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Vivian Medina (Photo courtesy of Vivian Medina); featured image for Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Vivian Medina, Senior Manager of Digital and Data Analytics at Takeda

Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Vivian Medina, Senior Manager of Digital and Data Analytics at Takeda

As the Senior Manager of Digital and Data Analytics at Takeda in Los Angeles, Vivian Medina pursues her career in science with the ultimate goal of helping people. A lifelong Angeleno whose …

Maksim Plikus; featured image for Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Maksim Plikus, Professor at the University of California, Irvine

Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Maksim Plikus, Professor at the University of California, Irvine

Maksim Plikus was still an undergraduate when he first became fascinated by the study of hair biology. His lab supervisor asked him to dissect a rat whisker, and to recombine parts of …

Yang Chai; featured image for Yang Chai named dean of the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC

Yang Chai named dean of the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC

The clinician-scientist, who is the school’s associate dean of research, has been serving as interim dean. Yang Chai, associate dean of research at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, has …

Suhasni Gopalakrishnan at the Base Torres del Paine in Patagonia, Chile. (Photo by Arvind Baskaran); featured image for Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Suhasni Gopalakrishnan, Director at Allogene Therapeutics

Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Suhasni Gopalakrishnan, Director at Allogene Therapeutics

“I feel like I’m a person who goes with the flow,” said Suhasni Gopalakrishnan, Director at Allogene Therapeutics in San Francisco. Going with the flow has led Gopalakrishnan to many fascinating places. …

Denis Evseenko, MD, PhD and R. Rex Parris (Photo by Jeremi Peck); featured image for R. Rex and Carrol Parris make $10 Million gift to launch USC Longevity Research Accelerator at Keck School of Medicine

R. Rex and Carrol Parris make $10 Million gift to launch USC Longevity Research Accelerator at Keck School of Medicine

Experts in engineering, gerontology and stem cell research will collaborate to find treatments for age-related conditions like osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease. Keck School of Medicine of USC will launch a new research …

Class of 2025 BME graduate Alex Kuncz holding a crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus) from New Caledonia. This is one of the few gecko species that do not regenerate their tails, which allows Kuncz and his colleagues to better study which cells and processes are responsible for regeneration. (Image courtesy of Alex Kuncz); featured image for Leaping lizards! Class of 2025 grad looks to reptiles to help ACL injuries

Leaping lizards! Class of 2025 grad looks to reptiles to help ACL injuries

Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering graduating senior Alex Kuncz is studying how lizards regenerate their tails to improve orthopedic treatments. USC Viterbi graduating BME senior Alex Kuncz wants to help …

Gage Crump (Photo courtesy of Gage Crump); featured image for Gage Crump receives the 2025 USC Provost Mentoring Award

Gage Crump receives the 2025 USC Provost Mentoring Award

Gage Crump, professor and vice-chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, will be honored with the …

Preet M. Chaudhary, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine, the Bloom Family Chair in Lymphoma Research, chief of the Nohl Division of Hematology (Photo courtesy of USC); featured image for Two USC innovators—Preet Chaudhary and Michael Selsted—honored by the National Academy of Inventors

Two USC innovators—Preet Chaudhary and Michael Selsted—honored by the National Academy of Inventors

Harnessing the body’s natural defenses, these researchers are advancing the future of immune-based treatments to develop breakthroughs in treating diseases ranging from rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis to cancer. Two researchers from the …

A gene control element for human outer ear development shows activity in the gills (green) of a 2-week old zebrafish (Image by Mathi Thiruppathy/Crump Lab/USC Stem Cell); featured image for An earful of gill: USC Stem Cell study points to the evolutionary origin of the mammalian outer ear

An earful of gill: USC Stem Cell study points to the evolutionary origin of the mammalian outer ear

The outer ear is unique to mammals, but its evolutionary origin has remained a mystery. According to a new study published in Nature from the USC Stem Cell lab of Gage Crump, …

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 …

From right, Dean Carolyn Meltzer, Senta Georgia, and Charles (Chuck) Murry (Photo courtesy of Charles (Chuck) Murry); featured image for Keck School of Medicine celebrates faculty achievements at annual awards ceremony

Keck School of Medicine celebrates faculty achievements at annual awards ceremony

The 2024 Faculty Awards and Recognition Ceremony was a night of recognition and reflection as Dean Carolyn C. Meltzer, the Keck School Faculty Council and the Office of Faculty Affairs, Advancement, and …

Amy Merrill-Brugger (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for Amy Merrill-Brugger receives funding to dig into craniofacial development

Amy Merrill-Brugger receives funding to dig into craniofacial development

Amy Merrill PhD ’04 has recently received an eight-year grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AMY MERRILL is driven by the desire to impact clinical care …

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 …

(Image courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for A better understanding of tissue regeneration

A better understanding of tissue regeneration

Ostrow researchers probe how vasculature impacts stem cell diversity. The new study could lead to better treatments for tissue regeneration. Stem cells don’t exist alone. They are part of a community, and …

Jay Lieberman, MD, chair and professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Photo/Ricardo Carrasco III; featured image for Keck School of Medicine of USC orthopaedic surgery chair elected as 2024 AAAS fellow

Keck School of Medicine of USC orthopaedic surgery chair elected as 2024 AAAS fellow

Jay Lieberman, MD, has been recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for groundbreaking research in gene therapy and work improving joint replacement surgery. The American Association for the …

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 …

Yang Chai (Photo by Chris Shinn); featured image for Ostrow’s Associate Dean of Research Yang Chai inducted into NAI senior class of 2024

Ostrow’s Associate Dean of Research Yang Chai inducted into NAI senior class of 2024

The distinction goes to inventors in higher education who could bring impact to the welfare of society. Associate Dean of Research Yang Chai has earned a prestigious accolade for his transformative research related …

Kidney organoids with proximal tubules (Image by Jack Schnell/Lindström Lab); featured image for $3.95 million CIRM grant establishes USC ASCEND Center to make stem cell-derived  organ models accessible to all

$3.95 million CIRM grant establishes USC ASCEND Center to make stem cell-derived organ models accessible to all

To democratize access to lab-grown organ-like structures known as organoids and other advanced stem cell and transcriptomic technologies, USC will launch the CIRM ASCEND Center, dedicated to “Advancing Stem Cell Education and …

Clockwise from top left – Yang Chai, Denis Evseenko, Peter Kuhn and Justin Ichida, NAI 2024 class of senior members. (Chai photo/ Chris Shinn; Evseenko and Ichida photos/Richard Carrasco; Kuhn photo/Peter Zhaoyu Zhou); featured image for National Academy of Inventors elects four Keck School of Medicine of USC faculty as senior members

National Academy of Inventors elects four Keck School of Medicine of USC faculty as senior members

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI), a nonprofit member organization that encourages inventors in higher education, has announced that four researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC are part of …