International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, IEAS

Academician

Daning ZHANG

Profile:

Elected Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences in 2011, Professor Daning Zhang is a distinguished Chinese physician and researcher in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) whose research and professional work have focused on TCM nephrology, the theory and clinical treatment of kidney diseases, and the modernisation of traditional medicine. Born in September 1944 in Tianjin, he graduated from Tianjin College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, now Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in 1966. He subsequently held clinical, research, and teaching positions in Tianjin before joining his alma mater in 1978, where he combined clinical practice with medical education and research. He also served as Vice President of Tianjin Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Professor Zhang has held professional and public-service positions in the China Association of Chinese Medicine and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and has served as a Counsellor of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History of the State Council since 2013. He is currently Honorary President and Chief Expert of the Tianjin Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Director of its Tianjin Institute of TCM Nephrology, and Professor and Chief Physician. He was elected to the Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in 2020 and was named a National Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2014. He has received the State Council Special Allowance and has served as a central healthcare physician since the 1990s. In 1998, asteroid 8311 was named “Zhang Daning Star” in his honour.

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Professor Zhang’s research has centred on the aetiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of kidney diseases within the framework of traditional Chinese medicine. During the 1980s, he edited Practical TCM Nephrology and the Dictionary of TCM Nephrology, contributing to the systematic development and standardisation of TCM nephrology as a distinct clinical field. He proposed theoretical approaches including the Heart–Kidney Axis and kidney deficiency complicated by blood stasis, and developed therapeutic approaches combining kidney-tonifying and blood-activating methods. His clinical and experimental research has examined the application of TCM in glomerular sclerosis, renal interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy, chronic nephritis, chronic renal failure, and diabetic nephropathy, and has contributed to the development of more than 20 proprietary preparations used in clinical practice. He has led national research projects under several Five-Year Plan programmes and has published more than 100 research papers and over 10 monographs, several of which have been translated and published internationally. He has also supervised more than 60 apprentices and established clinical training and mentorship programmes in hospitals across China. Through sustained research, clinical practice, and medical education, Professor Zhang has contributed to the theoretical development of TCM nephrology, its integration with contemporary clinical research, and the training of specialists in the prevention and treatment of kidney disease.