Recently, the 50th anniversary celebration of Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI) was held at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Professor YANG Peizeng from the Department of Ophthalmology at The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CQMU) was awarded the Academician Medal and Certificate, officially elected as an Academician of AOI.
Founded in 1975 in Belgium, AOI is a prestigious academic institution in the global field of ophthalmology. The number of AOI Academicians is limited to 100. Election requires rigorous academic review and voting, and candidates must have made world-class contributions to clinical practice, research, or education in ophthalmology.
AOI Academicians are regarded as the "highest honor in the global ophthalmology community." To date, only 97 ophthalmologists from 33 countries have been elected, with only 11 experts from China.
In his acceptance speech, Professor Yang Peizeng reflected on his over 40 years of dedication to uveitis, adhering to the belief of "chasing only one sheep in a lifetime," and leading his team from scratch to gradually pioneer cutting-edge research in international uveitis. Under his leadership, the team established the world’s largest uveitis database (over 30,000 medical records and 40,000 specimens) and diagnosis-treatment center, with annual patient visits exceeding 12,000, covering 97% of prefecture-level cities in China.
As an internationally renowned uveitis expert, Prof. Yang is hailed as "China’s foremost authority in uveitis diagnosis and treatment." His independently authored 1.75-million-word English monograph is acclaimed by international peers as "one of the world’s top three uveitis monographs," systematically introducing Chinese standards and protocols to the global community for the first time. Professor Aize Kijlstra, former editor-in-chief of the authoritative journal Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, remarked, "Professor YANG Peizeng single-handedly put China’s uveitis research on the world map!"
Prof. Yang’s election as an AOI Academician not only highly recognizes his personal scientific and clinical contributions but also highlights China’s growing influence in the international ophthalmology field.
Expert Profile：
YANG Peizeng is a Chief Physician, Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor in the Department of Ophthalmology at The First Affiliated Hospital of CQMU, and an internationally renowned uveitis expert. He serves as an Executive Director or member of four international uveitis organizations and is a Lifetime Professor at Chongqing Medical University.
As a principal investigator, he has received grants including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Innovative Research Group Fund, NSFC Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Ministry of Education Award Programs, NSFC Key Projects (4), Key International Cooperation Projects (3), National Key R&D Program, and National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program). As the first or corresponding author, he has published over 330 papers in renowned SCI journals such as Nature Genetics and has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by Elsevier for 11 consecutive years. According to literature reports, over the past decade, he ranked first internationally in the uveitis field for total SCI publications, total impact factor (IF), and papers with IF ≥ 10. He independently authored three Chinese uveitis monographs (over 4.6 million characters) and completed Chinese-English uveitis monographs totaling 6.35 million characters. He also edited the 7th, 8th, and 9th editions of the Ophthalmology textbook for five-year medical programs.
As the primary awardee, he received three National Science and Technology Progress Awards (two second-class and one third-class), seven provincial/ministerial-level first-class awards, and the Chongqing Science and Technology Outstanding Contribution Award (Chongqing’s highest scientific honor).
His honors include the Asia-Pacific Ocular Inflammation Society Outstanding Achievement Award, Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award, National Advanced Worker in Healthcare, Chinese Ophthalmological Society Distinguished Achievement Award, Sino-American Ophthalmological Society Golden Key and Golden Apple Awards, 6th Chinese Physician Award, National May 1st Labor Medal, National Model Teacher, National Medical Ethics Model, China Good Doctor, National Outstanding Professional Technical Talent, and National Outstanding Science and Technology Worker.
(Translated by AI)
