Facts, Figures, Accolades, and Accomplishments >>

Serving more than five million people as the only academic medical center in South Florida, the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine has earned international acclaim for research, clinical care and biomedical innovations. Founded in 1952 as Florida’s first accredited medical school, the Miller School of Medicine provides the medical staff for the nationally renowned University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center and University of Miami Hospital.

University of Miami Hospital is the flagship facility of the University of Miami Health System (UHealth). UHealth also includes two additional University-owned hospitals: Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital, home to the top-ranked Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Our affiliated hospitals on the medical campus include Jackson Memorial Hospital, Holtz Children’s Hospital and the Miami VA Medical Center.

Each year the medical school’s more than 900 faculty physicians have more than a million patient encounters in primary care and more than 30 specialties. The Miller School has nearly 7,000 employees.

In 2009, U.S. News & World Report listed Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as the number one hospital in the country for ophthalmology for the sixth year in a row. Two other UM Miller School of Medicine specialties were also listed among the nation’s best: ear, nose and throat and geriatrics.

Research is a top priority, with more than 1,500 ongoing projects funded by more than $200 million in external grants and contracts to UM faculty. The medical campus consists of nearly 68 acres within the 153-acre complex of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, including more than 500,000 square feet of research space with plans underway to build the UM Life Science Park, which will add an additional two million square feet of space adjacent to the medical campus. The UM Life Science Park will bring together academia and industry for collaboration in bioscience research innovation. The medical campus is also home to the following acclaimed medical facilities:

• Bascom Palmer Eye Institute has been named the country’s number one eye hospital six years in a row by U.S. News & World Report for its ongoing excellence in ophthalmic clinical care and research. The Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital annually serves 160,000 outpatients of ophthalmology and other specialties, largely for microsurgery procedures.
  
  
• The Diabetes Research Institute is a recognized world leader in cure-focused research. The DRI has pioneered many of the techniques used worldwide in islet cell transplantation, including advances in cell biology, immunology and harnessing the power of stem cells as a reliable source of insulin-producing cells for transplantation.
  
  
• The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center treats nearly 4,000 newly-diagnosed cancer patients each year, and treats thousands more in ongoing treatment from throughout the United States and Latin America. Approximately 200 clinical trials are underway, supported by more than $33 million in research grants.
  
  
• Dedicated to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury, researchers at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis found the first direct evidence of successful regeneration of adult human central nervous system tissue. The Miami Project, the world’s largest comprehensive spinal cord injury research center, conducts basic and clinical research trials, as well as a program that permits spinal cord injured men to father children. The center is currently awaiting FDA approval for human trials on schwann cell transplantation.
  
  
• The University of Miami Ear Institute houses the nation’s second most active cochlear implant program, restoring hearing to adults and children with profound deafness. Over the years the ear, nose and throat program has steadily climbed up the U.S. News & World Report rankings.
  
  
• The nationally renowned research efforts of the Department of Pediatrics are housed in the magnificent Batchelor Children’s Research Institute. The Miller School’s Mailman Center for Child Development has a number of model programs that help children with developmental disabilities.
  
  
• The Transplant Institute at the University of Miami/Jackson is one of the nation’s best and busiest, responsible for half of the pediatric multi-visceral transplants in the world. University of Miami/Jackson has an active transplant program for bone marrow, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas and intestines.
  
  
• Significant federal funding supports research at the Comprehensive AIDS Program, including HIV studies in pregnant women, pediatric AIDS clinical trials, various drug protocol studies, heterosexual transmission of AIDS, transfusion safety studies, and the national cooperative drug discovery group. The Miller School’s Developmental Center for AIDS Research (DCFAR), is one of the first of its kind in the state of Florida.
  
  
• The Miami Institute for Human Genomics is designed to discover the genetic influences on human health and apply the knowledge to the practice of medicine through improved diagnostics, treatments and medications. Under the stewardship of two of the most highly-acclaimed geneticists in the world, Margaret Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., and her husband Jeffery Vance, M.D., Ph.D., their work has uncovered critical clues to the origins of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration, and now they will work to integrate all of the School’s existing genetics research strengths into a single powerhouse program. The researchers and their collaborators at other medical centers have identified the first common genetic risk factor for autism spectrum disorder, nine genes that may increase susceptibility for Alzheimer’s disease and confirmed a region on chromosome 12q long believed to harbor an Alzheimer’s risk gene.
  
  
• The Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute is leading the way in the use of adult stem cells to repair malfunctioning human organs. Joshua M. Hare, M.D., director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, led the Transendocardial Autologous Cells in Ischemic Heart Failure Trial (TAC-HFT) study, using a novel catheter and is at the forefront of stem cell therapy research. The Institute’s goal is to find new treatments for heart disease, neurological disorders and other chronic and incurable diseases.
  
  
• The new Biomedical Research Building, a 182,000-square-foot facility houses the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, the Miami Institute for Human Genomics and will serve as a wet lab facility with office space for researchers. The facility is also LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, reducing the negative environmental impact of the building and improving occupant health and well-being.