UCLA receives $25 million from Shirley and Walter Wang to establish new integrative digestive health center

(Press-News.org)  UCLA Health has received a $25 million commitment from Shirley and Walter Wang to establish a center that will offer comprehensive care, support and guidance for patients and families living with gastrointestinal disorders.

The UCLA Walter and Shirley Wang Center for Integrative Digestive Health, named in recognition of the longtime donors, will be one of the few holistic programs of its kind in the nation, providing whole-person care for patients to help them live healthier. 

“I am grateful to Shirley and Walter Wang for their profound generosity and vision,” said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health and CEO of the UCLA Hospital System. “This gift has the potential to revolutionize the way UCLA Health cares for GI diseases and transform the patient experience. The Wangs’ investment will have a profound benefit to generations of patients with digestive conditions.” 

The new center’s objective is to utilize the GI system as the key to treating many conditions in the human body. People with GI diseases frequently experience symptoms that can include migraine headaches, chronic body pain, insomnia and mood disorders.

In addition to physicians, GI psychologists and specialized dietitians, the center will comprise integrative health practitioners who will use evidence-based wellness approaches, diaphragmatic breathing, mindfulness-based interventions, relaxation and self-compassion training — to address gastrointestinal disorders and empower patients. Supported by care coordinators, patients will have access to a multidisciplinary team that provides the full continuum of care — gastroenterology, psychology, nutrition and integrative health — in a single setting.  

Digestive and liver diseases are common and associated with an annual health care expenditure totaling more than $136 billion in the United States. Procedure-based medical care and the increasing use of narrow medical specialties have exacerbated the need for whole-person care. UCLA physicians have identified an opportunity to establish collaborative partnerships with GI care providers and new approaches to chronic disease treatment.

“We decided to make this gift because we saw the difference that proper medical treatment for people living with a digestive disorder could make in their quality of life,” said Shirley Wang, a UCLA alumna and former chair of The UCLA Foundation board. “Where better to receive that treatment than UCLA, a leader in the field?”

Walter Wang said the couple “saw how common-sense strategies — lifestyle and dietary advice and psychological support — can transform how people with these conditions live and once again enjoy life. Our objective became building access to truly life-changing, effective care.”

UCLA, which was named the No. 1 public university for the eighth straight year in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Colleges” rankings last September, features a world-class academic medical center that serves a large, diverse and complex patient population. Additionally, the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases is ranked No. 4 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The breadth of collaboration among other centers of distinction at UCLA — including the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center; the Melvin and Bren Simon Digestive Diseases Center; the Institute for Precision Health; and The California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy — will create the ideal setting for the UCLA Walter and Shirley Wang Center for Integrative Digestive Health. 

“I am grateful to my dear friends and partners in philanthropy over the years, Shirley and Walter Wang,” said Dr. Eric Esrailian, chief of the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and director of the Melvin and Bren Simon Digestive Diseases Center. “Thanks to their visionary and transformational gift, the UCLA Walter and Shirley Wang Center for Integrative Digestive Health will be the undisputed global leader in this field. Our clinicians and researchers have taught the world about digestive health and wellness for decades. The formalization of this endowed center is unprecedented.” Esrailian is co-chair of the Second Century Council, an advisory committee of philanthropic leaders, on which Shirley Wang also serves.

The Wangs’ philanthropy at UCLA spans several years and programs, including  the Depression Grand Challenge; scholarships for physical sciences, computer science; study abroad; the Walter and Shirley Wang Endowed Chair in Medicinal Drug Discovery; and the Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in U.S./China Relations and Communications.

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