JIM DUNN
JIM DUNN
JIM DUNN
SUSAN DICKERSON
SUSAN DICKERSON
SUSAN DICKERSON
RYAN NEISZ
RYAN NEISZ
RYAN NEISZ
the Last
the Last
the Last
the Last
gift movie
gift movie
gift movie
gift movie
Jim's Courage, our Hope
Jim's Courage,
our Hope
A uc san diego and HOPE collaboratory production
A uc san diego and HOPE collaboratory production
A uc san diego and HOPE collaboratory production
From the last gift study — A documentary about final gifts that move research forward.
Partnering with participants, families & researchers to turn the end of life into a lasting legacy.
From the last gift study — A documentary about final gifts that move research forward. Partnering with participants, families & researchers to turn the end of life into a lasting legacy.
From the last gift study — A documentary about final gifts that move research forward. Partnering with participants, families & researchers to turn the end of life into a lasting legacy.
OFFICIAL SELECTION — BEACH BREAK FILM FESTIVAL 2025 🎬 Screening: Dec 28, 2025 • Coastal Repertory Theatre (Half Moon Bay, CA) 🎬
OFFICIAL SELECTION — BEACH BREAK FILM FESTIVAL 2025 🎬 Screening: Dec 28, 2025 • Coastal Repertory Theatre (Half Moon Bay, CA) 🎬
OFFICIAL SELECTION — BEACH BREAK FILM FESTIVAL 2025 🎬 Screening: Dec 28, 2025 • Coastal Repertory Theatre (Half Moon Bay, CA) 🎬
OFFICIAL SELECTION — BEACH BREAK FILM FESTIVAL 2025 🎬 Screening: Dec 28, 2025 • Coastal Repertory Theatre (Half Moon Bay, CA) 🎬
The final music is by Noah Kai, who composed, arranged, and performed the original song “One Last Gift”.
The final music is by Noah Kai, who composed, arranged, and performed the original song “One Last Gift”.
ABOUT
ABOUT
THE LAST GIFT STUDY
the last gift STUDy
THE LAST GIFT STUDY
The Last Gift Study at UC San Diego is an end-of-life HIV research program that enables altruistic people with HIV to donate tissues as their final gift to science.
It is where science and humanity meet — and participants, their loved ones, and the research team move through this final chapter together, step by step.
The Last Gift Study at UC San Diego is an end-of-life HIV research program that enables altruistic people with HIV to donate tissues as their final gift to science.
It is where science and humanity meet — and participants, their loved ones, and the research team move through this final chapter together, step by step.
The Last Gift Study at UC San Diego is an end-of-life HIV research program that enables altruistic people with HIV to donate tissues as their final gift to science.
It is where science and humanity meet — and participants, their loved ones, and the research team move through this final chapter together, step by step.
The Last Gift Study was created by scientists, clinicians, and the HIV community to bring together rigorous research, strong ethical safeguards, and careful listening to people at the end of life and their families.
The Last Gift Study was created by scientists, clinicians, and the HIV community to bring together rigorous research, strong ethical safeguards, and careful listening to people at the end of life and their families.
The Last Gift Study was created by scientists, clinicians, and the HIV community to bring together rigorous research, strong ethical safeguards, and careful listening to people at the end of life and their families.
Through the gift participants choose to make at the end of life, researchers gain critical insight into where HIV persists in the body and how the immune system responds — insight that helps shape more effective treatments for the future.
For participants and their loved ones, this choice can transform the end of life into something more than an ending. It becomes a legacy that supports the HIV community in San Diego County and far beyond.
Through the gift participants choose to make at the end of life, researchers gain critical insight into where HIV persists in the body and how the immune system responds — insight that helps shape more effective treatments for the future.
For participants and their loved ones, this choice can transform the end of life into something more than an ending. It becomes a legacy that supports the HIV community in San Diego County and far beyond.
Through the gift participants choose to make at the end of life, researchers gain critical insight into where HIV persists in the body and how the immune system responds — insight that helps shape more effective treatments for the future.
For participants and their loved ones, this choice can transform the end of life into something more than an ending. It becomes a legacy that supports the HIV community in San Diego County and far beyond.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it’s terrible getting a kind of a death sentence. If I wasn’t in this study, I would have missed out on all of you: that’s the best of times… you gotta take the good with the bad”
Jim, Last Gift Participant
“The Last Gift is so much more than just tissue. We never forget the person behind the tissue.”
Cheryl Dullano, Last Gift Study Team Member
“Participants are choosing to give something extraordinarily meaningful at the end of their lives, and our responsibility is to honor that choice with care and dignity.”
Sara Gianella, Last Gift Co-Director
“When Jim decided to be part of the Last Gift Study, it gave him a sense of purpose. It gave meaning to a time that could have felt only like loss.”
Susan, Next of Kin
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it’s terrible getting a kind of a death sentence. If I wasn’t in this study, I would have missed out on all of you: that’s the best of times… you gotta take the good with the bad”
Jim, Last Gift Participant
“The Last Gift is so much more than just tissue. We never forget the person behind the tissue.”
Cheryl Dullano, Last Gift Study Team Member
“Participants are choosing to give something extraordinarily meaningful at the end of their lives, and our responsibility is to honor that choice with care and dignity.”
Sara Gianella, Last Gift Co-Director
“When Jim decided to be part of the Last Gift Study, it gave him a sense of purpose. It gave meaning to a time that could have felt only like loss.”
Susan, Next of Kin
Behind the Movie
Behind the Movie
The Team, the Ethics, the Science
the team, the ethics, the science
The Team, the Ethics,
the Science
The Team, the Ethics, the Science
The Last Gift Study is rooted in an ongoing research effort at UC San Diego.
The Last Gift Study is rooted in an ongoing research effort at UC San Diego.
The Last Gift Study is rooted in an ongoing research effort at UC San Diego.
Behind every scene is a multidisciplinary team working closely with people with HIV at the end of life — clinicians, scientists, nurses, coordinators, ethicists, and community advocates.
Behind every scene is a multidisciplinary team working closely with people with HIV at the end of life — clinicians, scientists, nurses, coordinators, ethicists, and community advocates.
Behind every scene is a multidisciplinary team working closely with people with HIV at the end of life — clinicians, scientists, nurses, coordinators, ethicists, and community advocates.
Learn more about the people behind the study, how the research is carefully designed and guided, and how this work is shaping conversations about HIV cure research and end-of-life donation around the world.
Learn more about the people behind the study, how the research is carefully designed and guided, and how this work is shaping conversations about HIV cure research and end-of-life donation around the world.
Learn more about the people behind the study, how the research is carefully designed and guided, and how this work is shaping conversations about HIV cure research and end-of-life donation around the world.
MEET THE USCD RESEARCH TEAM
MEET THE USCD RESEARCH TEAM
MEET THE USCD RESEARCH TEAM
MEET THE USCD RESEARCH TEAM
CHECK OUT THE HOPE COLLABORATORY
CHECK OUT THE HOPE COLLABORATORY
CHECK OUT THE HOPE COLLABORATORY
CHECK OUT THE HOPE COLLABORATORY
VIEW SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
VIEW SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
VIEW SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
VIEW SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS