Guo Di(1911~2012), the Director and one of the founding members of the Shanghai Pediatric Medical Research Institute, is a Professor of Pediatrics, Chief Physician, Level II Professor, and a National Lifetime Professor. He is also a pioneer in the field of child health in China.

Introduction:

At the age of 16, he embarked on his university journey, a path that would lead him to become one of the founders of modern pediatrics in China and to establish the pediatrics department at Renji Hospital.

As a physician, he dedicated his life to protecting the health of children. His 60-year medical career was a testament to his unwavering commitment to safeguarding the well-being of childhood.

Over a medical career spanning six decades, Dr. Guo not only witnessed the evolution of pediatrics in China but actively shaped it. His centenarian life has been marked by the countless children he saved, giving each the opportunity for a brighter future.

Medical Journey:

Born in 1911 into a medical family in Chaoyang County, Guangdong Province, Guo Di demonstrated academic excellence from a young age. He completed his elementary and first two years of middle school in his hometown before moving with his family to Shanghai in 1924. There, he attended Fudan Middle School and later transferred to the science preparatory program at Fudan University’s affiliated high school.

In 1927, before even finishing his secondary education, Guo Di was driven by a youthful aspiration to contribute to his nation’s future through industrialization. Consequently, he applied to the Electrical Engineering Department at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and was exceptionally admitted.

He was only 16 years old.

During his university years, however, Guo Di discovered that his true calling was not in engineering but in medicine. He transferred to a medical preparatory course in his second year and, through relentless effort, graduated with top honors in 1935 with a medical degree. Recognizing his talent, the medical school recommended him for advanced studies in pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

At the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Guo Di excelled, immersing himself in clinical practice and research. Two years later, in 1937, he graduated with distinction, earning a Master of Medical Science in Pediatrics.

The year 1937 also marked the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, a conflict that would become a major theater of World War II.

Compelled by a sense of duty to serve his country in its time of need, Guo Di returned to China and joined the First Ambulance Hospital of the Chinese Red Cross. Even in his later years, he would often recall the harrowing experience of treating wounded soldiers and civilians alongside his colleagues.

He also joined the Shanghai Children’s Shelter, organized by the International Red Cross, to focus on child healthcare. There, he confronted the human cost of war: countless children had been orphaned and separated from their families. At the shelter, Guo Di conducted regular health check-ups and provided not just medical treatment, but also the love, support, and warmth these children so desperately needed.

A year later, to expand his ability to treat children, Guo Di opened his own pediatric clinic in Shanghai. It was there that he frequently encountered families struggling financially. He was heartbroken when parents could not afford medical fees, and he often waived his own fees to treat a child in tears. He recognized that improving children’s healthcare was essential for the well-being of families and the strength of the community as a whole.

In the years that followed, Guo Di was appointed head of pediatrics at both Tongren Hospital and Renji Hospital. He never lost sight of his core mission: to ensure children could grow up healthy and strong. His compassion, kindness, and perseverance touched the lives of countless families.

Understanding that his own efforts were not enough to meet the overwhelming need, Dr. Guo Di became committed to training more pediatricians. He took a position as a lecturer in pediatrics at St. John’s University Medical School, believing that the future of children’s medicine depended on inspiring and empowering the next generation of doctors.

In the classroom, he went beyond textbooks, teaching practical skills and sharing his extensive clinical experience. He constantly reminded his students of the need for patience, meticulousness, and a deep understanding of a child’s psychological and social needs. He led by example, personally mentoring his students to hone their diagnostic abilities and master standardized medical procedures.

A New Era: Building a National Pediatric System

With the restoration of peace in 1949, the People’s Republic of China was born. Guo Di was deeply troubled by the alarmingly poor state of children’s health across the nation. As a leading pediatrician, he felt a profound sense of responsibility to address this crisis, dedicating his expertise to the monumental task of building a national children’s healthcare system.

In 1952, a nationwide restructuring of higher education ushered in a new era for Chinese medical education. Embracing this shift, Guo Di dedicated himself to public health, forgoing his private practice to participate in the reform of medical education. He actively engaged in community health programs, aiming to extend his impact to a greater number of children, and was instrumental in founding the Shanghai Second Medical College.

At the time, pediatrics in China was critically under-resourced, with a severe shortage of both staff and educational materials. Responding to a request from the Shanghai municipal government, Guo Di undertook the challenge of establishing a new pediatrics department. As its deputy director, he built the department from the ground up: coordinating resources, securing clinical placements for students, assembling a leadership team, and establishing essential teaching and research offices. His tireless efforts created a thriving environment for medical education and services, cementing his status as a leading figure in pediatric education in Shanghai.

Once the department was established, Guo Di immersed himself in teaching, research, and clinical practice, dramatically elevating the standard of pediatric care and making substantial contributions to the field. Under his guidance, the department developed a systematic approach to training pediatricians and medical professionals. The first class of pediatric specialists graduated in 1958. In the decades that followed, the department would go on to train thousands of pediatricians for the nation.

However, the cultivation of talent depended on having proper teaching materials. In the 1950s, although four medical schools in the country had pediatrics departments, none had specialized pediatric textbooks, creating a major bottleneck that hindered the field’s development. To fill this critical void, the Ministry of Health convened a team of experts to compile four foundational pediatric textbooks: Basic Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Systematic Pediatrics, and Pediatric Surgery.

As a leading authority in the field, Guo Di was appointed chief editor of Systematic Pediatrics (the precursor to today’s Pediatric Internal Medicine). His deep expertise and clinical experience were woven into the text, establishing it as one of the most authoritative pediatric references of its time and solidifying his academic standing. He also contributed chapters to Basic Pediatrics, edited by Professor Deng Jin’ao. These textbooks laid the foundation for a new generation of pediatricians and fundamentally transformed pediatric education and clinical practice across China.

The progress was abruptly halted by the Cultural Revolution, which forced the suspension of pediatric health education for several years. When the revolution ended, medical schools began to admit students for pilot programs, but the existing textbooks were outdated. The government tasked Guo Di with editing a new volume, simply titled Pediatrics, to bridge the gap and ensure the continuity of medical education.

When China fully resumed university admissions in 1977, the need for a comprehensive, modern pediatric textbook became urgent. The government proposed a joint effort led by the Shanghai Second Medical College and Beijing Children’s Hospital. To accomplish this, Guo Di assembled a national team of renowned educators. After years of collaborative effort, their work culminated in the 1980 publication of Pediatric Internal Medicine, a landmark achievement that set a new standard for pediatric education in China.

Yet, Guo Di was not content to stop there. He recognized a pressing need to elevate the skills of practicing pediatricians and provide young doctors with comprehensive reference materials for self-study. He dedicated the next five years (1983-1988) to editing four advanced reference books, totaling an impressive 4.36 million words. Notably, he coordinated a team of 106 national experts to produce the 2.2-million-word Pediatric Basics and Clinical Practice. This five-year undertaking was a testament to his tireless work ethic. He delved into research, synthesized treatment methodologies, reviewed extensive literature, and meticulously revised manuscripts to ensure the highest quality.

Reflecting on the early years of the People’s Republic, China’s pediatrics model was initially adopted from the Soviet Union’s teaching system. Under this model, the pediatrics department at the Shanghai Second Medical College established five teaching and research offices. Over time, however, Guo Di concluded that this model was ill-suited to China’s specific needs and championed a major academic reform.

He proposed merging two of the offices into a single Pediatric Internal Medicine Teaching and Research Office while simultaneously expanding and deepening the curriculum, with a special emphasis on child healthcare to align with both international trends and domestic priorities. To gain approval for his proposed reforms, Guo Di tirelessly promoted his vision through professional forums, persistently making his case to government authorities and persuading his colleagues. In practice, he continuously refined his teaching methods.

In 1977, his efforts culminated in a pioneering achievement: the establishment of China’s first-ever Child Health Care Department, launched as a pilot program. This reform set a new standard for pediatric education.

His reforms proved successful, making pediatric education more adaptable to the needs of the era while effectively improving doctors’ clinical skills and advancing child healthcare nationwide.

Simultaneously, Guo Di transformed the original Basic Pediatrics Teaching and Research Office into the new Child Health Care Teaching and Research Office, which began enrolling master’s and doctoral students to cultivate advanced talent in the field. This move earned widespread recognition and praise from his peers.

The path to reform was not without resistance. The changes touched nearly every aspect of the pediatric system, and some within the medical community questioned their necessity. Undeterred, Guo Di remained a steadfast advocate for the importance of child healthcare, continuing to promote the specifics of his reforms. His efforts improved clinical training outcomes and expanded child healthcare services across the country.

In the years that followed, medical schools throughout China established their own child healthcare departments, and the concept gradually gained widespread acceptance. The awareness and emphasis on child healthcare grew significantly within both the medical community and the general public.

Innovation and Change, All for the Children

An avid reader of international medical journals, Guo Di stayed abreast of global advancements and was always willing to innovate. As the director and a founder of the Shanghai Pediatric Medical Research Institute, he initiated numerous groundbreaking research projects throughout his career.

In 1979, Guo Di spearheaded the first nationwide effort to revise and standardize children’s intelligence test scales. At a time when such testing was still in its infancy in China, he innovatively organized national research that led to the development of new tools like the DDST and the Children’s School Entry Screening Scale. Widely adopted across the country, these instruments were crucial in standardizing the measurement of children’s intelligence and advancing scientific research.

His groundbreaking research into zinc deficiency in the late 1970s led to new treatments that earned national recognition from the Ministry of Health in 1985. Today, the fruits of this research are widely applied by doctors across China in both clinical and healthcare settings, having a positive impact on public health.

Between 1986 and 1990, Guo Di developed the innovative Child Growth and Development Health Card. Recognizing that traditional child healthcare focused narrowly on physical metrics like weight and height, Guo Di advocated for a more holistic approach that included psychological and social development. He organized a survey of over 8,000 healthy children aged 0-6 in China’s southeastern coastal regions. Based on this data, he successfully designed the new health card.

The card was met with high praise from WHO officials and international experts, who hailed it as a professional and practical innovation. The research was also cited in foreign publications and widely promoted across many regions of China.

In the 1980s, Guo Di conducted pioneering research on childhood lead poisoning, a critical issue for children in China’s rapidly industrializing cities. Anticipating the threat of lead pollution from industrialization, he led his graduate students in a series of groundbreaking studies.

His research demonstrated the severe health risks of lead exposure. Based on his findings, he successfully advocated for the adoption of unleaded gasoline, a policy change that led to a 13% reduction in childhood lead poisoning in Shanghai and was soon adopted nationwide.

This influential body of work on lead poisoning was awarded the Second Prize for Scientific and Technological Achievement by the Ministry of Health in 1999.

In the 1980s, Dr. Guo Di once again broke new ground, pioneering research into child development and behavior in China. This work opened up entirely new avenues of inquiry and challenged the existing paradigms of pediatric research in the country. Recognizing the profound importance of this emerging field, the Ministry of Health awarded Dr. Guo Di’s project a special grant from a World Bank loan in 1988. To further catalyze progress, the Ministry organized a national workshop on pediatric development and behavior, bringing in three international experts to share their knowledge.

The workshop was a watershed moment, inspiring domestic scholars to form the “National Child Development and Behavior Study Group.” This group began holding biennial scientific symposia, creating a sustainable platform for ongoing collaboration and discovery.

Under Dr. Guo’s visionary leadership, these initiatives culminated in the creation of China’s first national child development research network. This network, now adopted by over 100 hospitals, continues to drive the advancement of child healthcare across the nation.

A Legacy of Wisdom and Mentorship

As one of China’s first supervisors for doctoral and master’s students, Dr. Guo considered the cultivation of top-tier pediatric talent to be one of his life’s primary missions. He fostered an environment of rigorous academic inquiry, where disagreements with students were seen not as obstacles, but as a natural part of the research process. Through structured mentorship and constructive feedback, he empowered his students to sharpen their critical thinking and develop intellectual independence.

Dr. Guo’s standards were exceptionally high. He demanded thoroughness and intellectual honesty from his students. When submitting a review article for his feedback, they were required to provide copies of all cited sources. For a research paper, they had to include all original data. He would then meticulously review every paper himself, scrutinizing it word by word. With a remarkable eye for detail, he could uncover hidden insights or suggest new directions, helping students to more clearly articulate their ideas and present their findings with greater impact. This demanding yet supportive approach, combined with his constant care and encouragement, instilled a deep sense of confidence in his students, motivating them to strive for excellence.

Dr. Guo Di dedicated more than six decades of his life to pediatric clinical practice, teaching, and research. He passed away on the morning of June 25, 2012, at the age of 102.

His journey began as a student with a commitment to advancing pediatric medicine in China. He evolved into one of the founding figures of modern Chinese pediatrics, later shifting his focus to the crucial field of child healthcare. Ultimately, he pioneered research in developmental and behavioral sciences, establishing entirely new frameworks for clinical practice that continue to influence the field today.

Editor: Chen Qing @ ShanghaiDoctor.cn, 

Note: Chinese Sources from “The Path of Benevolent Medicine” which was published in 2024. It records 90 important medical figures in the history of Renji Hospital. Yewen Renyi (ShanghaiDoctor.cn) team was one of the major writers of the book and is authorized by Renji hospital to create English version on the website of ShanghaiDoctor.cn