Paula Cannon and Elyn Sacks named Distinguished Professors
Paula Cannon, PhD, and Elyn Saks, PhD, JD, have been named Distinguished Professors by USC President C. L. Max Nikias. USC Provost Michael Quick, PhD, announced the appointments in a Feb. 13 …
Small molecule could make a big difference for arthritis patients
Will there come a time when a patient with arthritis can forgo joint replacement surgery in favor of a shot? USC Stem Cell scientist Denis Evseenko has reason to be optimistic. In …
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles joins national consortium to study use of stem cells in treating a rare cardiac defect
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is announcing participation in the first-ever clinical trial using stem cells from umbilical cord blood to delay or even prevent heart failure in children born with a rare …
The toxic relationship between ALS and frontotemporal dementia
ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two neurodegenerative diseases with a toxic relationship, according to a new USC Stem Cell study published in Nature Medicine.
Half of all dementias start with damaged “gatekeeper cells”
USC research sheds new light on how a breakdown in the brain’s vascular system predates the accumulation of toxic plaques and tangles in the brain that bring about Alzheimer’s disease. The research …
What to know about fasting, aging, the “longevity diet” and when you should eat
Biochemist Valter Longo has devoted decades to discovering connections between nutrition and successful aging. He runs the Longevity Institute at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, which aims to extend healthy …
Bérénice Benayoun studies possibility of rejuvenating genes
Bérénice Benayoun, assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, explores the role of epigenetics—the ways that genes turn “off” or “on”—in the …
USC Stem Cell scientists chew on the mysteries of jaw development
Scientists in the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Gage Crump have revealed how key genes guide the development of the jaw in zebrafish. These findings may offer clues for understanding craniofacial anomalies …
USC professor Malcolm Snead elected to AIMBE College of Fellows
Malcolm Snead, a professor at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC and a principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering …
Deep sea creatures provide a guiding light in the quest to develop cancer-fighting therapies
A team of scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC is looking to some deep sea dwellers to create a better way to develop cancer-fighting therapies. Harnessing the power of …
Answers for diseases like schizophrenia may lie in how the brain maintains balance
Pop psychologists tout “balance” as key to mental health, and they may be more right than they realize. Neuroscientist Dion Dickman is gaining insight into how the brain maintains healthy balance on …
Broad Clinical Research Fellows use stem cells to build bone and combat cancer
This year’s Broad Clinical Research Fellows will apply stem cell-based approaches to two prevalent problems: non-healing bone injuries, which affect 5 million Americans each year; and neuroblastoma, which is the most common …
USC scientist Susana Cavallero dedicates her heart to vascular stem cell research
Pursuing her passion for cardiovascular research, Susana Cavallero has journeyed from her hometown of Polvaredas in Saladillo, Argentina, to Buenos Aires to Los Angeles, where she is an assistant professor of research …
Broad Fellows look to stem cells to treat heart disease and hearing loss
When it came time to select this year’s Broad Fellow, the award committee couldn’t pick just one. Instead, they bestowed the honor on two talented postdoctoral researchers in USC Stem Cell laboratories: …
New cellular approach found to control progression of chronic kidney disease
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that extracellular vesicles—tiny protein-filled structures—isolated from amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs) can be used to effectively slow the progression of kidney damage in mice with …
Broad Innovation Award winners work to develop cancer immunotherapy
Imagine an ever-renewing source of immune cells that can be engineered to attack cancer and infections. The winners of this year’s Eli and Edythe Broad Innovation Award at USC are already striving …
Subtle cues can dictate the fate of stem cells
If you’ve seen one GSK3 molecule, do not assume that you have seen them all. A new study in Developmental Cell reveals important differences in two similar forms of GSK3, which, in …
Creating new heart muscle out of stem cells? This grad student is doing it
In a narrow room not much larger than a closet, Joycelyn Yip reaches behind a glass shield to lower a pipette to a plate of silicon-coated glass. Swaddled in a sterile white …
Ryk needs a chaperone
Ryk has made the headlines by requiring a chaperone. But don’t assume that Ryk is a badly behaved celebrity—it’s actually a protein featured in a new study in the Proceedings of the …
Mariani Lab reveals rules for making ribs
Scientists from the USC Stem Cell lab of Francesca Mariani recently shared a recipe for ribs, and it doesn’t even require barbecue sauce.