From teeth the spines, growing bone in new ways
Bone is crucial. After blood, it’s the most frequently transplanted tissue, with 1.6 to 2 million bone transplants performed in the United States each year.
A Fox code for the face
In the developing face, how do stem cells know whether to become cartilage, bones or teeth? To begin to answer this question, scientists from the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Gage Crump …
Epstein family gift enhances sports medicine research and care at USC
Researchers and clinicians at the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery will advance their pioneering work on treatments and techniques to prevent and heal sports-related injuries thanks to a new …
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 …
Denis Evseenko receives $4 million for arthritis research
Denis Evseenko, a stem cell researcher at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, has been awarded two grants totaling more than $4 million to support osteoarthritis research. A $3.4 million R01 …
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 …
Countdown to Commencement: Mila Scheinberg is an athlete, artist and future orthopedic surgeon
At first glance, Mila Scheinberg’s passions seem unrelated: she has always been interested in medicine, loves to exercise and won many awards for her paintings in high school. However, in the masterpiece …
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?
Ostrow researcher makes strides in gel to regrow tooth enamel
Around the globe, dental cavities are the leading source of disability and pain: they affect 35 percent of the world’s population, with an economic impact in the hundreds of billions of dollars. …
At USC’s Junior Faculty Mini-Symposium, stem cell scientists build to understand
When physicist Richard Feynman died in 1988, he left a message scrawled across his chalkboard: “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” Twenty years later, scientists in a very different field …
Small molecule could make a big difference for arthritis patients
Will there come a time when a patient with arthritis can forgo joint replacement surgery in favor of a shot? USC Stem Cell scientist Denis Evseenko has reason to be optimistic. In …
The toxic relationship between ALS and frontotemporal dementia
ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two neurodegenerative diseases with a toxic relationship, according to a new USC Stem Cell study published in Nature Medicine.
What to know about fasting, aging, the “longevity diet” and when you should eat
Biochemist Valter Longo has devoted decades to discovering connections between nutrition and successful aging. He runs the Longevity Institute at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, which aims to extend healthy …
Bérénice Benayoun studies possibility of rejuvenating genes
Bérénice Benayoun, assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, explores the role of epigenetics—the ways that genes turn “off” or “on”—in the …
USC Stem Cell scientists chew on the mysteries of jaw development
Scientists in the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Gage Crump have revealed how key genes guide the development of the jaw in zebrafish. These findings may offer clues for understanding craniofacial anomalies …
USC professor Malcolm Snead elected to AIMBE College of Fellows
Malcolm Snead, a professor at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC and a principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering …
Broad Clinical Research Fellows use stem cells to build bone and combat cancer
This year’s Broad Clinical Research Fellows will apply stem cell-based approaches to two prevalent problems: non-healing bone injuries, which affect 5 million Americans each year; and neuroblastoma, which is the most common …
Subtle cues can dictate the fate of stem cells
If you’ve seen one GSK3 molecule, do not assume that you have seen them all. A new study in Developmental Cell reveals important differences in two similar forms of GSK3, which, in …
Mariani Lab reveals rules for making ribs
Scientists from the USC Stem Cell lab of Francesca Mariani recently shared a recipe for ribs, and it doesn’t even require barbecue sauce.