Exploration of strategies for improving clinical research level in medical universitiesanalysis and practice of clinical research in Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine

Objective·To analyze the development trend and current situation of high-level clinical research at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM) from 2015 to 2023, and to summarize the strategies for improving clinical research capability of SJTUSM, aiming to provide reference and inspiration for medical universities to promote high-level clinical research.Methods·Papers published by first authors from SJTUSM or its affiliated hospitals during this period were retrieved in the Web of Science core collection database. General descriptive methods were used to quantify the number of clinical research papers, registered clinical trials, clinical research talent teams, and the current status of clinical research cooperation. Bibliometric methods were used to visualize the international collaboration and topic distribution of retrieved clinical research papers. The differences in the number of clinical research publications, Q1 publications, publications in top clinical medical journals, and full-time researchers between the periods of 2015‒2018 and 2019‒2023 were compared and analyzed.Results·From 2015 to 2023, a total of 9 468 clinical research papers were published by SJTUSM or its affiliated hospitals as the first author′s institution, showing an increasing trend year by year. During this period, the number of Q1 publications of SJTUSM′s clinical research, publications in top clinical medical journals, clinical studies registered on the United States Clinical Trial Registry website, clinical studies registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry website, clinical guidelines and expert consensus publications, full-time research team members, and newly added national-level talents all showed an overall upward trend. Tumors, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, major chronic diseases, and mental illnesses were the main research hotspots. A total of 1 308 papers (13.82%) were international collaborative papers. Developed countries/regions such as the United States (733 papers), Australia (137 papers), and the United Kingdom (99 papers) were closely cooperating with SJTUSM. From 2019 to 2023, there was a significant increase in the number of clinical research papers, Q1 publications, publications in top clinical medical journals, and newly added full-time research team members in affiliated hospitals compared to the period from 2015 to 2018 (all P<0.05).Conclusion·SJTUSM has strengthened top-level design, conducted in-depth major diseases, and constructed a systematic, integrated and closed-loop model for enhancing clinical research level along the “platform-talent-methodology” pathway, resulting in a number of high-quality clinical research outcomes.