Abstract
The Academy of Medical Sciences has matured quickly and found a distinctive niche amongst leading opinion formers and policy makers in healthcare and biomedical research. The Academy's 800 Fellows are the UK's leading medical scientists from hospitals, academia, public service and industry, and it is their expertise that gives the Academy its authority. The Academy campaigns vigorously to put science at the heart of the UK's public policy agenda in health, and to ensure that rapid advances in knowledge are translated as quickly as possible into benefits for patients. This paper briefly describes the work of the Academy and highlights the key achievements of the early years, particularly the Academy's role in drawing Government attention to the plight of academic medicine. The failure of clinical research to keep pace with scientific advances is now fully recognised and steps are being taken to establish new structures and to rebuild capacity in the UK.