Hearst Fellow Adnan Chowdhury studies how stem cells respond to infection
Few researchers have studied how hematopoietic stem cells respond to infection—even though these are the stem cells that give rise to the full battery of specialized immune cells, such as T cells …
What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Amy Firth
Cells regulate their gene activity and differentiation by “methylating” DNA—adding carbon and hydrogen atoms to modify the DNA code. In a recent Cell publication, researchers from the Jaenisch laboratory used a precise …
What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Senta Georgia
Earlier this year, a team at the Karolinska Institute published a paper that profiled gene activity in single cells from human embryos created in the context of in vitro fertilization. Now this …
What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Qi-Long Ying
In a recent study published in Cell Stem Cell, Joshua Black and colleagues demonstrated that skin cells are converted into neurons using a powerful tool called CRISPR/Cas9 to concurrently modify and activate …
What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Wange Lu
Our genetic material is packed into the nucleus of the cell, but is the packing process random or organized in some way? In a recent study published in Cell Stem Cell, Krijger …
Megan McCain receives American Heart Association Faculty Award
Megan McCain has received a 2016 Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association. The three-year, $231,000 grant supports highly promising early career scientists in cardiovascular and stroke research. McCain—Gabilan Assistant Professor …
What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Francesca Mariani
In a recent study in the journal Cell, Kyle Loh and colleagues in Irving Weissman’s group established a rapid protocol for converting human pluripotent stem cells into mesoderm—the progenitors for heart, skeleton, …
There’s hope for reversing stroke-induced long-term disability
Permanent brain damage from a stroke may be reversible thanks to a developing therapeutic technique, a USC-led study has found. The novel approach combines transplanted human stem cells with a special protein …
What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Rong Lu
In a recent issue of Nature, Fan Zhou, Bing Liu and colleagues present their work on tracing the developmental origin of blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), in …
What I’m reading: A top pick from stem cell faculty member Joseph T. Rodgers
In a recent issue of Science, Jay Shendure, Alexander Schier and colleagues present an extraordinarily powerful new approach to trace the lineage of cells as they divide within an organism.
What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty members Andy McMahon and Gage Crump
Andy McMahon: Leigh Turner and Paul Knoepfler present a disturbing report in Cell Stem Cell on the growth of businesses marketing stem cell interventions in the US. Los Angeles is one “stem …
USC Stem Cell researchers receive the inaugural Broad Innovation Awards
Two teams of scientists have won the inaugural Eli and Edythe Broad Innovation Awards in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC. This year’s competition provides $120,000 each to the teams …
A gene called Prkci helps organize organisms and their organs
A gene called Prkci can point cells in the right direction, according to a new study in Developmental Biology. In the study, USC Stem Cell researcher In Kyoung Mah from the laboratory …
Dose of transplanted blood-forming stem cells affects their behavior
Unlike aspirin, bone marrow doesn’t come with a neatly printed label with dosage instructions. However, a new study published in Cell Reports provides clues about how the dose of transplanted bone marrow …
Amplifying cell signals for potentially lower cost stem cell interventions
Editor’s Note: USC Stem Cell principal investigators Malcolm Snead and Yan Zhou were among the authors of “Supramolecular Nanofibers Enhance Growth Factor Signaling by Increasing Lipid Raft Mobility,” published on April 12, …
Hastings Center for Pulmonary Research holds inaugural symposium
Physicians and leading scientists from across the country gathered recently to celebrate the inauguration of the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Hastings Center for Pulmonary Research. More than 100 people attended …
USC Stem Cell scientists enter the conversation about CRISPR
CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene-editing technique that enables scientists to disable, replace or modify sections of DNA. It allows for unprecedented precision and speed in the field of genome editing. It has been used to …
USC Stem Cell mini-symposium introduces next-generation researchers
The next generation of scientists is turning to stem cells to advance our understanding of systems ranging from the blood to the brain, from the liver to the lungs. Six of these …
Scientists Qi-Long Ying and Austin Smith win the 2016 McEwen Award for Innovation
Video by Henry Liu Researchers Qi-Long Ying from USC and Austin Smith from the University of Cambridge have won the 2016 McEwen Award for Innovation, the highest honor bestowed by the International …
USC announces winners of the Audrey E. Streedain Regenerative Medicine Initiative Awards
Two collaborative teams within USC Stem Cell are developing new approaches that could eventually help patients with heart disease, frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The teams are the winners of …