Leave a gift in your will

You can leave a gift in your Will to the Academy by either:

• Including a clause in your Will, you can add this clause when creating or changing your Will.
• Completing a Codicil form, which allows you to add a clause to an existing Will at any time and becomes a legal document when signed in the presence of two adult witnesses (who are not relatives).
• Writing a letter of wishes, which is not legally binding but can be easily edited and sent to the executors of your Will to express your wishes.

If you wish to leave a gift to the Academy, the only information you need to include in your Will about the Academy is our:

• Registered charity number: 1070618
• Name and address: The Academy of Medical Sciences, 41 Portland Place, London W1B 1QH

We would encourage you to discuss your Will with a qualified solicitor to ensure that all legal requirements are met and that your Will is valid.

Although we understand that Wills are sensitive and private, we would love to thank you for any gift included in a Will, and we would be delighted to hear about your plans.  Please be assured that you are under no obligation to donate to the Academy, and of course we understand that your intentions can change at any time.

If you would like more information please contact Lauren in our Fundraising Team: lauren.treacher@acmedsci.ac.uk, 020 3141 3213.

There are a few different types of gifts you can leave in your Will:

• You can leave a share of your estate, after you have provided for your loved ones (a residuary gift). For example you could leave just 1% of your estate to the Academy of Medical Sciences, leaving a lasting impact on the medical research community while ensuring those you care for are still looked after.
• You can leave a specific amount of money which you have not already left to others (a pecuniary gift). To ensure a fixed amount is not affected by inflation you can speak to a solicitor about index-linking your gift.
• You can leave a specific item or items to us.
• Instead of funeral flowers you can ask donations to be made in your memory to the Academy (in memoriam donations). We thank all individuals for their donations and for privacy we do not disclose gift amounts.

In 2018 we celebrated the 20^th anniversary of The Academy of Medical Sciences, and to highlight out achievements, we collected a snapshot of 20 of our biggest impacts.

All Academy projects have benefitted enormously from the contributions of our Fellows, colleagues, early career researchers and staff in the UK and internationally. We are incredibly thankful to everyone who has supported us to grow into the organisation we are today.

Some of our most recent successes, which show the breadth of our important work, include:

Multimorbidities

In 2018, the Academy of Medical Sciences published its first international policy report evaluating the growing issue of multimorbidity as a global health challenge.

Throughout the world, as life expectancy increases, the population incidence of non-communicable diseases is also increasing. Multimorbidity has become, and will increasingly be, an international health challenge. To address the international challenge of multimorbidity, we must understand the problem better. 

Currently there is no commonly used framework for defining or more widely understanding multimorbidity. Most health-related research is currently focused on the prevention and management of disorders in isolation, and as such it is difficult to compile a coherent body of research in this area, or develop evidence-based strategies for use in healthcare systems.

The Academy continues to focus on the multimorbidity issue, following up on the recommendations made in the report.

FLIER

FLIER: Future Leaders in Innovation, Enterprise and Research is our unique programme designed to develop leaders of the future who can create collaborations across academia, industry, the NHS and government to drive innovation. The programme will equip emerging leaders with skills to help solve the biggest health challenges we will face, and enable them to seize opportunities afforded by new discoveries in science, technology and medicine.

The Academy is committed to advancing biomedical and health research and its translation into benefits for society.

We focus on important and relevant topics, guided by our Council who represent the Fellowship. Our Fellows are central to all we do, and we ensure they are involved and provide their advice and expertise throughout the process of planning and implementing our projects.

Academy work focusses on four key principles:

1. Promoting excellence
2. Developing talented researchers
3. Influencing research and policy
4. Engaging patients, the public and professionals

The Academy President, Professor Sir Robert Lechler PMedSci, has reflected on what he believes the future holds for the Academy. The Academy is dedicated to pursuing improvements in health through developments in biomedical scientific research, and we are excited for the opportunities that the future holds.