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(Image courtesy of iStock); featured image for Top scientists and research institutions propose improvements to cell- and gene-based therapy development

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 …

Scott Fraser by Noe Montes; featured image for USC Professor Scott E. Fraser redefines impossible problems

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 (Photo courtesy of the USC Davis School of Gerontology); featured image for Bérénice Benayoun receives GSA Nathan Shock New Investigator Award

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 …

Unmesh Jadhav and Kimberly Gokoffski; featured image for The Baxter Foundation advances USC research on optic nerve disease and colorectal cancer

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 …

Robert E. Maxson; featured image for USC celebrates Robert E. Maxson’s lifetime of achievement and adventure

USC celebrates Robert E. Maxson’s lifetime of achievement and adventure

USC Emeritus Professor Robert E. Maxson has an understated explanation for why he’s flown so many planes, sailed so many boats, skied so many mountains, played so many guitars, taken so many …

Leonardo Morsut; featured image for USC Stem Cell scientist Leonardo Morsut awarded $2.5 million NIH grant to explore “synthetic” embryonic development

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 …

In the cGMP facility space before construction. From left: Mohamed Abou-el-Enein; Tom Buchanan; Alan S. Wayne; Caryn Lerman; and Nikos Carli. (Photo/Sergio Bianco); featured image for CHLA, Keck School, Keck Medicine and USC Norris partner on cell therapy program as construction on new facility begins

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 …

Xi Chen; featured image for For USC scientist Xi Chen, a chicken is more than just an egg’s way of making another egg

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 …

Mohamed Abou-el-Enein; featured image for Mohamed Abou-el-Enein named Executive Director of USC/CHLA Cell Therapy Program

Mohamed Abou-el-Enein named Executive Director of USC/CHLA Cell Therapy Program

Mohamed Abou-el-Enein, MD, PhD, MSPH, has joined the Keck School of Medicine as the inaugural Executive Director of the Joint USC/CHLA Cell Therapy Program. He began his post Jan. 4. Abou-el-Enein will …

Fraser by Noe Montes; featured image for USC biological imaging innovator elected to National Academy of Medicine

USC biological imaging innovator elected to National Academy of Medicine

Scott Fraser, Provost Professor of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Physiology and Biophysics, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Pediatrics, Radiology and Ophthalmology, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Fraser, …

Wilms tumor team; featured image for A bench-to-bedside approach to Wilms tumor

A bench-to-bedside approach to Wilms tumor

Stefano Da Sacco, PhD, calls Wilms tumor “an underdog” in the research world. “If you go to the American Urological Association or other meetings, there aren’t many presentations or discussions about Wilms …

USC's stem cell research center

California’s biggest stem cell experiment: The impact of the stem cell ballot proposition at USC

In 2008, USC broke ground on an $80 million building dedicated solely to stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The plans called for a monolithic structure clad in black marble and reflective …

Scott E. Fraser; featured image for USC’s Scott E. Fraser elected to National Academy of Medicine

USC’s Scott E. Fraser elected to National Academy of Medicine

USC biophysicist Scott E. Fraser, PhD, has as been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the organization announced Monday. He’s among 100 new members of the Academy. “For integrating biophysics, quantitative …

Ebony Flowers; featured image for Ebony Flowers receives fellowship from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program

Ebony Flowers receives fellowship from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program

Ebony Flowers has already received three fellowships during her year-and-a-half as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC. First, she was awarded the Choi …

fasting and breast cancer; featured image for Studies suggest a fasting diet could boost breast cancer therapy

Studies suggest a fasting diet could boost breast cancer therapy

A USC-led team of scientists has found that a fasting-mimicking diet combined with hormone therapy has the potential to help treat breast cancer, according to newly published animal studies and small clinical …

Men are from Mars; featured image for New award supports study of why females age differently than males

New award supports study of why females age differently than males

A new research project led by USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Assistant Professor Bérénice Benayoun aims to learn more about why female mammals, including humans, age differently than males. Sex dimorphism …

Alec Fisher; featured image for Amid COVID-19 fears, USC Spirit Leader donates stem cells for leukemia patient

Amid COVID-19 fears, USC Spirit Leader donates stem cells for leukemia patient

When Alec Fisher signed up as a potential bone marrow donor two years ago, he didn’t expect to hear back for a while, if at all — and certainly not in the …

Qi-Long Ying; featured image for Shanghai Cell Therapy Group launches collaboration with USC researcher to improve the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells for clinical applications

Shanghai Cell Therapy Group launches collaboration with USC researcher to improve the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells for clinical applications

Shanghai Cell Therapy Group (SHCell) recently entered into a six-year research collaborative project with Professor Qi-Long Ying from the University of Southern California (USC). Through the project, sponsored by $3.6 million from …

Rong Lu; featured image for USC Stem Cell scientist Rong Lu wins an NIH Emerging Investigator Award

USC Stem Cell scientist Rong Lu wins an NIH Emerging Investigator Award

Millions of blood cells are regenerated every second. To study the unique properties of individual blood forming stem cells and how they contribute to aging, leukemia and other medical conditions, USC Stem …

Yong (Tiger) Zhang of the USC School of Pharmacy (Photo by Isaac Mora); featured image for Better cancer treatments may lie ahead thanks to Yong (Tiger) Zhang and USC engineers

Better cancer treatments may lie ahead thanks to Yong (Tiger) Zhang and USC engineers

A USC School of Pharmacy-led team has engineered a new, faster way to make drugs that precisely target malignant cells – while leaving healthy tissue undamaged – that could lead the way …