Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health was established in 2011. It is developed from former division of Child and Adolescent Health, which was set up in 1955. Led by the first dean, Professor Renguan Ouyang, the department initiated teaching and research on the prevention medicine of child and adolescent diseases. Professor Jida Xu, a well-recognized expert in school health, served as the department chair for a long time. He was involved in writing the fifth, sixth and seventh editions of a nationwide used textbook Child and Adolescence Health.

The department is authorized to award master's and doctor’s degree, and was a section in the doctoral degree program of Public Health and Prevention Medicine. At present, there are 7 faculty members, including 2 professors, 3 associate professors and 2 lecturers in the department. The faculty offers diverse courses for undergraduate and MPH students, including “Children and Adolescent Health”, “Maternal and Child Health Care”, “Maternal and Child Nutrition”, “Early Life Health, Dietary Nutrition and Evaluation”, and English course for international MPH students.

In cooperation with different institutions, such as Jiangsu women and Children Health Hospital, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health care Hospital, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the People's Hospital of Danyang, the department has established teaching and research practice bases. The research work of the department has been focusing on maternal and child nutrition, pregnancy complications, early life exposure, birth defects, child growth and development, children's visual and intellectual behavioral development. 

The ongoing research grants in the department include the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology Science and Technology Basic Resources Survey Special Project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and more than ten projects from other foundations. The total research fund is above 10 million RMB during the past five years. Furthermore, our research findings have been published in high-level academic journals such as Am J Obstet Gynecol., Sci Total Environ., Lancet Reg Health West Pac., etc.