HOME – Amara Yad

Honoring the Past.
Transforming the Future.

Amara Yad, meaning “The Immortal Hand,” is a physician-led initiative dedicated to honoring the victims of medical exploitation through ethical, corrective action. Our work seeks to restore integrity to medical knowledge by developing a new generation of open-access anatomic atlases—scientifically precise, ethically sourced, and freely available to all. By shifting the focus away from unethical past practices, we strive to ensure that future medical education is rooted in dignity, transparency, and respect for human life.

Our Story:
Correcting a Dark Legacy

For decades, the Pernkopf Atlas was regarded as one of the most detailed anatomic resources available to physicians and medical students. However, the atlas was created using the bodies of over 1,300 victims of Nazi terror, many of whom were political prisoners, Jewish individuals, and other persecuted groups. These individuals were executed, and their remains were used without consent. Even after the origins of the Pernkopf Atlas were revealed, its use persisted due to its unparalleled anatomical accuracy—until now.

THEN: Vienna 1938

NOW: Los Angeles 2023

Amara Yad was founded by Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar, a distinguished physician and director of the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, who was deeply disturbed by the reliance on this unethical resource. Determined to provide a scientific and moral alternative, he assembled a team of physicians, scientists, and medical imaging experts to create an atlas that would surpass Pernkopf’s work—one built on ethical foundations and modern medical advancements.

Creating a New Standard in Medical Education

Anatomic atlases are indispensable in medicine, providing essential roadmaps for surgeons, cardiologists, radiologists, and medical students. However, high-tech imaging alone cannot replace the need for expertly crafted anatomical references. As Dr. Shivkumar states, “The eyes cannot see what the mind does not know. Without an atlas, you can’t interpret. Imaging data won’t become knowledge, and knowledge won’t become wisdom without proper interpretation.”

The Atlas of Cardiac Anatomy, published in September 2022, was the first of many planned volumes designed to replace outdated and unethical anatomical atlases. This groundbreaking work is based on:

Ethically donated human specimens from sources such as OneLegacy, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the UCLA Donated Body Program.
High-resolution imaging techniques, including over 50,000 original photographs taken by leading cardiac imaging expert Dr. Shumpei Mori.
A digitized collection of 4,000 historical slides from the late Dr. Wallace A. McAlpine, updated for modern medical use.

With these advances, Amara Yad’s atlases offer superior accuracy and relevance, serving as critical resources for interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, thoracic surgeons, and pain management specialists worldwide.

Expanding the Atlas: A Vision for the Future

The Atlas of Cardiac Anatomy is only the beginning. Amara Yad is committed to producing a comprehensive, 40-volume series covering every aspect of human anatomy, ensuring that no future physician must rely on medical knowledge obtained through historical injustices.

Upcoming Volumes Include:

✅ Interventional Electrophysiology: Correlative anatomy for heart rhythm disorders.

✅ Structural Heart Disease & Cardiac Surgery: Guides for minimally invasive and open-heart procedures.

✅ Neuroanatomy & Peripheral Nervous System: Mapping the “internet of the human body” for cutting-edge interventions.

✅ Congenital Heart Defects & Pediatric Anatomy: Resources for specialized pediatric care.

Collaborating with institutions such as Oxford University, the Indian Institute of Science, and medical schools worldwide, Amara Yad is laying the foundation for a multi-university, global effort to revolutionize anatomical education.

Beyond the Atlas:
Addressing Medicine’s Troubled Past

The Pernkopf Atlas is just one example of medical knowledge derived from unethical practices. Throughout history, the medical profession has been complicit in horrific violations of human rights—from Nazi medical experiments to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, where Black men were deliberately left untreated to observe the disease’s progression.

These breaches of ethics have had lasting consequences, eroding public trust in medicine and deepening healthcare disparities. Amara Yad seeks to address these injustices through educational initiatives that teach medical students and professionals about the importance of ethical responsibility.

At the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, students will soon participate in specialized rotations focused on:

Historical violations of medical ethics and their ongoing impact.
The physician’s moral duty to protect and advocate for patient dignity.
Corrective research, education, and outreach to rebuild trust in medicine.

This effort follows the example of the Medical University of Vienna, where students learn about the Pernkopf Atlas’ history and view its original illustrations—now preserved as a warning against medical abuse.

Amara Yad is more than an atlas—it is a movement to ensure that medicine is always practiced with integrity, respect, and ethical responsibility. Under Dr. Shivkumar’s leadership, UCLA’s Cardiac Arrhythmia Center has pioneered life-saving innovations, but he believes Amara Yad may be the center’s most important contribution to the field of medicine.

As technology and science advance, new ethical challenges will arise—from AI-driven diagnostics to genetic engineering—making it more critical than ever to uphold the sacred bond between doctors and patients.

As Rabbi Michael Berenbaum, a leading expert on Holocaust history, states, “Physicians today have more power than ever. We must remind them that science without ethics leads to catastrophe.”

Through a global network of physicians, scientists, ethicists, and historians, Amara Yad is ensuring that future generations inherit medical knowledge that is free from the taint of past atrocities.