Dr. Eric Esrailian is a physician, Emmy-nominated film producer, investor, and entrepreneur. He is involved in philanthropic efforts connecting health, human rights, education, and the arts. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and graduated with a major in integrative biology and a minor in English. He subsequently graduated from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Southern California, and gastroenterology fellowship at UCLA. He is a graduate of the Executive Program in Management from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and served on the Medical Board of California from 2010-2011 after being appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Dr. Esrailian is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In 2012, the School of Medicine awarded Dr Esrailian the Lincy Foundation Chair in Clinical Gastroenterology. Dr. Esrailian is part of the leadership of several philanthropic organizations including the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors of the Hammer Museum, the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture & Television Fund, and the Board of Directors for XPRIZE. He works closely with UCLA leaders across campus, and he is a co-chair for the university’s Second Century Council which consists of many of UCLA’s most prominent donors and volunteers. He is also one of the co-founders and president of the recently announced California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy (CIII).
He has also produced films which have drawn unprecedented attention to the Armenian Genocide and led to the creation of The Promise Institute for Human Rights and The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA. In 2017, the university designated Esrailian as a UCLA Optimist – among its notable alumni and faculty dedicated to solving the world’s problems. In 2021, he was also honored by Pope Francis at the Vatican with the Benemerenti Medal for his humanitarian activities around the world. In 2025, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.