The Genesis program:

• plays a vital role in the educational hands-on nonprofit education, training and research activities conducted at the Medical Education & Research Institute;
• is a willed body donor program for those persons wishing to donate their bodies for the advancement of science through education and training of medical professionals.

We understand that death may be an uncomfortable subject for many, and the idea of donating one’s body to science may seem a unique choice to consider. We believe that the giving of one’s self in order to help others is the greatest gift that one can leave. Even after death, one person can make a real and lasting difference in the lives of millions, giving others a better chance at life by participating in groundbreaking medical education, training and research.

Over 5,000 physicians from around the world come to the MERI each year to gain invaluable hands-on experience in the latest medical techniques and technologies, taking this new found knowledge back to help their patients at home. The MERI’s Genesis donors make this critical education and training possible through the selfless and generous gift of themselves.

Our Genesis donors are very precious to us, and are accorded the utmost respect and dignity during their stay with us. For each medical training procedure performed, the MERI replicates a hospital operating room environment, treating each donor with special care and respect. A donor’s participation in educational activities at the MERI is less than one year.

Persons may become a Genesis donor by pre-signing themselves into the program, or become a donor at their time of death, when a legal next-of-kin may sign their loved one into the program.

For some families who may be financially exhausted, without the resources necessary to provide for the final expenses of a loved one, the Genesis program may offer both a noble and dignified choice.

Unfortunately, the Genesis program is not able to accept:

• donors with communicable diseases including, but not limited to, HIV, hepatitis, active syphilis or active tuberculosis for the protection of our staff and the thousands of physicians who come to the MERI each year;
• children under the age of 18;
• persons who are extremely obese.