An investigation by student journalists and the AJ+ series Direct From has revealed that two major universities in Southern California have been supplying donated cadavers to the United States Navy for training programmes involving Israeli military surgical teams.
The University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) are at the centre of allegations that bodies donated for scientific research and education were sold to the US Armed Forces, with some being used by Israeli military surgeons, reports Al Jazeera.
Records indicate that since 2018, USC has provided at least 89 fresh cadavers as part of agreements to train both US Navy and Israeli military personnel.
While USC denied the course was a “military programme,” describing it instead as “educational” and the participants as “noncombatants,” federal contracts show the specialised training has been ongoing for nearly a decade, with Israeli medics arriving in Los Angeles as early as 2013.
The investigation, a collaboration between students Jennifer Nehrer, Reo, Jackson Mills, and Sasha Ryu, found that USC frequently turned to UCSD to meet the demand for bodies.
Between 2024 and early 2026, approximately 124 bodies were transferred from UCSD, a public institution, to USC for the training programme.
‘Reanimation’ of corpses
A 2020 medical paper co-authored by USC and US Navy instructors details a four-day “combat trauma surgery skills course” provided to Israeli “forward surgical teams”.
During these sessions, donated bodies underwent a process called perfusion, or “reanimation,” where fake blood is pumped through the cadaver to mimic the active bleeding of a soldier on a battlefield.
Participants practiced treating simulated combat injuries, including gunshot wounds to the chest and improvised explosive device (IED) blasts to the torso.
The US Navy stated that these injuries are recreated using “surgical tools” to provide a “hyper-realistic training environment”.
However, several trauma surgeons told AJ+ that the use of perfused cadavers is a highly specialised practice not common in most surgical programmes.
Families ‘deeply shaken’
The revelations have caused significant distress among families who donated their loved ones’ remains. Miriam Volpin, whose 101-year-old mother, Jeanette, donated her body to USC in 2021, expressed horror at the possibility her mother was used for military training.
“I just got sick to my stomach,” Volpin said, noting her mother was a former World War II flight nurse.
Jennifer Gomez, whose grandmother Jean McNeil Sargent donated her body to UCSD, told Al Jazeera she was unaware international militaries were training on family members’ bodies, specifically those “accused of war crimes”.
Donor documents reviewed in the investigation did not specify that remains would be used to train military personnel. Dr Mohamad Raad, a physician affiliated with USC, questioned if donors would have agreed to the procedures or to coordination with foreign armies had they known.
Impact on donation programmes
The controversy has already led to a loss of trust. Wendy Smith, an English professor, and her husband revoked their body donations to UCSD in April, stating they did not want to support Israeli policies.
When Smith raised her concerns, a UCSD representative reportedly dismissed the findings as “factually inaccurate reporting by student reporters who have an agenda”. Student journalist Sasha Ryu rejected this, stating their only agenda was “to report on the truth”.
Following the investigation, University of California Health updated its FAQ page to acknowledge that bodies may be “shared” with other institutions and used for military medical training.
However, individual FAQ pages for USC and UCSD remained unchanged as of the report.
The US Navy has issued a notice of intent to renew the contracts with USC through at least 2029.
