The Department of Epidemiology was founded in December 1982 by Dr. Yingkai Wu, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the pioneer of epidemiological research on cardiovascular disease in China, as a key department in the Beijing Medical Center for Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases (currently the Beijing Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases).

Under the leadership of Academician Yingkai Wu, Professor Zhaosu Wu and Professor Dong Zhao, along with the combined effort of all the staff, the Department of Epidemiology plays a leading role in epidemiological research of cardiovascular diseases and has established a national and international reputation. Current research interests of the team include etiological studies of atherosclerosis, surveillance of cardiovascular diseases, clinical epidemiological studies, and evaluation of prevention and treatment strategies for cardiovascular diseases.

During the past three decades, the Department of Epidemiology took part in the WHO Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) Project, the Seventh to Twelfth Five-Year Key Programs for Science and Technology Development of China, projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation, the Major Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program), and National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program), and conducted international collaboration projects supported by the World Heart Federation and the American Heart Association.

The Department of Epidemiology has published more than 60 SCI-indexed papers with over 600 SCI citations by other research groups. One particular study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (impact factor: 31.718) has been cited more than 200 times by SCI papers. A paper published in Nature Reviews Cardiology was honored as the Recommended Paper by the International Society of Hypertension. The Department has published over 240 papers in Chinese core scientific journals and these papers have been cited more than 4000 times. In view of these contributions, the team has been awarded numerous prizes, including 1st prize of Scientific Technique Advance from the Ministry of Education, 2nd prize of Scientific Technique Advance from the Ministry of Health, 3rd prize of Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, and 2nd and 3rd prize of Scientific Technique Advance from Beijing Municipality (four times). Key investigators from the Department also participated in the development of three international and five national guidelines on cardiovascular diseases, i.e. WHO Guidelines for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Effectiveness-Based Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women – 2011 Update: A Guideline From the American Heart Association, International Atherosclerosis Society Position Paper: Global Recommendations for the Management of Dyslipidemia, Chinese Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension, Guidelines for Management of Adult Dyslipidemia in China, China Guideline for Diabetes Prevention and Treatment, Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Overweight and Obesity in Chinese Adults, and Chinese Guidelines for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.

The 30 years of research studies conducted by the Department of Epidemiology provide valuable evidence for the development and application of national preventive strategies on cardiovascular disease, and meet the dynamic needs of scientific research during the rapid transition seen with both the economic and disease patterns in China.