AAMC Applauds Administration, Congress for Recovery Act NIH Funding; Urges Significant Annual Budget Increases to Sustain Momentum

Washington, D.C., October 21, 2009—AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., issued the following statement today at the press conference sponsored by ResearchMeansHope.org:

"Medical research is one of the best investments we can make in our country's future. The nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals are deeply appreciative of the generous support for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

"Ongoing bold and visionary NIH funding will benefit all Americans by preventing, treating, and reducing disease and disability, and will contribute to our nation's economic strength by creating skilled and high-paying jobs, new products and industries, and improved technologies.

"On behalf of patients everywhere for whom medical research is the beginning of hope, and the physicians and scientists who work so hard to help them, we thank President Obama and members of Congress for their leadership and urge them to sustain the momentum in medical research through significant, annual increases in the NIH budget."

The AAMC is a founding sponsor of ResearchMeansHope.org, a coalition of concerned patients and the physicians and researchers of America's medical schools, teaching hospitals, universities, research companies, and organizations working together to raise awareness of the need for sustained, real growth in federal support for medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 131 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and nearly 90 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 128,000 faculty members, 75,000 medical students, and 110,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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