News & Events

News Archive
From left to right, a red blood cell, a platelet and a white blood cell (Public domain image courtesy of the Electron Microscopy Facility at The National Cancer Institute at Frederick); featured image for USC Stem Cell researchers poke around for blood genes

USC Stem Cell researchers poke around for blood genes

Even though the transplantation of blood stem cells, also known as bone marrow, has saved many lives over many decades, the genes that control the number or function of blood stem cells …

Researcher in the lab (Photo by Chris Shinn); featured image for Request for Proposals: Broad Clinical Research Fellows 2015–2016

Request for Proposals: Broad Clinical Research Fellows 2015–2016

USC Stem Cell has up to four available positions to support clinical research fellow training. The fellows must have, or be training for, an MD or MD/PhD degree and have the capability …

From left, Wolfgang Fink and Michael Bonaguidi (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC Stem Cell researcher Michael Bonaguidi dissects the film Self/Less

USC Stem Cell researcher Michael Bonaguidi dissects the film Self/Less

Can science make us immortal? At a recent Los Angeles screening of director Tarsem Singh’s science fiction thriller Self/Less, USC Stem Cell researcher Michael Bonaguidi and University of Arizona researcher Wolfgang Fink …

From left, Lindsey Barske, Michael Patterson, Ang Li and Yuwei Li (Photos by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC postdocs win Doerr Stem Cell Challenge Grants

USC postdocs win Doerr Stem Cell Challenge Grants

Just as there are times when two heads are better than one, there are times when two labs are better than one. Thanks to the new Doerr Stem Cell Challenge Grants, teams …

Developing zebrafish skeleton showing a gene called Sox9 (green) in cartilage-producing cells. (Image by Xinjun He/McMahon Lab); featured image for USC Stem Cell researchers reveal a genetic blueprint for cartilage

USC Stem Cell researchers reveal a genetic blueprint for cartilage

Cartilage does a lot more than determine the shapes of people’s ears and noses. It also enables people to breathe and to form healthy bones — two processes essential to life. In …

Kidney (Image by Lisa Rutledge and Seth Ruffins); featured image for Engineering undergraduates focus on building a microscope for USC’s stem cell research center

Engineering undergraduates focus on building a microscope for USC’s stem cell research center

Previously, when Andy McMahon, head of USC Stem Cell, wanted a three-dimensional image of a kidney, he would ship the organ to Australia. Now, he can send the organ down the hall …

Amy Merrill-Brugger (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for Amy Merrill-Brugger receives $2 million NIH grant for craniofacial birth defect research

Amy Merrill-Brugger receives $2 million NIH grant for craniofacial birth defect research

USC Stem Cell principal investigator Amy Merrill-Brugger received the National Institute of Health Research Project Grant (R01) for her scientific investigation on inherited human conditions that cause facial bones to develop abnormally.

Fresh veggies, anyone? (Photo by Bob Nichols); featured image for Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

Want to lose abdominal fat, get smarter and live longer? New research led by USC Stem Cell principal investigator Valter Longo shows that periodically adopting a diet that mimics the effects of …

Tracy C. Grikscheit; featured image for Zebrafish provide a novel model to study short bowel syndrome

Zebrafish provide a novel model to study short bowel syndrome

USC Stem Cell investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) are providing new hope for babies with short bowel syndrome (SBS) by developing a novel model of SBS in zebrafish, described in …

Min Yu (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC Stem Cell researcher Min Yu named Pew-Stewart scholar for cancer research

USC Stem Cell researcher Min Yu named Pew-Stewart scholar for cancer research

USC Stem Cell researcher Min Yu is one of five early-career scientists to be named a 2015 Pew-Stewart scholar for cancer research. As part of this honor, she will receive $240,000 over …

Michael Quick’s appointment fits his personal background and the ideal of USC. (Photo/Steve Cohn); featured image for Michael Quick to serve on state stem cell oversight panel

Michael Quick to serve on state stem cell oversight panel

Sought: A neuroscientist with leadership experience to serve on the committee that reviews California’s funding of stem cell research. Found: Neurobiologist Michael Quick, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at …

From left, Jon-Paul Pepper, Min Yu and Kevin S. King; featured image for The Baxter Foundation awards grants to USC researchers Min Yu, Jon-Paul Pepper and Kevin S. King

The Baxter Foundation awards grants to USC researchers Min Yu, Jon-Paul Pepper and Kevin S. King

It takes a very special doctor to push beyond existing patient treatments and engage in the quest for new ones. That’s why the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation has selected …

Snapshot of a neurovascular unit, consisting of neurons (pink), astrocytes (blue), resident microglia (green), a penetrating arteriole and capillaries (white) (Photo courtesy of the Zlokovic Lab); featured image for Researchers clarify role of genetic risk factor in Alzheimer’s

Researchers clarify role of genetic risk factor in Alzheimer’s

Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have discovered that a protein known as PICALM regulates removal of toxic plaques from the brain, which could be a potential therapeutic target …

Tooth enamel damage (Image courtesy of the NIH); featured image for Researchers discover key player in enamel regeneration

Researchers discover key player in enamel regeneration

USC researchers are closer than ever to being able to regrow enamel, thanks in part to a recent scientific discovery published in the latest issue of the journal Biomaterials. In the article, …

USC graduate student Du Jiang (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Tri-institutional Stem Cell Retreat brings together Broad centers from USC, UCLA and UCSF

Tri-institutional Stem Cell Retreat brings together Broad centers from USC, UCLA and UCSF

Working alone, a scientist or university can only make so much progress in finding answers to basic questions or new treatments for diseases ranging from HIV to cancer to diabetes. That’s why …

Coronary vasculature in zebrafish (Image courtesy of Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

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, …

Stem cells (Image courtesy of Justin Ichida); featured image for Request for proposals: Hearst Fellowship Award 2015–2016

Request for proposals: Hearst Fellowship Award 2015–2016

A recent gift from the Hearst Foundations established the Hearst Fellows at USC. An annual fellowship award of $70,000 that includes one year of salary and benefits will be made to an …

Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC (Photo by Chris Shinn); featured image for Take a tour of USC’s stem cell research center

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.

Justin Ichida, PhD (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC Stem Cell’s Justin Ichida, Sanofi and DRVision team up to fight ALS

USC Stem Cell’s Justin Ichida, Sanofi and DRVision team up to fight ALS

USC Stem Cell researcher Justin Ichida has marshaled the expertise of pharmaceutical company Sanofi and start up DRVision Technologies along with $1.5 million in federal funding to find new drugs to fight …

Yang Chai (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for USC researchers move one step closer to natural tooth restorations

USC researchers move one step closer to natural tooth restorations

A rodent’s incisors never stop growing. It’s one of the reasons mice gnaw through cupboards, hamsters chomp mindlessly on metal cage bars and rats will chew through, well, just about anything. They …