The Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children (Women and Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University), or CQHCWC, in Southwest China's Chongqing, got the green light for four key social development projects for technological innovation and application development, with approved funds worth 2.5 million yuan ($373,000).

This is according to the recent announcement by the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology.

One of the approved key projects, "AI assessment technology research and development and quality assessment for human in vitro cultured embryo quality" is led by Professor Zhang Xiaodong, director of the Reproductive Medicine Research Department of the CQHCWC's Reproductive Medicine Center.

Zhang is currently the vice chairman of the Youth Committee of the Fourth Reproductive Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and has undertaken one national project, one provincial and ministerial-level key research and development project, two multi-center clinical research projects, and three provincial and ministerial-level scientific research projects.

Zhang has published more than 10 SCI papers that have been included in Human Reproduction Update, Reproductive Biomedicine Online, Human Fertility, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and other magazines. Since 2009, he has been an invited reviewer of the British Medical Journal.

Another approved key project, "Research and application for preventing and treating diseases during pregnancy with multifunctional hydrogels", is led by Professor Qi Hongbo.

Qi is currently the president of the CQHCWC, the vice chairman and secretary-general of the Perinatal Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and is also a leading expert in this field, with outstanding contributions to the country.

Qi has won five municipal sci-tech awards and has led more than 30 national-level R&D plans and projects. He has published more than 170 SCI papers in the sub-journals of Nature, Lancet, JAMA, Cell, and many others. He was also selected as one of the top 2 percent of the world's scientists for obstetrics and gynecology in 2022.

The approved key project, "Establishment of infection-related preterm birth early warning model and research and application for intervention measures" is led by Professor Zhou Wei, vice president of the CQHCWC.

Zhou is a youth committee member of the Perinatal Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a high-end medical professional in Chongqing, and was once a visiting scholar at the University of Iowa in the United States. Zhou is the leader of 10 scientific research projects such as those of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chongqing Natural Science Foundation. He has published more than 40 SCI and CSCD papers, and is the co-editor of Practical Obstetrics and Gynecology and other books published by the People Medical Publishing House. He is also the deputy editor-in-chief of Practical Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The last approved key project, "Establishment of an integrated prevention and treatment system for neonatal inguinal hernia" is led by Professor Chen Gongli, director of the Third Obstetrics Department of the CQHCWC. Chen is currently the chairman of the Chongqing Maternal and Child Health Association. He innovatively proposed a full-process integrated assessment diagnosis and treatment model for abnormal fetal development.

Taking the approval of four key projects as an opportunity, the CQHCWC will strengthen its technical research, further enhance innovation capabilities, and promote the transformation of scientific research innovation into clinical practice, to support the high-quality development of the center.