AAMC Honors Five Academic Medicine Leaders with 2025 ACE Award for Advocacy, Collaboration, and Education

Strategic Insights -

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has recognized five academic medicine leaders with the 2025 ACE Award for Advocacy, Collaboration, and Education. These individuals have demonstrated exceptional leadership in partnering with medical schools, academic health systems, and teaching hospitals to advance the health of patients, families, and communities across the country. The ACE Award, established in 2023, celebrates the efforts of individuals who contribute to the advancement of academic medicine and its mission to improve the health of people everywhere.

Key Takeaways:

  • The 2025 ACE Award recipients are Congressman Raul Ruiz, MD (Calif.-25), Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (Va.-03), Michellene Davis, Esq., Maria L. Soto-Greene, MD, MS-HPEd, FACP, and David Cazares Dorantes.
  • The awardees have demonstrated leadership in expanding the physician workforce, improving access to high-quality health care, and promoting equal opportunity in medical education.
  • Congressman Raul Ruiz has initiated a pre-medical mentorship program that has grown to include over 100 local students and is currently part of the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.
  • Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott has led the fight to protect federal student aid, expand and protect access to affordable health care, and ensure workers have a safe workplace.
  • Michellene Davis has made history as the first African American to serve as Chief Policy Counsel and New Jersey State Treasurer, and has founded the Social Impact and Community Investment.
  • Maria L. Soto-Greene has helped develop programming that expanded access to education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, guiding thousands into careers in medicine and science.
  • David Cazares Dorantes has demonstrated his commitment to serving vulnerable communities through his work as a Spanish medical interpreter and free clinic manager.

Statistics:

  • The ACE Award was established in 2023.
  • The AAMC has over 160 member institutions, including all U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
  • There are nearly 500 academic health systems and teaching hospitals, including Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers, that are members of the AAMC.
  • The AAMC represents more than 60 international academic health centers through its membership in the Alliance of Academic Health Centers International.
  • The AAMC has more than 210,000 full-time faculty members, 99,000 medical students, 162,000 resident physicians, and 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences.

Sources:

  • Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
  • Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 54th Annual Legislative Conference
  • Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 48th Leadership Conference
  • National Hispanic Medical Association
  • National Medical Association
  • National Minority Quality Forum
  • University of California, Riverside School of Medicine
  • University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
  • Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
  • Latino Medical Student Association