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Gambhir Family Trust pledges over $4M to UCLA Medical School
Gambhir was a graduate of the UCLA–Caltech MSTP and an internationally recognized pioneer in molecular imaging and early cancer detection.
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Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 17, Dec 2025
- 14:23 EST
- 18
Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir / UCLA
In a major boost to medical education and research, the Gambhir Family Trust has committed over $4 million to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
The gift will support UCLA’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and fund the creation of a $3 million endowed chair and a $1 million fellowship dedicated to training future physician-scientists.
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The trust was established by Indian American physician Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir and his wife, Aruna Bodapati Gambhir. Sam died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 57, his teenage son died of cancer in 2015, and his wife died of breast cancer in 2023.
The UCLA–Caltech MSTP integrates combined doctor of medicine and doctorate training to prepare graduates for careers in biomedical research. University officials said the donation will strengthen long-term support for the program and its students.
“This generous gift from the Gambhir family will go a long way toward supporting future medical science leaders,” said Olujimi Ajijola, professor of medicine at UCLA and co-director of the MSTP.
David Dawson, MSTP co-director and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, said, “We are honored to be part of Gambhir’s great legacy and grateful for the generosity of the Gambhir family.”
Sanjiv Gambhir, a UCLA-trained physician, biomathematician and faculty member, was a graduate of the UCLA–Caltech MSTP and an internationally recognized pioneer in molecular imaging and early cancer detection.
He earned a doctorate in biomathematics from UCLA in 1990 and a medical degree from UCLA in 1993. He joined the UCLA faculty in 1994 as an assistant professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and later served as vice chair of the department and director of the Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging.
In 2003, he moved to Stanford University, where he served as chair of radiology, head of the nuclear medicine division and director of multiple research centers focused on early cancer detection and precision health.
Following the death of his son from glioblastoma multiforme in 2015, Gambhir intensified his work on early cancer detection and precision health initiatives. In 2017, he helped launch Stanford’s Precision Health and Integrated Diagnostics Center.
“When Sam died, medical science lost a great leader, as did our family,” said Sangeeta Gambhir, his sister and a trustee of the Gambhir Family Trust, who earned her doctor of medicine from UCLA in 1991. “Although we are heartbroken by his death, we know Sam’s memory will live on in the future physician-scientists and patients who will benefit from his legacy.”
The university said the bequest reflects the Gambhir family’s longstanding ties to UCLA and their commitment to advancing biomedical research and medical education.
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