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Pink test tube (Photo by Chris Shinn)

Request for Proposals: Broad Clinical Research Fellows 2018–2019

A recent gift from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation established the Eli and Edythe Broad Clinical Research Fellows at USC. This year is the fourth and final year of this prestigious …

Nanoparticles vs. germs (Photo courtesy of @nanopeek)

Peeking into the science world

For adolescents, social media use is nearly inevitable. According to “Science Daily,” a website that circulates recently developed research news headlines, 76 percent of teenagers in the United States actively use Instagram …

Injury-related damage in a mouse chronic kidney disease model (Image by Jing Liu/McMahon Lab)

The Broad Foundation awards $1 million to early-stage stem cell research projects

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has awarded two $125,000 grants to early-stage scientific investigations at USC’s stem cell research center. The projects are among eight winners of the $1 million Fund …

Justin Ichida (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC Stem Cell researcher Justin Ichida honored as a champion in the fight against ALS

The ALS Association Golden West Chapter will recognize USC Stem Cell researcher Justin Ichida with the 2017 Essey Commitment to a Cure Award for his outstanding achievements in the fight against ALS. …

Justin Ichida (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Verge Genomics announces a multi-institution collaboration with Columbia University, MGH, USC and the University of Michigan to advance ALS research

Verge Genomics, a drug discovery company utilizing genomic data for neuroscience therapeutics, announced today that it is has established a multi-institution industry-academic collaboration with four top universities focused on accelerating the translation …

Zhongwei Li (Photo by Cameron Quon)

USC Stem Cell scientist Zhongwei Li is writing a recipe for a kidney

USC Stem Cell scientist Zhongwei Li could have gone into the family restaurant business. Instead, he’s dedicated his career to experimenting with a very different set of ingredients: kidney stem cells. “The …

From left, Evan Tedlock and Kyle McClary, founders of the Bridge Art & Science Alliance (Photo courtesy of the USC School of Cinematic Arts)

Stem cell master’s students present artwork with scientific themes

Kella Vangsness and Aabha Morey—who are pursuing their master of science degrees in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine—participated in this year’s Bridge Art & Science Alliance’s pitch day, which gives USC …

Mark Humayun (Photo by Gus Ruelas)

Envisioning a new world

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has awarded Mark Humayun, co-director of the USC Gayle and Edward Roski Eye Institute and director of the Institute for Biomedical Sciences, with the …

From left, Rong Lu and Keyue Shen (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Can stem cells be tricked?

Riddle me this: how do you get stem cells to thrive outside of their natural environment? According to Keyue Shen, if all else fails, you can always trick them—with artificially engineered neighbor …

Eun Ji Chung (Photo by Michelle Henry)

Eun Ji Chung receives 2017 AIChE 35 Under 35 Award

To describe Eun Ji Chung as “goal-oriented” might be the understatement of the year. Chung, a Gabilan Assistant Professor in the USC Viterbi Department of Biomedical Engineering and USC Stem Cell principal investigator, …

The Bridge Art + Science Alliance logo

The Bridge Art + Science Alliance: Call for Proposals

The Bridge Art + Science Alliance, a program that cultivates relationships between artists and scientists, is looking to fund art/science media based projects during the Fall semester! We are currently accepting project …

Senta Georgia in the lab

A revolution in genetics

Courtesy of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Adding a piece of DNA to treat diabetes A child develops a rare form of diabetes, due to the absence of a single piece of DNA …

The protein TAZ (green) in the cytoplasm (the region outside of the nuclei, blue) promotes the self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells. (Image by Xingliang Zhou)

The protein TAZ sends “mixed signals” to stem cells

Just as beauty exists in the eye of the beholder, a signal depends upon the interpretation of the receiver. According to new USC research published in Stem Cell Reports, a protein called …

From left, Qi-Long Ying, Min Zhou, and Ying Lab postdoc Shi (Steve) Yue (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Biotech entrepreneur Min Zhou supports scientific serendipity in the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Qi-Long Ying

“The most important discoveries that I’ve made have all come from nowhere,” said Qi-Long Ying, associate professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at USC. “They could not be planned.” To …

Two types of progenitor cells from dissociated skin—epidermal (green) and dermal (red)—undergo a series of morphological transitions to form reconstituted skin. (Images by Mingxing Lei/Cheng-Ming Chuong Lab)

USC Stem Cell scientists obtain “how to” guide for producing hair follicles

How does the skin develop follicles and eventually sprout hair? A USC-led study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), addresses this question using insights gleaned from organoids, …

Joanna Smeeton with her husband Jeremy Morris and their twins Edie and Isaac (Photo by Sandra Kielback)

USC Stem Cell scientist Joanna Smeeton wins NIH Pathway to Independence Award

After her breakthrough discovery that zebrafish can be used to study arthritis, postdoctoral fellow Joanna Smeeton has received a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pathway to Independence Award. Known as the …

Rat

USC Stem Cell researchers receive $3 million of NIH funding to produce sophisticated laboratory rats

USC Stem Cell principal investigator Qi-Long Ying and his team are pleased to introduce a new transgenic animal—the conditional and inducible gene knockout rat. Created using embryonic stem cell-based technology, these remarkable …

Rong Lu (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

New USC stem cell course teaches how to design an experiment

For future scientists, few skills are more essential than the ability to design a good experiment. In a new spring 2018 course, SCRM 517 Historical and Contemporary Stem Cell Research, Professor Rong …

Heart muscle cells (red) with nuclei (blue). On the far right is a regenerative cell, which only has one nucleus, called a mononuclear diploid cardiomyocyte. (Image by Michaela Patterson)

USC Stem Cell discovery refreshes the heart

Some people are better than others at recovering from a wounded heart, according to a new USC Stem Cell study published in Nature Genetics. In the study, first author Michaela Patterson, a …

Researcher in the lab (Photo by Chris Shinn)

Request for Applications: A.P. Giannini Foundation 2018 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program

The A.P. Giannini Foundation invites physician-scientists and junior researchers with three to 36 months of postdoctoral research experience to apply to the 2018 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. The Fellowship Program supports innovative …