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Paula Cannon

Gene therapy research for HIV awarded $14.6 million NIH grant

An HIV research program led by scientists at USC and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has received a five-year, $14.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The team is advancing …

Ya-Wen Chen and Vishal Patel

The Baxter Foundation supports USC research on epilepsy and lung injury

The Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation is supporting innovative biomedical research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC by granting $100,000 awards to two assistant professors: Vishal Patel, MD, …

Heart (Image courtesy of iStock)

Hunting for heart cells that can grow back after an injury

Hearts are tough organs. Over the course of a lifetime, they beat ever second of every day, keeping the entire body nourished with life-giving blood. But, even with all that stamina, heart …

SARS-CoV-2

USC Stem Cell scientists use “mini-lungs” and lung models to understand COVID-19

USC scientists are testing out experimental COVID-19 treatments on human “mini-lungs” and lung models, grown in the laboratory using stem cells. With names such as organoids and lung-chips, these simplified, lung-like structures …

Men are from Mars

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

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 …

Ya-Wen Chen

USC Stem Cell scientist Ya-Wen Chen grows miniature lungs with maximum potential

As the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak escalated into a pandemic, USC lung researcher Ya-Wen Chen expected to be spending a lot of time at home, sheltering in place. “At the beginning of the …

Qi-Long Ying

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

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)

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 …

Kalya Stanten

Countdown to Commencement: USC Stem Cell master’s student Kalya Stanten follows the science

By following her love of science, USC master’s student Kalya Stanten has found herself in some very interesting places—including a virology lab at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m in Paula …

Long Cai

The Broad Foundation brings together stem cell scientists, engineers and physicians at USC and beyond

Developing new stem cell therapies requires more than a solo biologist having a eureka moment alone in the lab. Real progress relies on collaborations between biologists, engineers and physicians. That’s why The …

Time to eat

What and when we eat affects our immune system. Here’s how.

Professor Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute, is investigating how fasting and diets that mimic fasting’s effects can help immune function, including vaccine efficacy and the body’s response to infection …

Oliver Bell

Design redundancy is in our DNA

Design redundancy is not only an invention of engineers for building machines, but also a principle of nature for designing organisms. This principle is at play in the regulation of the genes responsible for directing stem cells to multiply themselves in the developing mouse embryo, as described in a new study in Science Advances.

Megan McCain (Photo by Michelle Henry)

How to mend a broken heart, if you’re a zebrafish

Cut a zebrafish’s heart and something remarkable happens. Within seconds, the fish clots the wound and stops the bleeding. Cells start to divide to make new heart muscle and blood vessels. Two …

hyperspectral fish

From detecting lung cancer to spotting counterfeit money, this new imaging technology could have countless uses

USC scientists have developed a new tool to peer more deeply and clearly into living things, a visual advantage that saves time and helps advance medical cures. It’s the sort of foundational …

Rong Lu (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC Stem Cell scientist Rong Lu named Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar

Why do some leukemia patients have more aggressive disease, and why do some of their cancer cells resist treatment? USC Stem Cell scientist Rong Lu is tackling these critical questions with $550,000 …

Assistant Professor Eun Ji Chung, the Dr. Karl Jacob Jr. and Karl Jacob III Early-Career Chair. (Image/Hugh Kretschmer)

Lighting up cardiovascular problems using nanoparticles

Heart disease and stroke are the world’s two most deadly diseases, causing over 15 million deaths in 2016 according to the World Health Organization. A key underlying factor in both of these …

In-Part Discover

USC finds new routes to industry engagement and funding

Story courtesy of In-Part Over the last year, Dr. Qing Liu-Michael, Program Director at USC Stem Cell and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at …

Cardiac lymphatic vessels (red) grow alongside blood vessels (green) in the zebrafish heart. Ellen Lien's work shows that cardiac lymphatic vessels are a critical part of heart tissue regeneration after injury. This research could lead to future treatments for babies in need of heart repair. (Image courtesy of Ellen Lien)

At the heart of regeneration: Scientists reveal a new frontier in cardiac research

Story courtesy of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles One of the reasons coronary heart disease is so deadly is that fluid build-up and scarring can develop in the heart tissue. This prevents the …