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 …
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 …
USC Stem Cell study shows how gene activity modulates the amount of immune cell production in mice
As people age or become ill, their immune systems can become exhausted and less capable of fighting off viruses such as the flu or COVID-19. In a new mouse study funded in …
Building an Incubator for Medicine of the 21st Century
USC Stem Cell is pleased to introduce our new publication. We hope you’ll enjoy reflecting back on our history, while looking ahead to the transformative times to come. Read now at https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/wp-content/themes/stemcell/incubator.
$2 million grant boosts technological advancements in cutting-edge cell therapy manufacturing facility
The Keck School of Medicine of USC has received $2 million from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to further augment its newly launched cGMP Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility designed to …
USC Professor Bérénice Benayoun receives grant to study menopause and ovarian aging
Bérénice Benayoun, assistant professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School, received a $200,000 grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). The funding will support Benayoun’s work in understanding the molecular …
Why does a leukemic mutation not always lead to leukemia? A new clue from a mouse study at USC
Why do some people with a genetic mutation associated with leukemia remain healthy, while others with the same mutation develop the blood cancer? In a new study published in Blood, scientists from …
Pinchas Cohen named USC Distinguished Professor
Pinchas Cohen, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, has been named a Distinguished Professor, an honor that is granted to a select group of USC academics each year. “These …
New USC/CHLA cGMP Lab opens to accelerate next-generation cell therapy
A new laboratory designed to advance early-stage research into lifesaving, commercially viable therapies was celebrated on the USC Health Sciences Campus Tuesday night. Housed at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the …
Why multipotent progenitor cells matter for patients receiving bone marrow transplants
When patients receive bone marrow transplants, they are infused with complex admixtures of many different cell types with the power to regenerate their blood and immune systems. In a new study in …
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 …
Scientists feel the sand between their toes at the retreat for USC’s stem cell department
A pair of young scientists picked up a piece of driftwood and thoughtfully traced a series of letters in the wet sand of Ventura Beach. The word “microglia”—referring to the immune cells …
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). …
This mouse can’t keep a secret about the “secretome”
The “secretome” refers to proteins that are secreted by a cell, a tissue or an organism. In a new study published in Open Biology, USC Stem Cell scientist Andy McMahon and his …
Study of mouse immune cells highlights differences between males and females
A new data set collected by USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology researchers provides an important new resource for studying differences in immune system function by age and sex. The study, published …
How did vertebrates first evolve jaws?
Five-hundred million years ago, it was relatively safe to go back in the water. That’s because creatures of the deep had not yet evolved jaws. In a new pair of studies in …
USC faculty member Rong Lu: Providing insights into stem cell biology in the context of aging and disease
Rong Lu is an associate professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, biomedical engineering, medicine, and gerontology at USC. She joins George Shannon, faculty member and host of the podcast “Lessons …
Where are they now? Stem cell master’s program alumna Clare Yarka, a Scientist at Instil Bio
In this series of alumni profiles, we highlight graduates of USC’s master of science program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. Our accomplished alumni have pursued many different paths—ranging from a …
Communicating science visually: Mukund Iyer, MaryAnne Achieng and Stephanie Chang win the 2022 Winter BioRender contest
For his graphic on immune cell function in the brain, Mukund Iyer took first place in the Winter 2021 BioRender Illustration competition for his schematic of breast cancer cells’ entry through the …
Stem cell scientists explore the mysteries of regeneration at the Junior Faculty Candidate Seminar and Symposium
How can we regenerate tissues that are damaged, lost or diseased in the human body? This was the central question driving the four scientists who presented their research at the Junior Faculty …