Dr. Qihe Xu (徐啟河)

Director

King’s Centre for Integrative Chinese Medicine

Senior Lecturer in Renal Medicine & Pharmacology

King’s College London

Professional Overview

Dr. Qihe Xu is a leading expert in Integrative Chinese Medicine, Renal Medicine, and Pharmacology, bridging Eastern and Western medical research. With over 30 years of combined clinical and laboratory experience (10 years in China, 26 years in the USA/UK), his work focuses on TCM-inspired research of kidney defence mechanisms, acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic kidney disease (CKD) and Chinese herbal medicine.

Key Leadership Roles

Leadership & Committee Roles, World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS):
- 2022–2026
  - Vice Chairman, Specialty Committee of Research on Li Shizhen, Medical History & Related Applications
  - Standing Committee Member, Specialty Committee of TCM New Drug Development
- 2017–2023
  - Standing Committee Member, Specialty Committee of Research on Safety of Clinical Usage of Drugs
- 2015–2019
  - Vice Chairman, Geo-authentic Herb Multi-dimensional Evaluation Specialty Committee
  - Expert Member, Standard Approval Committee, The International Index for Chinese Medicine Systems
- 2014–2018
  - Executive Council Member, Specialty Committee of TCM Pharmaceutical Analysis
  - Consultant Member, Post-Marketing Surveillance Committee
  - Executive Council Member, the TCM Qi-Blood Specialty Committee
Member of the Board of Directors (2012-2014, 2017-present) and Co-Chair of the Pharmacology & Toxicology Interest Group (since 2023), The GP-TCM Research Association, which is dedicated to promoting international collaboration and good practices in TCM research
Board Member, International Society of Chinese Medicine, since 2019
The UK Regional Coordinator, Consortium for Globalization of Chinese Medicine (since 2024) ―The Consortium aims at promoting modernisation of TCM so that it can better serve the needs of all peoples on the globe
Deputy Editor-in-chief, World Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine (since 2019)
Current Editorial Board Membership, Scientific Reports, Experimental Biology & Medicine, Integrative Medicine in Nephrology & Andrology, etc.

Pioneering Research & Achievements

1. EU-Funded TCM Research (The FP7 GP-TCM Project, 2009–2012)

As the Principal Investigator, conceptualised and successfully implemented this €1m EU Coordination Action dedicated to promoting EU-China collaboration and good practices in modernisation of TCM research, leading to 117 official reports to the European Commission, more than 50 academic publications on state of the art and good practice guidelines in TCM research, and an international collaboration network involving 24 countries, more than 100 institutions and corporations, and over 200 scientists.
Led the conversion of the GP-TCM Consortium to the GP-TCM Research Association (an international society, a UK-based charity and an Interested Party of the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products, European Medicines Agency).

2. TCM Theories-Inspired Research of Kidney Disease, Botanical Drugs & Vitamin A Signalling

10 years of experience in integrative medicine research and care, specialised in renal medicine at two leading hospitals in Beijing (1989-1999).
26 years of TCM theories-inspired research (e.g., by the Healthy qi, Wei defensive qi and Yang qi concepts of TCM) ) on vitamin A’s role in kidney health, inflammation and fibrosis (scarring) (1999-present).
Two decades of expertise in studying botanical therapeutics, particularly focusing on antifibrotics, nephrotoxic botanicals and TCM tonyfying drugs (since 2006).

3. Funding & Publications

Grants from European Commission, National Institutes of Health, Royal Society, Innovation China UK, Kidney Research UK, British Heart Foundation, the Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity, National Natural Science Foundation of China, etc.
Published in top journals (The Lancet, Science, Journal of American Society of Nephrology, Kidney International, Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation, Phytomedicine, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, etc).

Honours & Distinctions

Qihuang International Prize (2020, China Association of Chinese Medicine)
Life Member, the GP-TCM Research Association
Scholarship (1997) and Fellowship (1999-2001), International Society of Nephrology
Courtesy Associate Fellowship, National Institutes of Health (2005-2006)
Former leadership roles and honorary appointments:
- Guest Professor, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (2021-2024)
- Guest Professor, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital and Sichuan Provincial TCM Hospital, Chengdu, China (2019-2022)
- Newsletter Co-Editor (2008-2016), Editor-in-chief (2017-2020) and Consulting Editor (2020-2021), The GP-TCM Research Association Newsletters
- Elected Academic Board Member (2012-2016), King’s College London.
- President, Chinese Life Scientists Society in the UK (CLSS-UK, 2007-2009)
- Vice-President, Academy of Life Sciences for Chinese in the UK (2008-2009)
- Secretary-General, the Chinese Students & Scholars Association in the UK (2004)
- Chairman, the Chinese Students & Scholars Association, University College London (2002-2003)