its complications for academic exchanges.

Building on these efforts, the laboratory actively facilitates talent exchanges. In the past three years, to ensure the department's research on the pathogenesis of diabetes and its complications remains aligned with advanced international and domestic levels, seven individuals have been sent to Yale University, Duke University, Beckman Research Institute, and the University of Louisville in the United States for related work. Four of them have already returned after completing their studies and are primarily responsible for the construction and training of the laboratory's research team, ensuring the department's research capabilities remain internationally competitive, with some areas leading globally.