Founded in 1959, the Department of Cardiology of Qilu (Cheeloo) Hospital is one of the earliest cardiovascular disciplines in China and serves as a comprehensive platform for clinical practice, teaching, research and training. This department consists of outpatient clinics, three inpatient wards, a critical care unit (CCU), an echocardiographic laboratory, an electrocardiographic laboratory, four cardiac catheterization laboratories, the Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research of the MOE and the NHC, and a branch department at Qingdao Campus. Subspecialties at the Department of Cardiology include coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis, cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure, structural heart disease, pulmonary vascular diseases, hypertension, critical cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular imaging, and electrocardiography, which are led by nationally renowned experts and professionals and play a vital role in the diagnosis and treatment of critical and complex cardiovascular diseases in Shandong Province and east China. Department members pioneered exercise electrocardiography, stress echocardiography, Doppler echocardiography, multiplane transesophageal echocardiography, and three-dimensional echocardiography in China. Moreover, this department launched the following in China: cardiac pacing and cardioversion, thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, percutaneous closure for atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus, and radiofrequency and cryoballoon ablation for tachyarrhythmias. The Department of Cardiology of Qilu (Cheeloo) Hospital has been conferred National Key Discipline by MOE, and National Key Clinical Specialty and Training Bases for Interventional Diagnosis and Treatment of Coronary Heart Disease, Congenital Heart Diseases and Arrhythmias by NHC. In addition, this department has been awarded the Innovative Research Group Fund by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The Department of Cardiology features research on the mechanisms, detection techniques and intervention strategies of cardiovascular remodeling. Under the leadership of Professor Yun Zhang, the department director and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the department has undertaken more than 250 national and provincial research projects and published more than 1,200 papers in high-impact international journals. In the field of basic research, this department was the first to establish a series of animal models of atherosclerotic vulnerable plaque, discovered multiple novel genes and mechanisms underlying the development and progression of vulnerable plaque and ventricular remodeling, developed new biomarkers and imaging techniques for detecting vulnerable plaque and ventricular remodeling, and revealed a series of new therapeutic targets for the early intervention of atherosclerosis and heart failure. In the field of clinical research, the department led the world-renowned EMINCA and CAPITAL studies, participated in over 30 international and national multi-center clinical trials, led or participated in the preparation of more than 20 Chinese and foreign clinical treatment guidelines. Over the years, Department of Cardiology of Qilu (Cheeloo) Hospital has ranked number 4 to 6 in the Ranking of China's Hospital Science and Technology Influence issued by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.