Gen Next: A new generation of entrepreneurial and innovative donors is stepping forward to carry UCLA Health’s rich tradition of philanthropy into the future

Likewise, a new generation of philanthropic leaders is emerging whose innovative approach to entrepreneurship and giving breaks with the traditions of the past. Sean Parker, Casey Wasserman and Eric Esrailian, MD (FEL ’06), MPH, are among them. Although they are young, Parker, founder of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, founding president of Facebook and co-founder of the music-sharing service Napster, and Wasserman, a sports marketing and talent entrepreneur and chair of LA28, which will bring the Olympics back to Los Angeles, have long histories of engagement with UCLA Health. Dr. Esrailian, chief of the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and The Lincy Foundation Chair in Clinical Gastroenterology, and a philanthropist in his own right who has contributed to and been instrumental in raising leadership gifts as part of the Centennial Campaign for UCLA, brought his friends Parker and Wasserman together to talk about the impact of philanthropy on the future of medicine and science, their passion for giving and commitment to making a difference. They spoke with Judy Fortin, executive director of communications for UCLA Health. Read more on page 12