What If the device changing brain medicine was free for anyone to build?
A USC Viterbi bioengineer’s implantable device that any researcher can use, modify, and build on is nearly ready for its first animal test. Getting here required reinventing not just the hardware, but …
There is no “brain x-ray.” A USC neurosurgeon-engineer is helping build better ones
A USC neurosurgeon and engineer argues that the tools to monitor the brain cheaply and without surgery are within reach — and that getting there requires putting engineers where patients actually are. …
Four innovators gather at USC to explore the devices changing medicine
Clinical translation was the stated theme of the biomedical devices and imaging session at the Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering‘s 50th anniversary symposium Sept. 3. The department, jointly part of …
Thymus-derived hormone may help suppress age-related inflammation
In animal models, researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that targeting the thymus can reduce age-related inflammation and improve cancer outcomes. Chronic, low-grade inflammation in the body—a phenomenon …
Finding a tumor’s soft spot to power-up immunotherapy
USC researchers have developed a new “black box” tool to measure the softness of tumor cells, an insight that could be crucial for more effective cancer treatment. Researchers at the USC Viterbi …
USC startup receives up to $3.7 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to develop an inner ear imaging device
AO Technologies, founded by USC researchers John Oghalai and Brian Applegate, has secured an ARPA-H small business award to develop a cochleoscope for clinical imaging of the inner ear. USC researchers John …
Undergraduate stem cell research takes the spotlight at USC CIRM COMPASS symposium
USC Stem Cell prepares undergraduates to present research and become the regenerative medicine workforce of the future. Stem cell research took center stage at the year-end symposium for the USC CIRM COMPASS …
USC-led team receives funding to build next-generation medical device that uses tears to monitor health
Researchers from USC and the California Institute of Technology aim to develop a tiny sensor and drug delivery system, implanted near the eye, with dry eye disease as its first target. A …
USC honors stem cell leader Andy McMahon with a lifetime achievement award
The award recognizes McMahon’s career advancing developmental biology and building scientific communities, including USC Stem Cell. As a pioneer in developmental biology and founder of USC Stem Cell, Andy McMahon, PhD, FRS, …
A “stemness checkpoint” helps control stem cell identity
Building on the concept that blocking differentiation into specialized cell types maintains stem cells, USC and NIH scientists identify GSK3α as a checkpoint across diverse stem cell types. A study published in …
USC announces joint biomedical engineering department, bridging medical and engineering schools
Building on decades of collaboration between the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the department reimagines the expansion of biomedical engineering into medicine. The Keck …
USC Stem Cell doctoral student Wynnie Nguyen aims to shift paradigms in Alzheimer’s research
Nguyen was awarded a grant from the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund for studies aiming to stimulate growth of new brain cells and, ultimately, reverse the course of dementia. For USC Stem Cell PhD …
Exploring how the cochlea responds to speech sounds: John Oghalai and Alberto Recio receive an American Hearing Research Foundation (AHRF) Discovery Grant
The one-year grant will support research on how the cochlea responds to fricative consonants like “S” and “SH.” USC researchers John Oghalai, MD, and Alberto Recio, PhD, were inspired by a simple …
Recognizing promise in hearing research: Ksenia Gnedeva wins the 2026 Geraldine Dietz Fox Young Investigator Award
The Association for Research in Otolaryngology recognizes Gnedeva for her work in understanding the development and regeneration of the inner ear’s sensory hearing cells. As Ksenia Gnedeva, PhD, was finishing her postdoctoral …
New stem cell treatment may offer hope for Parkinson’s disease
Keck Medicine of USC investigates a unique therapy that aims to repair damaged brain cells Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than one million people in the United …
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. …
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 …
Can a retinal implant reverse macular degeneration?
Clinical trial explores if stem cell-derived patch can help replace cells damaged by the disease and restore vision. Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss and blindness for Americans 65 …
Biologists discover neurons use physical signals — not electricity — to stabilize communication
A USC Dornsife team shows how synapses rapidly adjust when their receptors fail, revealing a new mechanism of neural resilience. Every movement you make and every memory you form depends on precise …
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 …