The Department of Immunology at Capital Medical University originated from the Microbiology Teaching and Research Section at Beijing Second Medical College, which was founded in 1960. The Department of Immunology was officially established in 1994. During the development process, some medical/immunology experts, such as Cheng Songgao, Chen Ren, An Yunqing and Zhao Wenming, have led the early development and laid a solid foundation. The discipline was authorized to grant master’s degrees in 1981 and doctoral degrees in immunology in 2005. In subsequent years, multiple milestones were achieved. In 2006, it was awarded the title of Excellent Immunology Course in Beijing. In 2007, it was approved as an Excellent Teaching Team in Beijing. In 2008, it was approved as a Key Construction Discipline in Beijing; In 2009, it was approved as a postdoctoral workstation in basic medicine. In 2010, it was approved as a doctoral program in a first level discipline of basic medicine. In 2012, it was approved as a key discipline in Beijing. In 2020, it was approved as a high-quality undergraduate textbook and courseware in Beijing. In 2021, it was approved as a high-quality undergraduate course in Beijing. In 2015, Immunology entered the top 1% of the ESI global ranking, and in 2020, it advanced into the top 5‰.

During the 14th Five Year Plan period, the global ESI ranking of immunology majors rose from the top 5 ‰ to the top 1.5 ‰. The research directions of the four PIs in the department are the immunological pathogenesis and treatment strategies of lung diseases, forming the disciplinary characteristics of "respiratory immunology".

    As of the end of the 14th Five Year Plan, the Department of Immunology has a total of 14 members in the teaching and research series (4 professors, 6 associate professors, and 4 lecturers), as well as 4 members in the experimental technology series, including 2 young teachers under the age of 35; All teachers have doctor's degrees, including one national excellent young person, one young Beijing scholar, one new star of science and technology in Beijing, and one exemplary individual in Beijing.

In the past five years, the teachers in the Department of Immunology have received a total of 15 National Natural Science Foundation projects, 15 Beijing level projects and 6 school level projects. Three basic clinical joint laboratories were also been approved to establish. More than 50 high-level scientific research papers were published as first or corresponding authors. The teachers received 1 second prize of Beijing Science and Technology Award - Natural Science, 1 second prize of Jilin Province Science and Technology Progress Award, and 1 second prize of Capital Medical University Science and Technology Award - Natural Science.

The Department of Immunology currently has 4 professors, 6 associate professors, 4 lecturers, 1 senior experimentalist, and 2 experimentalists. The faculty includes 4 doctoral supervisors and 8 master’s supervisors. All faculty members have earned doctoral degrees.

In recent years, many faculty members have received sponsorships from the China Scholarship Council to study or conduct academic exchanges abroad as postdoctoral fellows or visiting scholars. Host institutions have included the Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Cardiff University (UK), the University of Vienna (Austria), the Medical University of Vienna (Austria), and the University of Innsbruck (Austria). These international academic and teaching exchanges have laid a strong foundation for the department’s sustainable development.

Under the leadership of Prof. Yunqing An, a Beijing Distinguished Teaching Master, the immunology teaching team has, since 2004, served as chief editors for 10 national “Five-Year Plan” textbooks of Medical Immunology spanning the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th planning cycles. Team members have also acted as editors-in-chief, deputy editors, or contributors for a variety of other textbooks at multiple levels and in different formats, including the textbook of Medical Immunology in English version.

Medical immunology is both a cutting-edge discipline within the life sciences and a fundamental, mandatory subject for clinical medicine students. The department offers required and elective courses to undergraduates in Jieping programs, long-duration programs, six-year programs for English-speaking international students, five-year programs (including Chinese-speaking international students), four-year programs across various majors, as well as participants in continuing education. The undergraduate curriculum comprises:

(1) Fundamental Immunology (for students in Jieping programs)

(2) Clinical Immunology (for students in Jieping programs)

(3) Medical Immunology (taught in English for international students)

(4) Medical Immunology (taught in Chinese for international students and domestic students)

(5) Pathogen Biology and Immunology Laboratory (taught in both English and Chinese)

(6) Introduction to Pathogenic Biology

(7) Foundations of Immunology and Clinical Applications (elective course)

The curriculum is structured to deliver core immunological theories while prioritizing the development of students’ scientific research mindset, laboratory skills, and abilities in comprehensive analysis and problem-solving. Teaching incorporates the latest theoretical advances in immunology research and seamlessly integrates basic immunological principles with clinically relevant diseases, reflecting an educational philosophy that tightly links theory to practice. Throughout course delivery, students are also encouraged to cultivate rigorous scientific thinking and an innovative spirit.

The Department of Immunology also offers doctoral and master’s students a suite of advanced courses, including: Advances in Immunological Research, Clinical Immunology, Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Experimental Techniques in Immunology, and Gene Expression Regulation and Molecular Biology. Throughout these courses, students cultivate rigorous scientific reasoning and an innovative mindset. Particularly in recent years, the department has launched the “Advances in Immunological Research” seminar series, inviting over 40 leading domestic immunology experts. Each expert delivers thematic lectures aligned with their primary research focus and framed by the newest international advances. This initiative has broadened the perspectives of graduate students and early-career faculty and significantly expanded their research horizons.

The Department of Immunology actively pursues educational and pedagogical reform through the development of online courses, implementation of problem-based learning (PBL), initiation of student research and practical innovation programs, organization of co-curricular activities, and assignment of dedicated mentors to long-duration program students. These measures facilitate dynamic interaction with students, cultivating their research and innovation awareness, strengthening hands-on practical skills, and deepening their grasp of core medical immunology concepts. As a result, the overall quality of immunology instruction has been markedly improved, yielding highly positive outcomes.

Over the past five years, the Department of Immunology has secured approval for more than twenty undergraduate research training projects and published five papers on educational methodology. During this period, faculty members have also earned multiple teaching awards, including the Second Prize in the 10th Young Teachers’ Teaching Skills Competition at Capital Medical University (CMU), the Second Prize in the 9th National Medical (Pharmaceutical) Universities Young Teachers’ Teaching Skills Competition, and the Third Prize (Medical Category) in the 11th Beijing Municipal Universities Young Teachers’ Teaching Skills Competition. Additionally, the department received the CMU Youth Teaching Award in 2019, 2021, and 2022, as well as the CMU Teaching Award in 2024. Faculty supervision has enabled undergraduates (as first-authors) to publish 9 original research articles or review papers. Student achievements include the Silver Medal in the final of the 7th National Undergraduate Basic Medical Innovation and Experimental Design Forum, the Bronze Medal in the final of the 8th Forum, and both the Grand Prize and an Excellence Award in the 7th China Undergraduate Five-Minute Research English Speaking Competition.

The research directions of the four PIs in the department are asthma, COPD, immunological pathogenesis of respiratory diseases such as pulmonary arterial hypertension, immunological pathogenesis of respiratory/pulmonary infections, the role of chromatin and epigenetics in immune response and disease, immunological pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis and lung transplantation. The department focuses on respiratory system related diseases and closely connects with clinical practice, forming the disciplinary characteristics of "respiratory immunology".

In the past five years, the teachers in the Department of Immunology have received a total of 15 national-level research projects, including the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars, the National Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the NSFC Program for Distinguished Foreign Experts, and General Program grants, as well as 10 provincial and ministerial-level projects (9.25 million RMB) and 10 university-level projects (3.0694 million RMB), including Young Beijing Scholars, Key Projects, Foreign Experts Projects, Science and Technology New Star Cross Project, General Projects, and High level Teacher Projects. The department has been approved to establish three basic clinical joint laboratories focusing on infection, interstitial lung disease, and tumor immunology. More than 50 high-level scientific research papers were published as first or corresponding authors, including Mol. Cell, Nature Communications, Signal Transduct Target Ther, Hypertension, Cell Mol Immunol, Thorax, J. Am. Chem. Soc. The teachers also participated in the compilation of two monographs. The professor in Department of Immunology earned Highly Cited Chinese Researchers ( 2021、2022、2023、2024) and World's Top 2% Scientists (2019、2020、2021、2022、2023、2024), and also Beijing Science and Technology Progress Award in 2021.

In the past five years, more than 40 doctoral and master's degree holders have been trained together.