Research & Cures by the Numbers

3.8 million
Lives saved by cancer research since 1991
1
56%
Decrease in the rate of heart attack deaths per 100,000 people between 1999 and 2020
2
495
Active clinical trials on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
3

How academic medicine innovates and saves lives

All Stories

Tomorrow's Doctors. Tomorrow's Cures.

Academic medicine touches the lives of Americans every day.

The AAMC represents 160 U.S. medical schools, nearly 500 academic health systems and teaching hospitals, and more than 70 academic societies working to improve the health of people everywhere through medical education, biomedical research, patient care, and community collaboration. It supports more than 210,000 full-time faculty members, 99,000 medical students, 162,000 resident physicians, and 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences.

doctor in scrubs

How Academic Medicine Transforms Lives

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Economic Impact →
Access to Care

Access to Care →
Excellence in Medical Education

Medical Education →

References

1Siegel RL, Miller KD, Wagle NS, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2023. CA Cancer J Clin. 2023;73(1):17-48. doi:10.3322/caac.21763

2Heart attack deaths drop over past two decades. Press release. American College of Cardiology. February 23, 2023. Accessed June 5, 2025. https://www.acc.org/About-ACC/Press-Releases/2023/02/22/21/30/Heart-Attack-Deaths-Drop-Over-Past-Two-Decades

3National Institute on Aging. NIA-funded active Alzheimer’s and related dementias clinical trials and studies. Accessed May 6, 2025. https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/ongoing-AD-trials