Professor Zhao Dongsheng, a famous ophthalmologist and founder of retinal detachment surgery and research, and known as the "The Oriental Eye", founded the Department of Ophthalmology at Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People’s Hospital) in 1948. Based on this department, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Ocular Fundus Diseases was established in 1998 and developed under the leadership of Professor Xu Xun and Professor Sun Xiaodong.

At present, the research in Shanghai Key Laboratory of Ocular Fundus Diseases focuses on the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment in fundus diseases, e.g.,   diabetic retinopathy, inherited retinal diseases, retinal detachment, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, myopia, etc.

In the past decade, the Key Laboratory have got 2 Key Programs of National Natural Science Foundation of China, 6 projects including National Major Scientific and Technological Special Project for “Significant New Drugs Development” during the Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth Five-year Plan Period, National Precision Medicine Project and National Major Project of Stem Cell, 1 National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), 1 National High-tech R&D Program of China (863 Program), more than 100 projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China, as well as over 500 SCI-collected papers being published. The Key Laboratory has won 1 State Science and Technology Award, 1 Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, 3 First Prize for Progress of Science and Technology of Shanghai, and 17 provincial and ministerial Science and Technology Progress Awards. The Key Laboratory has won 1 The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 1 Changjiang Distinguished Professorship by the Ministry of Education, 4 Millions of Talent Projects National candidates, 1 Young and Middle-Aged Experts with Outstanding Contributions from Ministry of Health, 3 Program for Outstanding Medical Academic Leader of Shanghai, 4 Program of Shanghai Academic Research Leader, as well as other more than 30 national and Shanghai projects.

The Key Laboratory has obtained 18 domestic and international invention patents, many of which have been transformed. The Ophthalmology in Shanghai General Hospital is highly influential in the field of domestic ophthalmology and consistently ranked on top five in China, according to Science and Technology Evaluation Metrics released by the Institute of Medical Information (IMI) & Library, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The Department of Ophthalmology was awarded the National Clinical Medical Research Center for Eye Diseases in 2019, and it became the Shanghai Clinical Medical Research Center for Eye Diseases in 2020.