Gao Changqing (; 1 January 1960 – 8 January 2019) was a Chinese

cardiac surgeon Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to cor ...

who performed the first

robotic Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...

cardiac surgery in China. He served as Vice President of the

People's Liberation Army General Hospital The People's Liberation Army General Hospital and Medical School (301 Hospital; ) is the central military medical institution of the People's Liberation Army and the largest comprehensive military hospital in China. The 301 Hospital located in B ...

and held the military rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. He was an academician or fellow of the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...

, the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

, and the

Académie Nationale de Médecine Situated at 16 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the Académie nationale de médecine (National Academy of Medicine) was created in 1820 by King Louis XVIII at the urging of baron Antoine Portal. At its inception, the instituti ...

Biography

Gao was born in

Baotou Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is h ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

on 1 January 1960. He entered in 1979 and graduated in August 1984. In 1988, he passed the English Proficiency Test with the highest score in Inner Mongolia, and earned a government scholarship to study abroad. In March 1991, Gao began his studies abroad at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

. After earning his M.D. in May 1996, he returned to China and was recruited by the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA) to work as a surgeon at the PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital) in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He later became Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and eventually Vice President of the hospital. In January 2007, he successfully performed the first fully

cardiac surgery in China. Over the course of his career, Gao performed more than 5,000 surgeries. He served as an editor of more than ten medical journals in China and abroad, including the ''Chinese Journal of Surgery''. He published over 300 scientific papers and the book ''Robotic Cardiac Surgery'' (Springer 2014, ), written in English. He was elected a member of the

(2015), and as a foreign fellow of the

in the UK and the

in France. He also held the military rank of

. Gao was a recipient of the

State Science and Technology Progress Award The State Science and Technology Prizes () are the highest honors conferred by the national government of the People's Republic of China in science and technology, in order to recognize citizens and organizations who have made remarkable contribut ...

(First Class), the

Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (HLHL, ) is a Hong Kong-based non-government organisation which annually bestows prizes upon Chinese scientists. It was established on 30 March 1994, with funds donated from the charitable foundations of Ho Sin Han ...

, and many other government and military awards. Gao died in Beijing on 8 January 2019, aged 59.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Changqing 1960 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Chinese physicians 21st-century Chinese physicians 20th-century surgeons 21st-century surgeons People from Baotou Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Chinese expatriates in Mexico National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Medical journal editors Chinese cardiac surgeons Chinese military doctors People's Liberation Army generals from Inner Mongolia Physicians from Inner Mongolia Académie Nationale de Médecine