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 …
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). …
Fasting-mimicking diet reduces signs of dementia in mice
Cycles of a diet that mimics fasting appear to reduce signs of Alzheimer’s in mice genetically engineered to develop the illness, according to a new USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology-led study. …
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 …
New article outlines the characteristics of a “longevity diet”
Examining a range of nutrition research from studies in laboratory animals to epidemiological research in human populations provides a clearer picture of the best diet for a longer, healthier life, said USC …
USC Stem Cell: An incubator for medicine of the 21st century
Just over a decade ago, USC was a university with a few scattered stem cell biologists, and a vision for total transformation. The university was committed to designing a unique “incubator” for …
Cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet help mice live longer, healthier
While many diets have been studied for effectiveness in preventing obesity and heart disease in both mice and humans, research on the effects and benefits of short, periodic cycles of fasting on obesity and heart health are lacking. In a new USC study on the health effects of a low-calorie diet that mimics …
Bérénice Benayoun receives prestigious investigator-focused grant
The Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award directly supports scientists, providing stability, flexibility and more opportunities for breakthroughs. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded an R35 Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) …
Top scientists and research institutions propose improvements to cell- and gene-based therapy development
Led by a USC cell and gene therapy researcher, an international coalition calls for more transparency and reproducibility in research and development of breakthrough treatments. Scientists around the world are achieving significant …
USC Professor Scott E. Fraser redefines impossible problems
USC Professor Scott E. Fraser is known for inventing new microscopes and other tools to observe living, developing embryos. But one of his lab’s most important pieces of technology filters coffee instead …
Bérénice Benayoun receives GSA Nathan Shock New Investigator Award
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA)—the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging—has chosen Assistant Professor Bérénice Benayoun of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology as the 2021 …
The Baxter Foundation advances USC research on optic nerve disease and colorectal cancer
For over 60 years, the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation has supported innovative biomedical research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, each year granting $100,000 awards to two …
Spike in severe pediatric type 2 diabetes complication during COVID-19 pandemic
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles study uncovers life-threatening trend in children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children generally appear to be less severely impacted by COVID-19 than adults. …
USC Stem Cell scientist Leonardo Morsut awarded $2.5 million NIH grant to explore “synthetic” embryonic development
Whether in an earthworm or a human being, developmental processes are driven by complex networks of genetically-encoded signals that enable cells to take cues from each other and their environment. To begin …
CHLA, Keck School, Keck Medicine and USC Norris partner on cell therapy program as construction on new facility begins
The essence of translational medicine is taking an idea from the drawing board and “translating” it into a real-world treatment that helps patients. The winding road of that process takes plenty of …
For USC scientist Xi Chen, a chicken is more than just an egg’s way of making another egg
USC postdoctoral researcher Xi Chen knows that you have to break a few eggs in order to grow chicken stem cells. His work on maintaining embryonic stem cells (ESC) from chicken eggs …
Broad Clinical Fellows take a stem cell-based approach to liver disease and bone loss
This year’s Broad Clinical Research Fellows are developing stem cell-based approaches for patients of all ages—from two-week-old infants with liver disease, to senior citizens with bone loss following joint replacement surgeries. Since …
Can COVID-19 cause diabetes?
Can the novel coronavirus—SARS-CoV-2—cause diabetes? No one knows, but Senta Georgia, PhD, is trying to find out. Dr. Georgia, an investigator in The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, recently …
A high-tech look at rejection in pediatric liver transplants
Surgeon-scientist Juliet Emamaullee, MD, PhD, spends much of her time seeing patients and performing pediatric liver transplants at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. But you’ll also find her in the lab—studying how to …