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Megan McCain's lab (Photo by Chris Shinn)

USC launches a new Center for Stem Cell Engineering on the Health Sciences Campus

A collaboration between the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the center will use stem cell engineering to uncover disease mechanisms and advance new therapies. …

An implantable retinal patch for restoring vision is one of the university’s most cited examples of therapeutic success. (Illustration/aDerek Brahney); featured image for From lab to launch: Inside USC’s fast-growing ecosystem of health startups

From lab to launch: Inside USC’s fast-growing ecosystem of health startups

From patches that restore vision to compounds that kill brain tumors, drug and device discoveries by USC researchers are reaching patients faster than ever before. Ten years ago, two pediatric heart specialists …

Chuck Murry in the third-grade class at Vermont Avenue Elementary School (Photo by DJ Kast); featured image for USC Stem Cell’s Chuck Murry shows heart for local third-graders through the medical and cancer STEM programs

USC Stem Cell’s Chuck Murry shows heart for local third-graders through the medical and cancer STEM programs

USC’s Medical STEM Program brings pig hearts, pulse oximeters, and a world of possibility to local third graders. At Vermont Avenue Elementary School, a class of third graders stared wide-eyed as Chuck …

Cellular extracellular vessicles; featured image for What if cells could talk and fight heart disease?

What if cells could talk and fight heart disease?

USC Viterbi’s Chung Lab has engineered a naturally derived particle for powerful therapies against cardiovascular and kidney diseases. Have you seen the latest EV models? Nope, not the Tesla Model 3. Think …

The National Institute on Aging has awarded a $6.5 million, five-year grant to Cedars-Sinai, USC and UCLA to create the Los Angeles Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. (USC Photo/Nat Avunjian); featured image for New NIA-funded center to help older adults live longer, healthier lives

New NIA-funded center to help older adults live longer, healthier lives

A new Los Angeles research hub will take on one of today’s most pressing challenges: helping people live not just longer, but healthier and more independent lives as they age. The National …

Embryonic stem cells from a Barred Plymouth Rock chicken (Image by Xi Chen/Ying Lab/USC Stem Cell); featured image for USC Stem Cell-led study generates authentic embryonic stem cells from birds

USC Stem Cell-led study generates authentic embryonic stem cells from birds

Scientists discover that egg yolk is a key to establishing authentic embryonic stem cells from chickens and seven other avian species, as reported in Nature Biotechnology. Egg whites may be perfect for …

; featured image for USC Stem Cell students and trainees win $15,000 collaborative research grants

USC Stem Cell students and trainees win $15,000 collaborative research grants

When learning to become a great scientist, the most important lesson might be how to collaborate. To encourage this essential skill, for the past decade, USC Stem Cell has awarded one-year challenge …

Guanyi Huang (Photo courtesy of Guanyi Huang); featured image for Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Guanyi Huang, Associate Principal Scientist at Merck

Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Guanyi Huang, Associate Principal Scientist at Merck

Guanyi Huang, associate principal scientist at Merck, has often found himself in the right place at the right time. The son of a middle school math teacher and computer science professor-turned-entrepreneur, Huang …

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. (Image courtesy of Pexels); featured image for New nanoparticle weapon in the fight against cardiovascular and kidney disease

New nanoparticle weapon in the fight against cardiovascular and kidney disease

The Chung Lab has engineered a new therapeutically enhanced, naturally derived particle for powerful gene therapies to tackle our most significant health challenges. Cardiovascular disease and kidney disease are two of the …

Ellis Meng, the Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair in Convergent Bioscience and professor of biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering (Photo courtesy of USC Viterbi); featured image for Revolutionizing heart care for newborns

Revolutionizing heart care for newborns

Ellis Meng’s team pioneers non-invasive shunt monitoring to improve survival rates for young patients with congenital heart defect. In pediatric cardiology, every heartbeat counts, especially for the one in 4,000 newborns born …

Illustration of man lifting weights by a refrigerator (Illustrations by Drue Wagner); featured image for Turn back the clock on aging

Turn back the clock on aging

There’s no way to stop the march of time, but innovative research by USC scholars points the way to a longer, healthier and more vibrant life. About 10 years ago, when George …

Illustrations by Doug Chayka; featured image for Cell by cell: Rebuilding the body

Cell by cell: Rebuilding the body

USC researchers are revolutionizing how we treat disease by harnessing stem cells as “living medicine.” Anyone who’s healed from a cut or a scrape has witnessed the incredible regenerative power of stem …

Pinchas Cohen (left) in the lab (Photo courtesy of the USC Davis School of Gerontology); featured image for A powerhouse of innovation

A powerhouse of innovation

How a serendipitous discovery led by Pinchas Cohen more than 20 years ago opened a new chapter in biology and made the USC Leonard Davis School a leading force in unraveling the …

A stem cell innovator focusing on repairing the heart, Chuck Murry (second from right) shares his expertise in biomedical science. (Photo/Steve Cohn); featured image for Chuck Murry: Stem cell science for healing the heart

Chuck Murry: Stem cell science for healing the heart

Success in Chuck Murry’s vision for regenerating heart tissue to restore function after a heart attack would look like a radical shift in the medical landscape. Ironically enough, he chalks up his …

(Photo courtesy of iStock); featured image for Severe COVID-19 infection increases heart attack and stroke risk as much as having a history of heart disease, study finds

Severe COVID-19 infection increases heart attack and stroke risk as much as having a history of heart disease, study finds

Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, UCLA and Cleveland Clinic studied the link between COVID-19 and major cardiac events, finding an increased risk that varied by blood type. Patients …

Image/iStock; featured image for USC launches collaboration with StemCardia to advance heart regeneration therapies

USC launches collaboration with StemCardia to advance heart regeneration therapies

The new initiative brings together renowned experts at a researcher-founded biotechnology company with Keck School of Medicine experts to develop innovative solutions for heart failure, the global leading cause of death. The …

Charles (Chuck) Murry (Photo by Gavin Sisk/ University of Washington); featured image for USC Stem Cell welcomes new leader, renowned physician-scientist Chuck Murry

USC Stem Cell welcomes new leader, renowned physician-scientist Chuck Murry

Charles (Chuck) Murry, MD, PhD, has been appointed as the next head of USC Stem Cell. In that capacity, he will be the chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and …

Lines of green fluorescent protein (GFP) show cells lighting up red and turning into muscle cells on the GFP scaffold. (Image by Mher Garibyan); featured image for A green light to build muscle cells on command

A green light to build muscle cells on command

It may sound like something from science fiction. To grow and modify muscle tissue in the lab using technology that shapes the muscle cells, blood vessels and nerves into whatever pattern you …

(Photo courtesy of Megan Rexius-Hall); featured image for Saving lives: Heart attack on a chip

Saving lives: Heart attack on a chip

Megan McCain has always enjoyed building and fixing things. She also has long been fascinated by cells in the human body and how they work together to achieve important tasks, like how …

nurse visits with a patient; featured image for USC and CHLA awarded $8 million to expand access to cell and gene therapy clinical trials

USC and CHLA awarded $8 million to expand access to cell and gene therapy clinical trials

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state’s stem cell agency, has awarded a five-year, $8 million grant to the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). …