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Jivrajka family endows $2M cardiology chair at UCLA
The endowment will help build a research team to study cardiovascular risk in South Asians.
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Anushka Pathak - Wed, 18, Feb 2026
- 12:35 EST
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L-R: Vinod Jivrajika, president of the Jivrajika Family Foundation; Ravi H. Dave, director of the UCLA Health South Asian Heart Program in the UCLA Division of Cardiology / Courtesy: UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health has received a US $2 million gift from the Jivrajka Family Foundation.
The contribution will establish the Jivrajka Family Foundation chair in cardiovascular health, aimed at advancing prevention and treatment for South Asians and other high-risk populations.
The endowed chair will support specialized discovery, translational research, education, and community outreach, including the development of a cardiovascular disease prevention program focused on South Asians.
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The initiative addresses persistent disparities faced by South Asians, who often develop diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol earlier in life and face heart disease up to a decade sooner, accounting for more than half of cardiovascular deaths worldwide.
Vinod, president of the foundation, said, “It gives us great pride to be able to support UCLA Health’s mission to expand, disseminate, and apply knowledge for global betterment of health: education, research, and public service.”
Ravi H. Dave, director of interventional cardiology, the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program, and the UCLA Health South Asian Heart Program in the UCLA Division of Cardiology, has been named the inaugural chair holder.
"I am honored by the trust the Jivrajka family has placed in UCLA Health,” adding that their commitment is enabling the institution to deliver care “where it is needed most,” he said.
The endowment will help build a research team to study genetic and environmental contributors to heart disease, develop targeted and holistic therapies, expand access to care, and create culturally informed approaches for at-risk communities.
Priscilla Hsue, chief of the division of cardiology, said the chair strengthens efforts to “develop individualized approaches to high-risk populations” and to better understand contributing factors to cardiovascular disease.
Steven Dubinett, dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said UCLA Health and the medical school are grateful for the foundation’s “generosity and vision,” noting that the support will improve cardiovascular health and quality of life for vulnerable groups.
Jayashree and Vinod Jivrajika with their grandchildren / Courtesy: UCLAAn Indian American interventional cardiologist and healthcare entrepreneur, Vinod Jivrajka currently serves as chairman of the board of Episource, a healthcare technology company he founded specializing in risk adjustment coding and analytics.
He previously founded AppleCare Medical Enterprises, including AppleCare Medical Group, in 1996 and served as its president and CEO for more than two decades.
Under his leadership, the organization expanded from 500 members to more than 100,000 by 2016, contracting with hundreds of physicians and specialists before it was sold to UnitedHealthcare.
Before entering healthcare entrepreneurship, he practiced as an interventional cardiologist for more than 25 years in New Jersey, Kentucky, and California and was a partner in a cardiology practice in Compton for about 25 years.
His wife Jayashree, a physician and internist, co-founded the foundation alongside her husband. She earned her MBBS from Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai before relocating to the United States to continue her medical career. She specialized in internal medicine, focusing on the prevention, diagnosis, and nonsurgical treatment of adult diseases.
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