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Mark Humayun (Photo by Gus Ruelas); featured image for USC’s Mark Humayun to receive National Medal of Technology and Innovation

USC’s Mark Humayun to receive National Medal of Technology and Innovation

President Barack Obama will bestow the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to USC University Professor Mark Humayun at a ceremony in Washington, DC, on January 22. Humayun, who holds joint appointments …

Chemotherapy kills most cancer cells, but cancer stem cell survive and seed a new tumor that resists chemotherapy.; featured image for Scientists root out the “bad seeds” of liver cancer

Scientists root out the “bad seeds” of liver cancer

Researchers have found the “bad seeds” of liver cancer and believe they could one day reprogram them to remain responsive to cancer treatment, according to a new study in the January 12 …

The joint cells are the ones that are not outlined in black. (Image by Amjad Askary and Lindsey Mork/Crump Lab); featured image for Iroquois genes make cartilage cells act “oh so immature”

Iroquois genes make cartilage cells act “oh so immature”

Arthritis, the leading cause of disability in the U.S., involves the loss of a special type of cartilage cell lining the joints. In a study appearing on the cover of the latest …

Paula Cannon (Photo by Don Milici); featured image for USC and Sangamo researchers advance genome editing of blood stem cells

USC and Sangamo researchers advance genome editing of blood stem cells

Genome editing techniques for blood stem cells just got better, thanks to a team of researchers at USC and Sangamo BioSciences. In an upcoming study in Nature Biotechnology, co-first authors Colin M. …

The gene Prkci promotes the generation of differentiated cells (red). However if Prkci activity is reduced or absent, neural stem cells (green) are promoted. (Image by In Kyoung Mah); featured image for A Prkci gene keeps stem cells in check

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 …

Richard N. Merkin (Photo courtesy of Richard N. Merkin); featured image for Q&A: USC Stem Cell Ambassador Richard Merkin

Q&A: USC Stem Cell Ambassador Richard Merkin

USC Stem Cell Ambassador Richard Merkin is the founder of the Heritage Provider Network, which, under his leadership, became the largest physician-owned and operated integrated delivery system in the United States. He …

Yang Chai (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for Ostrow awarded NIDCR grant to establish tissue regeneration center

Ostrow awarded NIDCR grant to establish tissue regeneration center

Tissue regeneration is about to become more fact than fiction, thanks to a $2 million grant that’s being divided among 10 research centers and universities, including the Ostrow School of Dentistry of …

Arthur Toga of the USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute and USC Stem Cell’s Andrew McMahon check an agenda with Raymond Stevens of the Bridge Institute at USC Dornsife. (Photo by Steve Cohn); featured image for At Keck-Dornsife retreat, scientists share research

At Keck-Dornsife retreat, scientists share research

Seeking to strengthen partnerships between two of USC’s oldest schools, scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences recently gathered to discuss …

Min Yu (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC Stem Cell researcher Min Yu receives the NIH’s New Innovator Award

USC Stem Cell researcher Min Yu receives the NIH’s New Innovator Award

As a winner of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, USC Stem Cell principal investigator Min Yu will strive to develop individualized medicine targeting rare and deadly breast cancer stem cells. The …

Heinz-Josef Lenz (Photo courtesy of Heinz-Josef Lenz); featured image for Heinz-Josef Lenz is first recipient of endowed chair honoring J. Terrence Lanni

Heinz-Josef Lenz is first recipient of endowed chair honoring J. Terrence Lanni

The ceremony installing the J. Terrence Lanni Chair in Cancer Research was one of heartfelt tributes for two men, a doctor and a patient, who formed a tight bond over the years …

stem cell researcher; featured image for 2016 Open call for applications: Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellows Award

2016 Open call for applications: Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellows Award

Applications are due: December 1, 2015 at 5 p.m. PST Award range: $57,000–$67,000, per year (up to three years) The Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellows Award program, which began in 2015, is …

Liver stem cells (Image courtesy of Qi-Long Ying); featured image for USC Research Center for Liver Diseases: Call for Letters of Intent

USC Research Center for Liver Diseases: Call for Letters of Intent

The USC Research Center for Liver Diseases plans to fund pilot projects beginning February 1, 2016. Direct costs of each award will be between $10,000-$50,000. Awards are potentially renewable for a 2nd …

Albert Kim (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Postdoctoral fellow Albert Kim receives first Hearst Fellowship

Postdoctoral fellow Albert Kim receives first Hearst Fellowship

How do you turn stem cells into nephrons, the functional unit of the kidney? Albert D. Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Andy McMahon, is exploring this question with support …

From right, Qi-Long Ying, director of the Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility; Daniel Chang; Andy McMahon, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC; and Cai Li Chang (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility brings gene editing to USC and beyond

Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility brings gene editing to USC and beyond

Once the stuff of science fiction, genetic engineering is now offered on a fee-for-service basis at USC. On September 19, USC Stem Cell faculty and staff welcomed their supporters, the Chang and …

Activation of Sox9 (green) in nuclei (blue) of proximal tubular epithelial cells (yellow) following acute nephron injury. Surviving SOX9+ cells proliferate (red) to repair the damaged nephron restoring renal function. (Image courtesy of Sanjeev Kumar, Jing Liu, Paul Pang, A. Michaela Krautzberger, Antoine Reginensi, Haruhiko Akiyama, Andreas Schedl, Benjamin D. Humphreys and Andrew P. McMahon); featured image for Gene summons “surviving cells on deck” to repair the acutely injured kidney

Gene summons “surviving cells on deck” to repair the acutely injured kidney

In the kidney, injured cells can be kicked into reparative mode by a gene called Sox9, according to a new paper published in Cell Reports. First author Sanjeev Kumar, a postdoctoral research …

August 2015 cover of Cell; featured image for Researchers mimic viral infection in colon cancer stem cells

Researchers mimic viral infection in colon cancer stem cells

Researchers targeting colorectal cancer stem cells — the root cause of disease, resistance to treatment and relapse — have discovered a mechanism to mimic a virus and potentially trigger an immune response …

UKRO board and USC researchers in attendance included, from left, Edward Crandall, newly hired Director Kenneth Hallows, Nuria M. Pastor-Soler, Alicia McDonough, Laura Perin, Vito Campese and Janos Peti-Peterdi.; featured image for USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center opening is held

USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center opening is held

Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers recently joined board members from the University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) to celebrate the opening of the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center in the Mudd Memorial …

Motor neurons derived from an ALS patient (Image courtesy of the Ichida Lab); featured image for USC Stem Cell researcher Justin Ichida receives $300,000 Muscular Dystrophy Association grant

USC Stem Cell researcher Justin Ichida receives $300,000 Muscular Dystrophy Association grant

Ten percent of all patients with two neurodegenerative diseases — frontotemperal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — possess a mutation in the same gene. …

Age-related macular degeneration; featured image for Americans for Cures animates stem cell research at USC and UCSD

Americans for Cures animates stem cell research at USC and UCSD

Americans for Cures produced a white board animation showcasing a clinical trial for age-related macular degeneration, led by USC Stem Cell researchers David Hinton and Mark Humayun:

Clockwise from top left: Andre Luis de Castro Abreu, Victoria Forte, Kathy Schall and Rodrigo Martínez Monedero (Photos by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC Stem Cell selects inaugural Broad Clinical Research Fellows

USC Stem Cell selects inaugural Broad Clinical Research Fellows

This year, the Broad Clinical Research Fellowships are enabling physician-investigators to explore stem cell-based approaches related to four very different medical conditions: breast cancer, kidney disease, deafness and short bowel syndrome. Each …