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 …
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 …
Meet Postdoc Michaela Patterson, presenter at the ISSCR 2017 Annual Meeting
What’s the cure for a broken heart? Ask Michaela Patterson, a postdoctoral scholar in the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Henry Sucov. Patterson will deliver a presentation about heart regeneration at the …
NIH funding helps Americans live longer and healthier
The nation’s medical research agency, the National Institutes of Health, funds research to help Americans live longer and healthier. Some 148 Nobel Prize winners have received support from the NIH, demonstrating how …
Megan McCain appointed to Chonette Early Career Chair
Megan McCain, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, has been honored with the Chonette Early Career Chair at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. As an …
Ching-Ling (Ellen) Lien awarded $1.7 million to study heart regeneration
Ching-Ling (Ellen) Lien, an investigator at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, has been awarded nearly $1.7 million, over a four …
Researcher Jian Xu earns accolades for cell fate studies
Basic science can often be far from basic—especially for Jian Xu, who believes cells are kind of like people. “In simple terms, we look at how cells determine their own fate,” said …
Scientifically-designed fasting diet lowers risks for major diseases
What if you could lose weight and reduce your risk of life-threatening disease without any changes in what you eat—other than a five-day special diet once every few months? That’s what happened …
Megan McCain receives American Heart Association Faculty Award
Megan McCain has received a 2016 Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association. The three-year, $231,000 grant supports highly promising early career scientists in cardiovascular and stroke research. McCain—Gabilan Assistant Professor …
What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Francesca Mariani
In a recent study in the journal Cell, Kyle Loh and colleagues in Irving Weissman’s group established a rapid protocol for converting human pluripotent stem cells into mesoderm—the progenitors for heart, skeleton, …
USC announces winners of the Audrey E. Streedain Regenerative Medicine Initiative Awards
Two collaborative teams within USC Stem Cell are developing new approaches that could eventually help patients with heart disease, frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The teams are the winners of …
A Prkci gene keeps stem cells in check
When it comes to stem cells, too much of a good thing isn’t wonderful: producing too many new stem cells may lead to cancer; producing too few inhibits the repair and maintenance …
Tiny heart, big promise
The heart has its own dedicated blood supply, with coronary arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart and cardiac veins that remove deoxygenated blood. This system of vessels nourishes the heart, …
Take a tour of USC’s stem cell research center
Video by Alric Devotta Director Andy McMahon leads a tour of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.
“Million-dollar ideas” seminar
At a special seminar on February 24, USC Stem Cell Principal Investigators discussed their “million-dollar ideas” for creating new tools and technologies to usher in the era of regenerative medicine. They shared …
Three USC researchers win $4.3 million in awards from California’s stem cell agency
Three scientists from Keck Medicine of USC have won grants exceeding $4.3 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for research that includes creating a temporary liver for patients, finding …
Mammalian heart regenerative capacity depends on severity of injury
A new study by researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has shown that neonatal mouse hearts have varying regenerative capacities depending upon the severity of injury. Using cryoinjury — damaging the …
USC recruits renowned leaders in molecular research
Raymond C. Stevens and Peter Kuhn have been named Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and Chemistry and Dean’s Professor of Biological Sciences, respectively. The announcements were made by Provost Elizabeth Garrett and …
Megan McCain wears her heart on a chip
Video by Elizabeth Bayne Megan McCain first saw a real human heart her junior year of college. She held it in her hands – dark red, squishy, the size of a fist. …
Megan McCain and colleagues make MIT list of 35 Innovators Under 35
The annual MIT Technology Review list of 35 Innovators Under 35 includes three USC Viterbi School of Engineering faculty members — including Megan McCain, principal investigator with USC Stem Cell. Professors McCain and …