IIAM Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine (IIAM). With offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, IIAM has been serving the medical and scientific communities in the U.S. and abroad by providing non- transplantable human organs and anatomical specimens that are authorized for the purposes of research, education and development. IIAM links humanity and medical discovery by providing donated human tissues for research into cures and treatments for human diseases.

Working with over 60 organ recovery organizations and allied health programs, each year IIAM receives over 11,000 referrals of fresh organs to its Organ Division, and recovers more than 2,000 cadaveric specimens from its Anatomical/Gift of Body Division. These tissues are made available to qualified researchers, scientists, health-care and biotech professionals.

Gina Dunne Smith, General Manager at IIAM, stated, “Thanks to donors and their families, human tissues for research have enabled the development of new and improved treatments for virtually every form of human disease including: asthma, breast cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery disease, and type 1 diabetes to name a few.”

IIAM experienced a record-breaking 2010 receiving 11,638 organ referrals to the organ division that resulted in 685 actual placements, and nearly 1,700 cadaveric specimens placed with 120 clients working with IIAM’s Anatomical Division.

The research is vast and critical to the better health and quality-of-life for countless people afflicted by disease. Non-transplantable organs and tissues for research make medical advancements possible. IIAM is proud to honor donors’ wishes, and support the researchers and their medical discovery endeavors.

IIAM was founded in 1986 to offer people wishing to donate organs and tissues an option to contribute to this important work. IIAM receives organs and tissues in accordance with the wishes of donors and their families. We work with organ procurement organizations, tissue banks, hospitals, hospice programs, funeral directors, medical examiners, and individual donors throughout the United States in offering donation of organs and tissues for research and education. IIAM has become one of the largest recovery networks in the world for the acquisition of donated human tissues for research and education.