On September 8, 2022, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) issued the Announcement on the Evaluation Results of Applications Received Collectively for 2022 NSFC Projects. Shenzhen Bao'an Women's and Children's Hospital was approved for 4 NSFC Youth Projects, ranking first among district-level hospitals in Shenzhen, completing the NSFC application work of this year successfully.
As one of the major channels for national support to scientific research, the NSFC serves as an important funding source for basic and clinical research in China, playing a vital role in promoting scientific and technological innovation, medical progress, and talent cultivation. The number and funding of approved NSFC projects also reflect the research level and scientific strength of medical institutions to a certain extent.
By actively building clinical research platforms, improving the evaluation system of clinical research, deeply integrating academic research among various superior disciplines, and coordinating the organization, application, management and service of funding projects, the hospital has achieved steady improvement in the quantity and quality of approved NSFC projects. Relying on funding projects, the hospital has produced high-quality clinical research achievements and gradually formed a research cluster of maternal and child specialties characterized by maternal-fetal medicine research.
Focusing on maternal-fetal medicine to promote the development of superior specialties, the hospital has been approved for 18 national scientific research projects in the past five years, including 12 projects related to maternal-fetal medicine. In terms of research achievements, 31 SCI papers (including 8 papers with IF > 5) and 15 Chinese core journal papers were published in 2021 alone.
Shenzhen Bao'an Women's and Children's Hospital is a Grade-A tertiary maternal and child health hospital integrating medical treatment, health care, rehabilitation, teaching and scientific research. It is designated as a National Birth Defect Intervention and Rescue Base, National Demonstration Area for High-Quality Maternal and Child Health Services, Baby-Friendly Hospital, Provincial Demonstration Unit for Children’s Mental Health Care, Shenzhen Critical Neonatal Rescue Center, Shenzhen Perinatal and Neonatal Early Intervention Center, Shenzhen Key Medical Specialty (Obstetrics, Neonatology), the first institution in Shenzhen to establish a human milk bank, Shenzhen Child-Friendly Hospital, and Bao’an Critical Neonatal and Pregnant Women Rescue Center.
The hospital consistently implements the concepts of whole life cycle and three-level prevention throughout the entire process of maternal and child health care, striving for deep integration of health care and clinical practice.
In recent years, the hospital has cooperated with The Chinese University of Hong Kong to establish the first maternal-fetal medicine institute in western Shenzhen. Integrating multiple disciplines including high-risk obstetrics, biochemical screening, prenatal diagnosis, imaging, neonatology, and neonatal surgery, the hospital has carried out extensive basic and clinical research focusing on maternal-fetal medicine, with key research directions including recurrent miscarriage, the correlation between gestational diabetes and childhood obesity, twin pregnancy, preterm birth, abnormal intrauterine fetal growth and other placental-derived diseases, aiming to explore the mechanisms, prediction and intervention of maternal-fetal diseases.
Maternal-fetal medicine research is the foundation and core of ensuring maternal and infant safety and improving population quality. As a city of immigrants, Shenzhen has the largest annual net inflow of population in China, and Bao’an District is the most populous district with a total population of about 6 million.
As the hospital with the largest number of deliveries in Shenzhen and the only maternal and child health hospital in Bao’an District, Bao'an Women's and Children's Hospital will base on superior disciplines, translate basic medical advances and professional high-tech achievements into clinical capabilities, serve the strategic deployment of municipal and district levels, effectively improve the comprehensive service level of maternal-fetal medicine and maternal and child health care in the region, and protect the health rights and interests of mothers and infants.