Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery (BIFN) was co-founded in the year of 1998 by Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University and Loma Linda University (USA). Based on that, Department of Functional Neurosurgery was established in 2000, which was China’s first clinical and research organization in the field of Functional Neurosurgery. Its director, Professor Yongjie Li, returned from US and applied his tremendous clinical and research experience in the practice and operation at BIFN. After 20 years of development, BIFN has become one of the world’s biggest and most comprehensive organizations in its kind, where a broad range of neurological disorders are treated by well-trained surgeons and physicians with state-of-the-art equipment. In addition, BIFN has served as China’s important base for training of functional neurosurgeons and physicians in the related fields. Numerous physicians, post-doctoral students, graduate students, clinical fellows and residents coming from all over China have received rigorous and fruitful training here at the institute.

Led by Professor Yongjie Li, BIFN started its practice and research in the field of movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia. Based on its great clinical and academic achievement, BIFN became the only institute in Asia which was awarded the honor of “Clinical Center of Excellence” by National Parkinson Foundation (USA). Since 1999, deep brain stimulation has been applied to practice at BIFN, which has kept ranking as the worldwide largest implant center of DBS therapy in the recent years. Till the year of 2018, BIFN has conducted over 6000 surgical operations for various forms of movement disorders.

With close collaboration with Professor Yuping Wang, director of Neurology Department, Epilepsy Center at BIFN has achieved significant academic and clinical reputation since its establishment. Adopting the experience in US and Japan, the Epilepsy Center at BIFN has employed a variety of approaches (such as V-EEG and invasive EEG, MRI, MEG, PET, et al) in presurgical evaluation of epileptogenic zones. Besides, neuromodulations like DBS and VNS have served as important supplementary tools in the treatment of refractory epilepsy. Numerous drug-resistant epilepsy patients have gained seizure free or seizure control through the therapy at BIFN with significant improvement of their life qualities.

Chronic pain, spine and spinal cord diseases are surgically managed by multiple methods at BIFN, which include minimally invasive intervention therapy, spine endoscopic surgery, microsurgery and various ways of neuromodulations. By those, a broad range of pain symptoms, such as trigeminal neuralgia, lower back pain, stump pan, phantom limb pain, could be effectively alleviated and even eliminated. In addition, BIFN has put much efforts in the treatment and research of cerebral palsy and psychiatric disorders.

In 2017, BIFN successfully sponsored China Forum on Functional Neurosurgery, which attracted a great number of prestigious experts and physicians across the globe. The year of 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of BIFN and sees the publication of “Functional Neurosurgery” by People’s Medical Publishing House. The book, with Professor Yongjie Li serving as chief-in-editor, consists of 7 volumes, 58 chapters and contains more than 1.5 million characters, which systemically explains and illustrates the basic theory, knowledge and experience in the field of functional neurosurgery.