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Dr. McMahon’s laboratory explores the mechanisms that maintain stem/progenitor cells and regulate their differentiation to mature cell types of different organ systems, particularly the kidney. By combining genetic and genomic approaches with high resolution imaging, his group is aiming to obtain a deeper understanding of stem cell biology and to develop novel therapeutic strategies for regenerative medicine.

Stories

Andy McMahon (Photo by Phil Channing)

UKRO benefit dinner to honor USC leaders

University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) will honor a stellar group of USC academic and scientific leaders at its sixth gala dinner on March 18 at The Beverly Hilton. This group of vocal …

Motor neurons derived from an ALS patient (Image courtesy of the Ichida Lab)

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 …

Arthur Toga of the USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute and USC Stem Cell’s Andrew McMahon check an agenda with Raymond Stevens of the Bridge Institute at USC Dornsife. (Photo by Steve Cohn)

At Keck-Dornsife retreat, scientists share research

Seeking to strengthen partnerships between two of USC’s oldest schools, scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences recently gathered to discuss …

Albert Kim (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Postdoctoral fellow Albert Kim receives first Hearst Fellowship

How do you turn stem cells into nephrons, the functional unit of the kidney? Albert D. Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Andy McMahon, is exploring this question with support …

From right, Qi-Long Ying, director of the Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility; Daniel Chang; Andy McMahon, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC; and Cai Li Chang (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility brings gene editing to USC and beyond

Once the stuff of science fiction, genetic engineering is now offered on a fee-for-service basis at USC. On September 19, USC Stem Cell faculty and staff welcomed their supporters, the Chang and …

Activation of Sox9 (green) in nuclei (blue) of proximal tubular epithelial cells (yellow) following acute nephron injury. Surviving SOX9+ cells proliferate (red) to repair the damaged nephron restoring renal function. (Image courtesy of Sanjeev Kumar, Jing Liu, Paul Pang, A. Michaela Krautzberger, Antoine Reginensi, Haruhiko Akiyama, Andreas Schedl, Benjamin D. Humphreys and Andrew P. McMahon)

Gene summons “surviving cells on deck” to repair the acutely injured kidney

In the kidney, injured cells can be kicked into reparative mode by a gene called Sox9, according to a new paper published in Cell Reports. First author Sanjeev Kumar, a postdoctoral research …

UKRO board and USC researchers in attendance included, from left, Edward Crandall, newly hired Director Kenneth Hallows, Nuria M. Pastor-Soler, Alicia McDonough, Laura Perin, Vito Campese and Janos Peti-Peterdi.

USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center opening is held

Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers recently joined board members from the University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) to celebrate the opening of the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center in the Mudd Memorial …

Clockwise from top left: Andre Luis de Castro Abreu, Victoria Forte, Kathy Schall and Rodrigo Martínez Monedero (Photos by Cristy Lytal)

USC Stem Cell selects inaugural Broad Clinical Research Fellows

This year, the Broad Clinical Research Fellowships are enabling physician-investigators to explore stem cell-based approaches related to four very different medical conditions: breast cancer, kidney disease, deafness and short bowel syndrome. Each …

Janos Peti-Peterdi with his mother and son in 2004 (Photo by Reka Peti-Peterdi)

USC kidney researcher Janos Peti-Peterdi wins Young Investigator Award

USC kidney researcher Janos Peti-Peterdi has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the ASN-AHA Young Investigator Award. Co-sponsored by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the Council on the Kidney …

Richard N. Merkin (Photo courtesy of Richard N. Merkin)

The Merkin Family Foundation establishes four assistant professorships in regenerative medicine at USC

In the past two years, USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine has welcomed six new assistant professors to its ranks — and more are on the horizon. Thanks to a …

Developing zebrafish skeleton showing a gene called Sox9 (green) in cartilage-producing cells. (Image by Xinjun He/McMahon Lab)

USC Stem Cell researchers reveal a genetic blueprint for cartilage

Cartilage does a lot more than determine the shapes of people’s ears and noses. It also enables people to breathe and to form healthy bones — two processes essential to life. In …

Kidney (Image by Lisa Rutledge and Seth Ruffins)

Engineering undergraduates focus on building a microscope for USC’s stem cell research center

Previously, when Andy McMahon, head of USC Stem Cell, wanted a three-dimensional image of a kidney, he would ship the organ to Australia. Now, he can send the organ down the hall …

USC graduate student Du Jiang (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Tri-institutional Stem Cell Retreat brings together Broad centers from USC, UCLA and UCSF

Working alone, a scientist or university can only make so much progress in finding answers to basic questions or new treatments for diseases ranging from HIV to cancer to diabetes. That’s why …

Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC (Photo by Chris Shinn)

Take a tour of USC’s stem cell research center

Video by Alric Devotta Director Andy McMahon leads a tour of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.

From right, biotech professionals Andy McMahon, Steve Kay, Stephen Gruber, Ray Stevens and David Meyer (Photo by Gus Ruelas)

USC summit marks rebirth of biotech era in Los Angeles

Los Angeles city and county policymakers and educational institutions laid the groundwork for the region’s biotechnology strategy at a summit on the USC Health Sciences Campus. The Los Angeles Biotech Summit drew …

Fred H. Gage delivered a brainy keynote address. (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC Stem Cell Symposium creates scientific synergy

Provost Michael Quick convened the inaugural USC Stem Cell Symposium with a straightforward truth about the future of regenerative medicine: “it will take a dedicated community of scholars across the disciplines to …

Stem cells won the heart of clinical trial participant Fred Lesikar. (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC hosts California stem cell agency’s tenth birthday bash

Few 10 year olds have brought 10 potential medical treatments into clinical trials. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), however, is a truly exceptional 10 year old. In 2004, the people …

“Tin Woman” Michaela Patterson, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Henry Sucov, studies heart regeneration — with no help from the Wizard of Oz. (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Halloween retreat showcases USC’s “scary smart” stem cell researchers

It was no tricks and all treats at the seventh annual retreat for the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, held at the university’s …

Graduate student Kimberley Babos explains how research at the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC may help find effective drugs to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Military veterans are more likely than civilians to suffer from the devastating disease. (Photo by Steve Cohn)

General David H. Petraeus gets a four-star tour of HSC

Petraeus—who also serves as the Judge Widney Professor at USC and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute—started his morning with a glimpse into the human brain. Faculty and students from the USC …

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 …

Andrew P. McMahon, PhD, FRS