Los Angeles, California – Miriam Volpin, a medical records manager working in Nevada, received a shocking message from a journalism student at the University of Southern California (USC). Student Jennifer Nehrer was part of an investigation team alleging that bodies donated to the university for educational and scientific research purposes had been sold to the US Armed Forces, and may even have ended up in the hands of Israeli military surgeons.
“I felt nauseous,” Volpin told Al Jazeera. Her mother, 101-year-old Jeanette, a former World War II flight nurse, died in 2021. She had arranged to donate her body to USC. Volpin fears her mother's remains were among those used to train surgical teams for conflicts, including the war described as genocide in Gaza.
The AJ+ documentary series Direct From contacted Volpin and other families who suspect their loved ones' remains were used to train military personnel. The film also met with the student journalism team that first exposed the case in 2025, who continued to expand the investigation. Their report shows USC was one of two Southern California schools providing bodies to the US Navy, which in turn served Israeli surgical teams.
Records show that from 2018, USC supplied at least 89 fresh human cadavers as part of training agreements with the US Navy and the Israeli military. Public information about Israeli training is limited. But a 2020 medical paper co-authored by USC faculty and the US Navy revealed internal procedures.
