Established in the June of 2017, the Department of Histoembryology, Genetics and Developmental Biology (DHGDB) combines following original departments in the Basic Medical College: Histoembryology, Molecular Developmental Biology Laboratory, Developmental Biology Laboratory and the Teaching and Research Office of the Medical Genetics. Dr. YuJie Tang is the director of the department. Dr. Mingliang Zhang is the party branch secretary and executive deputy director. Dr. Lei Huang and Dr. Jingwen Wu are the deputy directors.

Following the latest international medical research trends, as one of the major research directions in Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and relying on Shanghai Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, DHGDB has drawn strengths in a series of cutting-edge basic and translational research areas, including life science, basic medical research, chemical biology, material science, and focuses the scientific research on reproductive medicine, developmental and stem cell biology, genetics and pediatric cancer, exploring the mechanisms underlying gametogenesis, embryonic development, and genetic disorders and pediatric cancer. Supported by state-of-art core facilities / platforms of cellular reprogramming, gene editing, single-cell genomics, and 3D / live cell technology. Our scientists have made every effort to work against the devastating illness, perform the disease modeling, and develop the novel drugs. Our mission is to decode biomedical knowledge and bring the patient perspective to our work.

DHGDB has attracted and retained distinguished scholars who are committed to teaching and academic pursuits, with 41 faculty and staff members at present, including 10 full professors, 8 associated professors, and 63.4% percent of them are Ph.D or M.D. By the end of 2022, we have one project leaders of the Key Research and Development Projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, four winners of National High-level Talent Plan, one winner of National High-level Youth Talent Plan, one Distinguished Young Scholar funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, two Shanghai Outstanding Academic Leaders, two Shanghai Leading Talents, two Shanghai "Dawn Scholars", one Shanghai Rising-Star Program, four Shanghai "Pujiang Talents", six Shanghai Program for High-Level Talents Introduction. So far, DHGDB with a total of ￥30 million in scientific research funds, has published numerous research articles in internationally highly respected journals, including Nature，Science, Cancer Cell , Cell Stem Cell, JCI, Blood, Cell Res., Dev Cell, and PNAS.

The department will continue to make contributions to the development of the Basic Medical College, interdisciplinary communication and integration, to the reform of teaching methods and contents, which will build a solid foundation for cultivating outstanding medical talents. Meanwhile, we are open to scholars at home and abroad, recruiting qualified talents, who are interested in the research in the fields of reproductive medicine, genetics, developmental and stem cell biology, genetic disorders and pediatric cancer.