Two U.S. colleges, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), are selling donated bodies for Israeli military training, according to an investigation by Annenberg Media and The UCSD Guardian.
The findings have sparked ethical concerns and allegations of a "breach of trust" from grieving families who were never informed of the military use of their loved ones’ remains.
The investigation revealed that bodies donated for “medical research” to USC and UCSD were sold to the Navy for combat simulations.
In the last decade, USC earned more than $1 million from these contracts, which involve the transfer of “fresh tissue” cadavers from UCSD to USC-managed facilities at the Navy Trauma Training Center within Los Angeles General Medical Center.
While the universities describe the program as life-saving medical training, internal documents show the sessions involve "perfused" cadavers – bodies pumped with artificial blood to simulate battlefield trauma.
Training includes responding to gunshot wounds and improvised explosive device (IED) blasts. Between 2024 and 2025, the IDF utilized 12 of the 36 cadavers provided under the contract.
Families who donated remains through USC’s Anatomic Gift Program and UCSD’s Body Donation Program say they were kept in the dark about the military applications.
"I was devastated to see that such a vulnerable situation was taken advantage of," said Brittany Beecher, whose brother Jamie’s body was donated to UCSD. "I wouldn’t have agreed."
Sarah Penna, whose grandmother Jeanette Volpin donated her body to USC, described the use of the remains for military training as a "betrayal."
"I certainly don’t think she would be thrilled," Penna said, noting her grandmother supported Palestinian statehood and opposed war.
USC and UCSD maintain that the program prepares medical professionals to deliver life-saving care. However, the institutions have faced criticism for the lack of transparency in their donation agreements, which grant universities "sole discretion" over the use of remains without specifically mentioning military or foreign government contracts.
Despite the outcry and calls for an independent inquiry, the Navy recently filed a notice of intent to extend the program through 2029.
It also extended a million-dollar contract with USC to receive human cadavers for training Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) medical personnel.
