News & Events

Heart Lung and Blood News
Rong Lu (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for New USC stem cell course teaches how to design an experiment

New USC stem cell course teaches how to design an experiment

For future scientists, few skills are more essential than the ability to design a good experiment. In a new spring 2018 course, SCRM 517 Historical and Contemporary Stem Cell Research, Professor Rong …

Heart muscle cells (red) with nuclei (blue). On the far right is a regenerative cell, which only has one nucleus, called a mononuclear diploid cardiomyocyte. (Image by Michaela Patterson); featured image for USC Stem Cell discovery refreshes the heart

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 …

Human development (Image courtesy of Evseenko Lab); featured image for Whittier Foundation backs new group of research projects

Whittier Foundation backs new group of research projects

The L.K. Whittier Foundation has been a critical source of funding for cancer research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, supporting clinicians and …

Michaela Patterson (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Meet Postdoc Michaela Patterson, presenter at the ISSCR 2017 Annual Meeting

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 …

Lisa Nguyen (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Meet PhD student Lisa Nguyen, presenter at the ISSCR 2017 Annual Meeting

Meet PhD student Lisa Nguyen, presenter at the ISSCR 2017 Annual Meeting

Ask Lisa Nguyen what gets her blood racing, and her answer will be hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs. She’ll be presenting about HSCs, which form the blood and immune systems, at the …

Clockwise from top left: Andy McMahon, Rohit Varma, Jonathan Samet and Donna Spruijt-Metz (Photos courtesy of USC); featured image for NIH funding helps Americans live longer and healthier

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 …

Kidney organoid (Image by Tracy Tran/McMcMahon Lab); featured image for USC’s stem cell scientists secure the dollars to fight disease

USC’s stem cell scientists secure the dollars to fight disease

The price of progress is not only the energy and talent of stem cell scientists, but also the research dollars that support their discoveries. In recent months, faculty members have secured numerous …

Barbara Kolo and Andy McMahon (Photo by Richard Carrasco); featured image for Artist plus researcher equals infinite inspiration at the Keck School of Medicine of USC

Artist plus researcher equals infinite inspiration at the Keck School of Medicine of USC

What happens when you pair 14 artists with 14 USC biomedical researchers? The answer is currently on display at the Hoyt Gallery on the Health Sciences Campus of the Keck School of …

Megan McCain (Photo by Will Taylor); featured image for Megan McCain appointed to Chonette Early Career Chair

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 …

Zea Borok (Photo by Ricardo Carrasco III); featured image for $6.9 million NIH award will promote lung cell regeneration research

$6.9 million NIH award will promote lung cell regeneration research

Zea Borok, professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and director of the Hastings Center for Pulmonary Research at the Keck School of Medicine of …

Leonardo Morsut (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for From professional volleyball to stem cell biology, Leonardo Morsut is at the top of his game

From professional volleyball to stem cell biology, Leonardo Morsut is at the top of his game

For USC Stem Cell researcher Leonardo Morsut, the word “set” refers to a collection of scientific data. “Set” is also the prelude to spiking a volleyball over the net—something he used to do for a living as a professional athlete in Italy.

Valter Longo (Photo by John Skalicky); featured image for Drugs widely used in cancer therapy increase toxicity of chemotherapy in mice

Drugs widely used in cancer therapy increase toxicity of chemotherapy in mice

A short-term fast appears to counteract increases in blood sugar caused by common cancer drugs and protect healthy cells in mice from becoming too vulnerable to chemotherapy, according to new research by …

From left, ChangHui Pak, Mayssa H. Mokalled, Naomi Habib, Frank Soldner and Alex J. Hughes (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Next-generation stem cell scientists evidence strong nerves at USC mini-symposium

Next-generation stem cell scientists evidence strong nerves at USC mini-symposium

Five next-generation scientists got everyone’s neurons firing at the Junior Faculty Candidate Mini-symposium, hosted by USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine on March 7.

Zebrafish heart with coronary vessels (Image courtesy of Ellen Lien/Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

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 …

Jian Xu (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for Researcher Jian Xu earns accolades for cell fate studies

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 …

Amy Ryan (Firth); featured image for USC Stem Cell scientist Amy Firth named finalist for the British Council’s 2017 Alumni Awards

USC Stem Cell scientist Amy Firth named finalist for the British Council’s 2017 Alumni Awards

As a USC Stem Cell scientist studying lung disease, Amy Firth has done her alma mater proud. An alumna of the University of Bath, Firth has earned a coveted place as a …

Valter Longo (Photo by Dietmar Quistorf); featured image for Scientifically-designed fasting diet lowers risks for major diseases

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 …

Keyue Shen; featured image for Beating the spread

Beating the spread

Cancer cells are like normal cells, only trickier. They carry genetic mutations that can hoodwink their surroundings to favor their growth. Using biologically inspired in vitro models, Keyue Shen, an assistant professor …

Amy Ryan (Firth) (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m reading: Stem cell faculty member Amy Firth offers a top pick

What I’m reading: Stem cell faculty member Amy Firth offers a top pick

To understand organ development, maintenance and repair, and to model disease, tissue engineering can enable unique experimental approaches. In a recent study in the journal Biomaterials, Daniel Tschumerplin’s laboratory at the Mayo …

Rong Lu (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty

What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty

In a recent issue of Nature, Philipp S. Hoppe and colleagues present their work on how blood-forming cells, called hematopoietic progenitors, commit to becoming particular blood cell types.