AAMC

Advancing medical research takes more than discovery. It requires strong partnerships, sustained investment, and a shared commitment to demonstrating the value of research to patients, communities, and policymakers.

That's why the AAMC is proud to support the latest United for Medical Research Annual Economic Report, a resource that helps illustrate the broad impact of NIH-funded research across the country. The report highlights how investments in biomedical research support innovation, strengthen communities, and contribute to the nation's economic vitality.

As a longstanding advocate for medical research, the AAMC works alongside partners across the research ecosystem to elevate evidence, inform policy conversations, and strengthen support for the scientific discoveries that improve health and save lives. Supporting efforts like this report is one way we help ensure the value and impact of research remain part of the national conversation.
https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/annual-economic-report/

Annual Economic Report (2026) - United For Medical Research In Fiscal Year 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded $36.58 billion in research grants to organizations in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

In 2021, Aaron James survived a 7,200-volt electrical accident that left him without a nose, lips, chin, or left eye. Two years later, a 21-hour surgery at NYU Langone Health — involving more than 140 medical professionals — made him the world’s first recipient of a total-eye and partial-face transplant.

Today, he can eat, smell, and speak normally. The techniques developed for his surgery are already informing the next frontier: vision-restoring eye transplants for millions of patients worldwide.

This is what biomedical research makes possible. This is how academic medicine and for the patients, families, and communities that need it most.

4 medical advances that are improving care and saving lives A pioneering heart valve transplant for children. A device that helps a paralyzed patient speak. Check out these and other recent advancements in academic medicine that are changing patient care in dramatic ways.

Happy Graduate Medical Education (GME) Professionals Day! 🎉

Today, we celebrate the dedicated program coordinators, administrators, directors, and other GME professionals whose expertise and commitment help residency and fellowship programs thrive.

Behind every successful training program is a team of professionals working every day to support learners, faculty, accreditation requirements, and program operations. Their efforts help ensure tomorrow’s physicians are prepared to meet the evolving health needs of patients and communities.

The AAMC thanks all GME professionals for the critical role they play in shaping the future of medicine.

Thank you to the Association for Hospital Medical Education (AHME) for establishing GME Professionals Day and helping shine a light on these essential contributions.

Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States, with a five-year survival rate of just 13%. While immunotherapy and other targeted treatments have transformed outcomes for many cancers, they have largely failed patients with this one.

Now, thanks to the tireless work of researchers, a drug called daraxonrasib may be giving families a reason to hope. In a clinical trial, it doubled the time pancreatic cancer patients lived after diagnosis.

“I teared up when I heard the trial results,” says Channing Der, PhD, distinguished professor of pharmacology at UNC School of Medicine, about the drug. “This is perhaps the most significant therapeutic breakthrough for the treatment of pancreatic cancer in the history of looking for such therapies.”

Hear from Der and other scientists behind this breakthrough and the hope it offers patients with one of the deadliest malignancies.

New hope for one of the deadliest cancers Thanks to the dogged efforts of academic scientists, pancreatic cancer may no longer be a death sentence.

Last week, the AAMC hosted our Restorative Practices in Academic Medicine (RPAM) Facilitator Training, bringing together leaders committed to building stronger, healthier communities across academic medicine.

Through hands-on learning, discussion, and practice, participants explored how restorative practices can help address harm, strengthen relationships, build trust, and create more supportive environments within medical schools, teaching hospitals, and health professions institutions.

We're inspired by the dedication of everyone who joined us and look forward to seeing the impact they bring back to their campuses and organizations. By investing in leadership development and community-centered approaches, we're helping advance the AAMC mission to improve health through stronger learning, workplace, and care environments.

https://cloud.email.aamc.org/RPAM

It’s easy to think of biomedical research as abstract — white coats, sterile labs, science most of us couldn’t begin to explain — but the last 150 years of scientific and medical progress show that research touches all of our lives, giving us access to more treatments, more cures, and longer lives to spend on the things that matter most.

Whether it is the tuberculosis vaccine a century ago or personalized cancer immunotherapy today, lifesaving and life-changing research requires an ecosystem of sustained federal investment, rigorous medical education and training, sound health policy, and institutions willing to explore issues that can take decades to solve.

The AAMC is proud to support the biomedical research ecosystem in a number of ways. Learn more.

Behind the Science: How the AAMC Supports Biomedical Research Many of us imagine biomedical research as something vague and distant: white coats, sterile laboratories, and complicated science we could not begin to explain — none of it touching our daily lives. But it touches everything.

In 1947, the AAMC established its first national research award, recognizing outstanding contributions to medical science and research.

The award reflected a belief that continues to guide academic medicine today: advancing health depends on advancing knowledge. By highlighting groundbreaking research, the AAMC helped underscore the vital role scientific discovery plays in improving care, deepening understanding of disease, and driving medical progress.

As we celebrate 150 years of the AAMC, we're reflecting on the discoveries, innovations, and advances that continue to shape the future of health.

https://www.aamc.org/about-us/aamc-history?chapter=1946-1965 #1947-aamc-launches-national-research-award

Last month, more than 100 assistant professors from across the country gathered in Colorado for the AAMC Early-Career Faculty Leadership Development Seminar.

Through interactive workshops, small-group collaboration, peer learning, and meaningful networking, participants strengthened the leadership skills needed to navigate academic promotion, expand their professional impact, and prepare for the next stage of their careers. They also left with personalized leadership goals and a lasting network of peers from across academic medicine.

Congratulations to the 2026 cohort on three days of learning, collaboration, and investing in your journey as an emerging leader in academic medicine.

Interested in joining the 2027 program? Sign up for updates and be the first to know when new dates are announced. Link: https://cloud.email.aamc.org/EFAC