From restoring sight to reversing brain damage, USC stem cell researchers are making life-changing discoveries
If anyone has a clear vision of the power of stem cell cures, it’s Anna Kuehl. She suffered a retina-wrecking disease that cost her much of her sight before USC physicians surgically …
This tiny fish could unlock mysteries about growing old
Back in its native habitat, the African turquoise killifish wiggles from its egg, eats, spawns and dies — all within a few months. Life goes by fast when your home is a …
Eat less, live longer? The science of fasting and longevity
When it comes to what, when and how we eat, fasting — voluntarily abstaining from food for varying periods of time — is having a moment. It was the most popular diet …
Bérénice Benayoun honored for genetics research
The Genetics Society of America (GSA) and the Gruber Foundation have awarded Assistant Professor Bérénice Benayoun the 2019 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award for her research in genetics. The award, intended to …
Stem cell scientists take it one cell at a time at the Junior Faculty Candidate Mini-symposium
Cells should be treated as individuals, according to the scientists who presented research at the Junior Faculty Candidate Mini-symposium, hosted by USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine on February …
USC Stem Cell acquires two instruments to advance state-of-the-art cell sorting
When it comes to sorting cells or other small particles, there’s no better place to do so than USC. The university’s Flow Cytometry Facility recently acquired two top-of-the-line cell sorters, the BD …
Stem cell study offers clues for optimizing bone marrow transplants and more
Bone marrow transplants, which involve transplanting healthy blood stem cells, offer the best treatment for many types of cancers, blood disorders and immune diseases. Even though 22,000 of these procedures are performed …
Disease risk seen in disrupted biological clock
USC scientists report that a novel time-keeping mechanism within liver cells that helps sustain key organ tasks can contribute to diseases when its natural rhythm is disrupted.
Ellis Meng and Mike Waterman elected fellows of the National Academy of Inventors
Ellis Meng, a professor of biomedical engineering and electrical engineering, who holds the Gabilan Distinguished Professorship in Science and Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and University Professor, Michael Waterman, …
USC researchers converge at the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Symposium
“The field of stem cell biology is one of our great convergence opportunities,” said USC Provost Michael Quick, addressing an audience of biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers, clinicians and many others. This diverse …
TIME names Valter Longo one of the 50 Most Influential People in Health Care of 2018
USC Leonard Davis School Professor Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute and USC Stem Cell principal investigator, has been named one of TIME’s the 50 Most Influential People in Health …
USC Stem Cell scientist Andy McMahon and collaborators tune into the organ concert
Every minute of every day, your organs are using a complex language to communicate with each other about the basic physiological processes necessary for life—everything from blood pressure regulation to pH balance …
All about egg freezing: A Q&A with Dr. Richard J. Paulson, USC Fertility
If you’re not going to complete your family by age 35, it’s time to freeze your eggs, according to Dr. Richard J. Paulson, director of USC Fertility. Egg freezing offers a shot …
CHLA joins CureWorks collaborative to accelerate development of immunotherapy treatments for childhood cancers
Seattle Children’s, with participating members Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Children’s National Health System and BC Children’s Hospital, has launched CureWorks, an international collaborative of leading academic children’s hospitals determined to accelerate the …
Synthetic “tissues” build themselves
How do complex biological structures—an eye, a hand, a brain—emerge from a single fertilized egg? This is the fundamental question of developmental biology, and a mystery still being grappled with by scientists …
When it comes to balancing the immune system, some blood stem cells are better than others
In your body, blood stem cells produce approximately 10 billion new white blood cells, which are also known as immune cells, each and every day. Even more remarkably, if some of these …
USC’s Kella Vangsness paints stem cells as superheroes
With captions by Kella Vangsness “As an artist and scientist, I cannot help but imagine stem cells as ‘superheroes’ fighting against ‘villains’ of disease,” said Kella Vangsness, who is graduating from USC …
Gift boosts lung disease research at the Keck School
Pioneering research on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of advanced lung disease is being strengthened at the Keck School of Medicine of USC thanks to generous support from the Hastings Foundation.
Growing hope: New organs? Not yet, but stem cell research is getting closer
If you lose a limb, it’s lost for life. If you damage a kidney, you won’t grow a new one. And if you have a heart attack, the scars are there to …
Growing hope: What are stem cells, and how does USC use them?
Stem cell therapies have accelerated at a promising pace, but how do they work? And what are stem cells?