Menu

News & Events

Kidney and Urinary System News

From left, Toshio Miki, Qi-Long Ying, Paula Cannon (Photos by Cristy Lytal and Don Milici)

Three USC researchers win $4.3 million in awards from California’s stem cell agency

Three scientists from Keck Medicine of USC have won grants exceeding $4.3 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for research that includes creating a temporary liver for patients, finding …

Lori O'Brien (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC stem cell researcher Lori O’Brien receives the first Broad Fellowship

What makes stem cells develop into kidneys? Lori O’Brien, a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Andy McMahon, has received the first Broad Fellowship to help answer this question. O’Brien is …

The labs of Raymond C. Stevens, right, and Peter Kuhn will bring a cohort of approximately 50 researchers to USC. Their labs will be housed in the new USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience. (Photo by Ryan Young)

USC recruits renowned leaders in molecular research

Raymond C. Stevens and Peter Kuhn have been named Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and Chemistry and Dean’s Professor of Biological Sciences, respectively. The announcements were made by Provost Elizabeth Garrett and …

George Ban-Weiss, Maryam Shanechi and Megan McCain, from left (Photos courtesy of USC Viterbi)

Megan McCain and colleagues make MIT list of 35 Innovators Under 35

The annual MIT Technology Review list of 35 Innovators Under 35 includes three USC Viterbi School of Engineering faculty members — including Megan McCain, principal investigator with USC Stem Cell. Professors McCain and …

From right, Jing Liu, Andy McMahon and Sanjeev Kumar (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC Stem Cell scientists lay a TRAP for disease

USC Stem Cell scientists have set a “mouse TRAP” to capture the early signs of kidney failure, as described by a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Their new …

Andy McMahon (Photo by Phil Channing)

Andy McMahon and USC Stem Cell: From discoveries to cures

Video by Little Pictures How do fingers become fingers and not toes? How does the brain generate the correct number of neurons? How do the kidneys branch into the complex and elegant …

Lindsey Barske (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Postdocs receive Giannini Foundation fellowships

Two Keck School of Medicine of USC postdoctoral scholars recently received fellowships from the prestigious A.P. Giannini Foundation. Lindsey Barske, PhD, received her fellowship based on her work with craniofacial development, and …

Valter Longo (Photo by Dietmar Quistorf)

Valter Longo seeks a recipe for longevity

Video by the USC Davis School of Gerontology Valter Longo, PhD, principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, is out to prove that gerontology is a young man’s game — just like rock …

From left to right: Marvin Nelson, MD, MBA, Rex Moats, PhD, Brent Polk, MD, Elizabeth Garrett, JD, Scott Fraser, PhD, Carmen Puliafito, MD, MBA (Photo courtesy of Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles launch imaging lab for translational research

With the launch of the Translational Biomedical Imaging Lab (TBIL), investigators at the University of Southern California (USC) and The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles moved us closer to a …

Kidney (Image by Sanjeev Kumar)

Winner of the October 2013 USC Stem Cell Image of the Month Contest

Dr. Andrew McMahon, Dr. Seth Ruffins and the judges of the USC Stem Cell Image of the Month contest would like to congratulate our October 2013 winner, Sanjeev Kumar, a postdoctoral research …

Embryonic stem cells (Image/courtesy of Qi-Long Ying)

USC researcher reveals how to better master stem cells’ fate

USC scientist Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers have long been searching for biotech’s version of the fountain of youth — ways to encourage embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem …

From left, Andrew P. McMahon, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, with Yong Chen’s son Gary and researcher Qi-Long Ying (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Businessman invests in stem cell research at USC

Chinese businessman Yong Chen has pledged $1 million to USC stem cell researcher Qi-Long Ying to support his future “eureka moments.” “When I talked to Mr. Chen, I told him that groundbreaking …

Neural stem cells derived from self-renewing mouse embryonic stem cells (Image courtesy of Qi-Long Ying)

A special protein helps embryonic stem cells keep their options open

In the ongoing quest to understand how embryonic stem cells (ESCs) retain their ability to differentiate into virtually any kind of cell, USC faculty member Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers …

Wange Lu (Photo by Chris Shinn)

USC study sheds light on stem cell reprogramming

Researchers are learning how to turn regular cells into stem cells, a process called reprogramming. However, some of the mechanisms of the process remain unknown, such as why only a small proportion of the cells can be reprogrammed. Researchers have at least part of the answer: the structure of genes.

From left to right: Mr. K.V. Kumar, Dr. Andy McMahon, Sir John Gurdon and Mr. Jonathan Thomas (Photo courtesy of USC)

Interview with Sir John Gurdon

Sir John Gurdon, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist whose experiments in the field of cloning laid the foundation for modern stem cell research, visited the USC Health Sciences Campus on May 16. He …

Sir John Gurdon won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for laying the groundwork for stem cell research. (Photo courtesy of John Gurdon)

Nobel Laureate discusses history of cloning

Cells can be stubborn things. A skin cell resists changing into a liver cell, and a heart cell wants to remain a heart cell. But with the right kind of manipulation, they …

Sir John Gurdon won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for laying the groundwork for stem cell research. (Photo courtesy of John Gurdon)

Nobel laureate to speak on stem cells at HSC

Nobel laureate Sir John Gurdon will speak on “From Nuclear Transplantation to Prospects for Cell Replacement” on May 16 at noon in the Aresty Auditorium of the Harlyne J. Norris Cancer Research …

Andy McMahon (Photo by Phil Channing)

Probing the power of stem cells

Piece by missing piece, scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC are deciphering the powerful gene regulatory circuit that maintains and controls the potential of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to …

Dr. Wange Lu and Fan Gao (Photo courtesy of USC)

Unraveling the mystery of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells

Using advanced sequencing technology, USC Stem Cell faculty member Wange Lu, in collaboration with Kai Wang of the USC Zilkha Neurogenetics Institute, explores the mystery of pluripotency by mapping out the interaction …

Andy McMahon (Photo by Phil Channing)

McMahon discusses central role of stem cell biology in medicine of the future

USC scored a major coup when it brought scientist Andrew McMahon to the Keck School of Medicine of USC from Harvard University, where he had served for almost two decades as a …