In 2021, when Eric Esrailian, MD, MPH, was awarded the Benemerenti Medal from Pope Francis for his humanitarian work, he recognized other people worldwide who save lives daily – but without recognition. They’re motivated for “the right reasons. To be clear, I do not deserve this honor. It is honestly overwhelming and humbling,” he said in 2021 when news of the award reached him in Los Angeles where he holds the Lincy Foundation Chair in Clinical Gastroenterology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also serves as chief of the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, and director of the Melvin and Bren Simon Digestive Diseases Center.
Courtesy Dr. Eric Esrailian
Pope Francis with Dr. Eric Esrailian.
Dr. Esrailian, the son of Armenian immigrants, says that humanitarian work has been ingrained in him since childhood. His great-grandparents were Armenian genocide survivors and their struggles have never left him. He’s devoted his life not only to medicine, but to documenting the history of the Armenian genocide and leading, or supporting, efforts to resolve humanitarian crises in Armenia and around the world. Earlier this year, he, with Kim Kardashian and singer/actor Cher, published op-eds that addressed a humanitarian crisis building as a result of Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin corridor – which is the only road that links Armenia to the ethnic Armenian–populated sections of Nagorno-Karabakh. In September, Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a tentative agreement to end the blockade, but more needs to be done, he says. Tragedies continue to unfold, and he is redoubling his efforts to bring more attention to this humanitarian crisis, he said.
The first film was “The Promise,” a historical war drama set in the Ottoman Empire and released in 2016. In 2017, he and partners released “Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial, & Depiction,” a documentary about the Armenian genocide. The documentary received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Historical Documentary. And, in 2020, he produced “Francesco,” a film about Pope Francis that documented his pilgrimage to Armenia in 2016.
“The Promise” had such an impact on viewers that in 2017 Dr. Esrailian and the UCLA School of Law created The Promise Institute for Human Rights as a center of human rights education, research, and advocacy. In 2019, Dr. Esrailian and UCLA followed up with The Promise Armenian Institute as a place for academic research and teaching of Armenian studies, language, and culture. “The impact from building these two institutes has been transformational, and they will be part of UCLA forever,” he said.
His philanthropic efforts connecting health, human rights, education, and the arts has had an impact worldwide. One person can make a difference, Dr. Esrailian said: “I’ve learned along the way that an individual can have more of an impact than ever imagined, but you have to dream big and never give up.”
In this interview, he tells us more about his work.
