IBNS-CMEDIA: The University Health Network in Toronto reportedly received a $35-million donation to build a new transplant institute.
UHN said in a news release that the $35 million donation comes from Canada’s largest industrial baker, the Ajmeras, a Toronto family who created FGF Group of Companies and brings the family’s total donations to UHN to $62 million.
The donation was announced by UHN Foundation CEO Julie Quenneville on Wednesday during the first night of the 2026 Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival. (UHN Foundation). Image credit: UHN
The hospital network says this makes them the largest known single-family philanthropic donors to transplant medicine globally.
“This gift will create the environment necessary to launch ambitious new research programs, increase commercialization, and drive meaningful change in the lives of patients around the world,” Julie Quenneville, CEO of the UHN Foundation, said in a statement.
“It is an incredible example of what happens when a family uses their generosity to empower transformative change and we are beyond grateful for their support and leadership.”
UHN adds that a global hub for transplantation, research, innovation and education, uniting the full spectrum of transplant care under one roof would be created by the Ajmera Transplant Institute at UHN.
With rates of chronic disease continuing to rise, according to UHN, demand for organ transplantation is growing rapidly and more patients progress to end-stage organ failure resulting in the death of many patients waiting for a life-saving organ, while others face rejection and the lifelong burden of immunosuppression following transplant.
To address these challenges, UHN said, a new model of collaboration like the Ajmera Transplant Institute is required to unite experts across clinical care, engineering, immunology, regenerative medicine, cell therapy and data science. A wider $100-million campaign is being launched by the UHN Foundation, says the hospital network to support transplant medicine to complement the donation.
“When I came to Canada at 26 years old, I did it to build a better life for my family. “Canada gave us the opportunity to do that, and I am deeply grateful for it. It is immensely meaningful…My hope is that the Ajmera Transplant Institute will turn the discoveries of today into the treatments that save lives tomorrow — improving the lives of patients and families for generations to come.” Sam Ajmera, born and raised in Mumbai, India before becoming co-founder of FGF Brands, was reported to state.
The Ajmera family. Image credit: UHN
The hospital network said it also performed last year a record-breaking 820 transplants in 2025 and 2026, including the most lung transplants anywhere in the world.
In a statement Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who was in attendance when the donation was presented to the hospital network on Wednesday night, called the gift “incredibly generous” and added,
“Their donation will help UHN continue to build on its position as a global leader in transplant medicine, delivering life-saving care and groundbreaking research, and giving more patients and families hope when they need it most.”
