Qizhen Shen

Shen Qizhen (; February 10, 1907 – June 16, 1993) was a Chinese physiologist, physician, and medical educator. He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and served as a professor and honorary president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Shen was a leading figure in the development of modern physiology and internal medicine in China.

Biography Shen Qizhen was born on February 10, 1907, in Chongqing, Sichuan, with ancestral roots in Changsha, Hunan. He was admitted to the School of Medicine at Tongji University in 1923 and later pursued advanced medical studies at Tokyo Imperial University, where he obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1931.

After returning to China in 1931, Shen joined the faculty of the Peking Union Medical College. In 1934, he established a private medical practice in Tianjin. Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he joined the New Fourth Army in July 1937 and was appointed director of its medical services. In January 1941, he became head of the New Fourth Army Health Department and later that year joined the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1943, Shen was transferred to Yan'an, where he served as first deputy director of the Health Department of the Central Military Commission. After the end of the Chinese Civil War, he was appointed vice director of the National Relief Committee of the Liberated Areas in 1945.

Following the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shen held several senior academic and administrative positions. He served as president of the Medical School of Dalian University in 1949, director of the Central Institute of Health in 1952, and was elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955. In 1956, he was appointed president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and later served as its vice president after its merger with the Peking Union Medical College in 1957.

Shen remained active in academic and political life in his later years, attending multiple national congresses of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party. He died on June 16, 1993, in Kunming, Yunnan, at the age of 87.