WUHAN – Prof. Georg Hoffmann, a longstanding consultant Professor at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), was elected a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on November 21, 2025. Professor Hoffmann, also a Member of the German Academy of Sciences and Director of Heidelberg University Children's Hospital, is recognized for his more than 40 years of pioneering work in pediatric genetic metabolic disorders and his two-decade academic partnership with Tongji Hospital.

Prof. TANG Zhouping, the Party Secretary of Tongji Hospital, hailed the election of Professor Hoffmann as a significant milestone in strengthening international collaboration and enhancing the hospital's global standing. He noted that Tongji Hospital has consistently been an active participant and trailblazer in building a global health community, as exemplified by our early medical aid to Africa and serving as a leader of international alliances of hepato-bilio-pancreatic specialty, a sub-program of the Belt and Road Initiative. “We will continue to improve our global talent strategy, pooling top intellectual resources to fulfill our mission as a public hospital,” Tang stated.

Prof. Hoffmann's research has fundamentally shaped the understanding and treatment of rare childhood diseases. He and his team were the first to identify and systematically characterize 27 types of pediatric genetic metabolic disorders. His GC-MS batch method, proposed in 1989, has been established as the international “gold standard” for diagnosis, and his tandem mass spectrometry newborn screening technology is now implemented worldwide, including in China.

Addressing the ongoing challenge of treating rare diseases, Prof. Hoffmann is in partnership with Prof. LUO Xiaoping's team at Tongji Hospital on innovative intracerebral gene therapy research. The next-generation vector he designed shows potential for broader applications in central nervous system disorders.

Prof. HU Junbo, President of Tongji Hospital, highlighted the deepening partnership: “In September, we jointly established a global rare disease screening research platform with Heidelberg University. Our collaboration has evolved from academic exchange to in-depth integration, focusing on breakthroughs in gene therapy and AI-powered diagnostics.” Both institutions aim to leverage this partnership to develop and share effective “Tongji Solutions” and “China Solutions” for addressing global health challenges.

As a leading institution in China's rare disease network, Tongji Hospital has been spearheading the development of multiple national guidelines, engaging in a wide array of clinical studies, and recently has released the world's first AI large model dedicated to the management of rare childhood diseases.