On September 19, 2024, a visiting professor appointment ceremony was held in the No.808 meeting room of Science and Education Building in the First Affiliated Hospital (FAH) of Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU). Stefan Offermanns, Director of Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research and W3 Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt was appointed as Visiting Professor of Department of Cardiovascular Medicine of FAH. Yuan Zuyi, President of Cardiovascular Disease Hospital, Professor Wu Yue, Assistant-to-President, and heads of Department of Science and Technology, Department of Human Resources, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine attended the ceremony.

President Yuan Zuyi introduced the basic information and academic experience of Professor Stefan Offermanns, extended warm welcome to his visiting, and then presented a letter of appointment as Visiting Professor to Professor Stefan Offermanns.

Professor Stefan Offermanns, Member of German Academy of Sciences, stressed that FAH and the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research have maintained long-term intimate partnership. The appointment as a visiting professor of FAH will promote mutual visits among senior scholars between bilateral sides and vigorously strengthen bilateral cooperation in clinical research, practice and translational research, thereby making greater efforts for the research of cardiovascular diseases.

President Yuan Zuyi illustrated the profile, research objectives and disciplinary development prospects of Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, respectively. He highlighted that we should take the appointment of Professor Stefan Offermanns as a rare opportunity to advance disciplinary development. He believed that under joint efforts of Department of Cardiovascular Medicine of FAH and Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, the research on cardiovascular diseases in FAH will obtain more achievements.

Subsequently, President Yuan Zuyi, Professor Wu Yue, Professor Stefan Offermanns and Professor Wang Shengpeng jointly unveiled the plaque, marking the official establishment of Sino-German Joint Laboratory of Cardiovascular Diseases of XJTU.

President Yuan Zuyi and Professor Wu Yue jointly presented souvenirs to Professor Stefan Offermanns, Member of German Academy of Sciences.

Subsequently, Professor Stefan Offermanns delivered an academic lecture entitled "New mechanism of insulin secretion and the onset of diabetes", proposing that G protein receptors on islet macrophages can activate islet β cells through the paracrine pathway and further secrete insulin, unravelling the role of this mechanism in obesity-related glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes mellitus. During the Q&A session, Professor Stefan Offermanns explicitly answered the questions from all participants.