The Heart of Lifesaving Discoveries
Together with our network of recovery partners and researchers, we persevered in honoring the Donor Gift while simultaneously advancing medicine!
Conducting research on non-transplantable human organs and tissues is the best way to understand the processes of diseases, discover treatments and cures, and enhance the development of safe and effective drugs. For more than 38 years, through our network of every U.S. organ procurement organization, IIAM has been serving the medical and scientific communities by making these non-transplantable biomaterials available for research. IIAM has access to over 52,000 organs and tissues annually, leading to discoveries that have the potential to cure or prevent diseases. IIAM links donors to the scientific community conducting vital medical research.
Human Tissue for Research
The International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine (IIAM) links organ and tissue donors with the scientific community. Virtually every human organ and tissue is needed for medical research. Everyday heroes donate these tissues to assist in the discovery of cures and treatments to ensure better health for all.
Research Made Possible
For over 38 years, IIAM has been working with researchers and scientists seeking to develop countless cures, and uncovering invaluable information to save and enhance the lives of others. These publications share some of the research made possible with the gifts of human tissues donated for research.
Our Connection to Purpose
IIAM is proud to showcase ongoing and extraordinary research projects involving the more than 30,000 organs and tissues annually referred. These donations have provided for a magnitude of research and medical advances.
The Application Process
With profound respect for the individuals and families who donate organs and tissues for medical research, IIAM requires all end-users to complete an Application and Biomaterial Transfer Agreement to ensure that the donors’ gifts are utilized as they were intended.
Please complete the information below and IIAM will prepare and send an Application for your review and completion.
Researcher Testimonials
We would love to hear about IIAM’s relationship with your Research and Education Community. Please consider sharing your experience with us.
Researcher
This opportunity further enhances the gift that the donor family has chosen to give upon authorizing donation. Through research medical advances and discoveries are made, research is the keystone of growth in the medical field.
Researcher
Proud to be a partner and to I have seen the growth and maturation of the organ research industry with IIAM leading the way.
Researcher
This past year the livers that were procured through IIAM and its recovery partners have played an integral part in ensuring that thousands of new possible medications are safer for human use. Cells and enzymes derived from human tissues are essential in understanding how a new medication may affect a patient prior to clinical studies.
Researcher
The research donations create the ability for researchers to make positive change in the medical community and society. There simply is no substitute.
Researcher
Researchers established a 3D infection model based on donated human lungs to more effectively create therapeutic options to treat patients with pneumonia, the third most common cause of death, especially for the elderly and children under five years old.
Researcher
This was a beautiful and important donation. Everything about recovery and our work went well. The lungs and heart showed the stress of their abnormalities as expected but are of exceptional quality and will teach us so much, in structure and cellular content, about why they could not grow or function normally. We are forever grateful to the baby’s family for providing this most difficult gift. We will be sure to learn as much as possible to help other children with heart and lung failure due to extra chromosomes, heart and blood vessel differences that, one day, we will be able to treat effectively and save lives. We will be learning for years to come from this one small, precious gift.
Researcher
New medicines have been developed and/or continue to be improved to treat devastating liver diseases, such as hepatitis, allowing patients to return to healthy and productive lives.
Researcher
Donation of organs for research is a precious resource allowing understanding of human-specific scientific information that can advance the development of efficacious and safe of medicine. The information cannot be obtained with animal models due to species difference.
Researcher
This opportunity further enhances the gift that the donor family has chosen to give upon authorizing donation. Through research medical advances and discoveries are made, research is the keystone of growth in the medical field.
Researcher
My company has realised the value of access to human tissue for a while now but getting hold of good quality tissue easily has been problematic. Therefore, the service that IIAM provides is a huge step forward. We have used the human lung material received from IIAM to aid our drug discovery research by studying the biological role and disease relevance of proteins that may be of therapeutic relevance in lung disease. For instance, we were able to gain valuable insights on a receptor found on macrophages that we are interested in. Most work on this receptor has been done in mice, so there was very little data available on human lung. The value that the material has added to respiratory research in my company has been recognised in other disease areas and as a result, my company has set up a larger agreement with IIAM. So IIAM tissue will become used for research on a number of different diseases. IIAM provides a very valuable service and is helping the discovery of new drugs in my company.
Researcher
The donations made at tragic times in the lives of the families are invaluable to humanity. Through contributions to medical sciences, we may learn more about our own biology and lives may be saved.
Researcher
Excellent service and response time! Thank you so much! When we become short on donor lungs, we can depend upon IIAM to supply our needs. Your team does a great service!