China, as one of the biggest developing country, is having more and more impact in the World. That is not only in global economy, global warming and global pollution, but also in the global medical research. Medical research services, human health, aims to reduce morbidity and mortality, improve outcome of diseases and maintain a basic independent personal quality of life. Stroke is the fourth deadly disease. Moreover, impairments and disabilities left after stroke onset cost a lot of fortunes and resources of society, severely affect daily life. Here, I try to briefly introduce milestones that the medical professionals of stroke in Beijing Tiantan comprehensive stroke center led by Professor Wang, Yongjun had made in this decade based on his reorganized collection of editorial of Chinese Journal of Stroke--In My Mind.¹ Neurologist Professor Wang, Yongjun is my dearest mentor when I specialized in Neurology as a clinical professional in Beijing, China (Figure 1).

The first stroke unit in china and comprehensive stroke centers

For a long period of time, patients with stroke onset were moved back home after two-three weeks of acute care without any rehabilitation in China because rehabilitation was misunderstood as a simple concept of convalescing. The outcome of stroke, of course, was affected by lacking of treatment from therapists with rehabilitation knowledge. Gotten knowing the significance of early rehabilitation involving in acute care of stroke and assessment of feasibilities of international stroke scales in China,² to fit the standard of international comprehensive neurocritical care for stroke patients, in 2001, Stroke Unit was established first time in China, in the Department of Neurology of Beijing Tiantan Hospital. Stroke Unit of Tiantan Hospital had been developed to 100-beds, helped to establish Stroke Units all over the country through the training and professional education since then. Tiantan Stroke Unit has been supported by the Chinese government and accepted funding for missions of “Eleventh-Five” and “Twelfth-Five” national science and technology supporting programs. In 2010, Tiantan Comprehensive Stroke center is founded to match the rapidly developing needs of national and international exchange of medical research in cerebrovascular disease.

We have to introduce the history of Beijing Tiantan Hospital that the accomplishment of the professional team of Stroke led by Professor Wang, Yongjun leans on. Beijing Tiantan Hospital is originally famous for its Department of Neurosurgery. Number one Neurosurgeon in China, Professor Wang, Zhongcheng also founded the Department of Neuroimaging in this hospital to providing the accurate early diagnosis of neurological diseases by radiologists with cutting-aged knowledge and equipments with advanced technology to ensure having patients suitable treated on time. The close cooperation with neurosurgeon experts is another key point of success for the Tiantan team of cerebrovascular disease.

Professor Wang, Yongjun also set up the performance measures for quality control of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Good Research Practice (GRP) in his institute through education and surveillance of the National Center of Quality Improvement in Stroke care, the Ministry of Health, P.R.CHINA. The newly established Comprehensive Stroke Canters in China must be certified by the Accreditation Program of Stroke Centers.

The first guideline for stroke in china and get with the guidelines

In 2003, “BNC Clinical Guideline of Cerebral Vessel diseases”, the very first Guideline for stroke in China, is published and employed by neurologists through China.³ Prof. Wang, Yongjun and his passionate colleagues in BNC, a civil society organization of young neurologists original in Beijing area, spent a lot of their spare time to discuss and design the guideline addressing to the development of evidence-based medicine on Stroke.

 In 2006, the first white paper on cardiovascular diseases in China--“A Report of Chinese Cardiovascular Disease 2005” is publicized by Chinese Ministry of Health. In the same year, the “ACT NOW” was initiated in Shenzhen, China to boost the early effective rapid management of acute ischemic stroke in China, which consisted with the Guideline declared by America, Heart/Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) that intravenous recombinant issue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) shall be applied in 3hour of outbreak of stroke.

In 2009, the Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) program of management of diseases carried out by the AHA/ASA had benefited to stroke patients around the world, including China. “Time is Brain” in China shorten onset-to-treatment times. The data of GWTG from China become a remarkable impact factor on the guidelines, making by AHA/ASA, while the outcome of stroke in China profoundly improved with the guidelines.

The Biggest International Conference of Cerebrovascular Disease--TISC and the largest scale of clinical research of stroke in the world--CHANCE

The opening of the Tiantan International Stroke Conference (TISC) in 2001 is a monument for Tiantan team of cerebrovascular disease led by Professor Wang, Yongjun jointing with the world. With the time and the achievement of the team, the attendants increased above 6000 and more and more experts from foreign countries came to China to attend this annual meeting. The top leaders of neurology in the world also came to support the conference. The past President of World Stroke Organization (WSO) Mr. Bo Norrving began to attend TISC since 2007. He announced that TISC is the biggest international conference of cerebrovascular disease in his speech of the opening ceremony of TISC 2009. Also in TISC 2009, the largest scale of clinical research on stroke in the world was started up: Clipidogrel in high-risk patients with acute nondisabling cerebrovascular events (CHANCE) 2009-2013. The results of this study had been reported in International Stroke Conference 2013, and published in the top medical Journal--The New England Journal of Medicine.⁴

In summary, these milestones of achievement in China by Professor Wang, Yongjun’s team shows the world that China has the richest resource with patients, highly qualified clinical and research institutes and strict regulation system for performing impact global clinical studies to improve health of human being.

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1. Wang Yongjun. In My Mind. Science and Technical Documentation Press, Beijing, China, ISBN. 2015;978–7–5189–0650–5.
2. Xin W, Yongjun W, Zheng L, et al. Comparative Study in Validity and Reliability of Four Stroke Scales. Chinese Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 1999;21(3):140–143.
3. Wang Yongjun et al. BNC Clinical Guideline of Cerebral Vessel diseases. People’s Medical Publishing House, Beijing, China, ISBN. 2003:711705208.
4. Wang Y, Wang Y, Zhao X, et al. Clopidogrel with aspirin in acute minor stroke or transient ischemic attack. N Engl J Med. 2013;369(1):11–19.