Gage Crump, professor and vice-chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, will be honored with the 2025 USC Provost Mentoring Award at the University’s 44th Academic Honors Convocation in April. The recognition is presented annually to an individual faculty member whose investment in and generosity toward the academic and professional success of other USC faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, or undergraduate students demonstrate exemplary mentoring.
“His dedication to mentoring and education has created a thriving and engaged academic community here at USC,” said Andrew T. Guzman, USC Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Crump has been recognized on two previous occasions for his exceptional mentorship. In 2017, he received the USC Mentoring Award for Faculty Mentoring Graduate Students. In 2024, he received the Keck School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring. His most recent accolade is a University-wide award recognizing his contributions to mentoring faculty colleagues as well as students and trainees at all stages of their careers.
“Gage exemplifies the qualities of an outstanding mentor at all levels of academic development, from undergraduate students to early-career faculty,” said Francesca Mariani, associate professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, and integrative anatomical sciences. “His unwavering commitment to fostering excellence in research, teaching, and professional development has had a lasting impact on the careers of many. As a faculty colleague of his for the past 16 years, I am ever grateful that he is my colleague and have myself benefited from his guidance and mentorship over the years.”
Crump’s students and trainees have had an extraordinary track record of securing prestigious grants and pursuing successful careers. Remarkably, in the past five years, three postdocs from the Crump Lab received National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pathway to Independence K99/R00 Awards, and successfully transitioned to tenure-track assistant professorships: Lindsey Barske at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Peter Fabian at Brno University, and Joanna Smeeton at Columbia University.
“Gage is my guidepost for how to not only push for the highest quality of science in my own trainees, but to support them as human beings with personal lives,” said Smeeton. “Trainees do our best science when we feel the support of an outstanding mentor like Gage. I feel so privileged to count him as a mentor, and now as a colleague. I am a better scientist because I know him and was trained by him.”
Another postdoc, D’Juan Farmer, was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna H. Gray Fellow, and recently went on to become a tenure-track assistant professor at UCLA.
“Gage remains someone I look up to and admire,” said Farmer. “Joining his lab has been one of the greatest and life changing decisions in my life, and I am truly fortunate to call him a mentor and to know that throughout my career, I have someone who cares and will continually be there as an advisor.”
Dozens of other former lab members are pursuing faculty careers, PhD and MD degrees, postdoctoral training, and roles in biotech.
Crump has also had an outsized impact on students and trainees beyond his lab. In 2013, Crump launched USC’s PhD program in Developmental Biology, Stem Cells, and Regenerative Medicine, which he continues to direct. He was also a leader in creating the University’s Undergraduate Minor in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. In addition, he established two training grants for PhD students and postdocs: an NIH T32 training grant for Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, and a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) training grant for Bridging Stem Cell Research with Clinical Applications in Regenerative Medicine.
“Gage’s contributions as a mentor and educator have transformed not only the lives of his lab members, but also the opportunities that impact the broader community of trainees at USC,” said Chuck Murry, chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. “He’s both one of a kind and a role model to us all. I’m delighted to congratulate him on this well-deserved honor.”