Cristy LytalCommunications Director lytal@med.usc.edu323-442-2172
Press releases, stories, and communications
Stories
USC physician-scientists Denis Evseenko and Toby Maher win $3.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to develop regenerative drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
It might start with a shortness of breath that’s easily dismissed as getting older or needing more exercise. But for the nearly 3 million patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), this subtle …
USC Stem Cell-led study generates authentic embryonic stem cell from birds
Scientists discover that egg yolk is a key to establishing authentic embryonic stem cells from chickens and seven other avian species, as reported in Nature Biotechnology. Egg whites may be perfect for …
USC Stem Cell students and trainees win $15,000 collaborative research grants
When learning to become a great scientist, the most important lesson might be how to collaborate. To encourage this essential skill, for the past decade, USC Stem Cell has awarded one-year challenge …
USC Stem Cell PhD student Shuwan Liu receives award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Which signals drive cells to heal large-scale bone injuries? For her research into this question, USC Stem Cell PhD student Shuwan Liu has won a 2025 Young Investigator Award from the American …
USC Stem Cell-led team makes major advance toward building a synthetic kidney
Scientists combine kidney filtering and urine-concentrating components to create “assembloids,” the most mature and complex kidney structures ever grown in a lab and a tool for developing new therapies. A USC Stem …
USC Stem Cell scientists unlock blueprint for lab-grown kidney cells with preclinical value
In the lab, it’s easier to grow simple balls of cells than complex asymmetrical structures with two distinct ends—like the one million filtering units, or nephrons, that make up a human kidney. …
Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Alex Qiuyu Guo, Senior Scientist for Discovery Biomarkers at Amgen
Although Alex Qiuyu Guo is now Senior Scientist for Discovery Biomarkers at Amgen, he admits that he didn’t start off being devoted to science. “I was more interested in history,” said Guo, …
Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Joanna Smeeton, Assistant Professor at Columbia University
Joanna Smeeton runs a lab at Columbia University that uses zebrafish to understand joint tissue regeneration and develop new approaches for treating ligament injuries and arthritis. But before receiving a California Institute …
Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Guanyi Huang, Associate Principal Scientist at Merck
Guanyi Huang, associate principal scientist at Merck, has often found himself in the right place at the right time. The son of a middle school math teacher and computer science professor-turned-entrepreneur, Huang …
Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Vivian Medina, Senior Manager of Digital and Data Analytics at Takeda
As the Senior Manager of Digital and Data Analytics at Takeda in Los Angeles, Vivian Medina pursues her career in science with the ultimate goal of helping people. A lifelong Angeleno whose …
Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Maksim Plikus, Professor at the University of California, Irvine
Maksim Plikus was still an undergraduate when he first became fascinated by the study of hair biology. His lab supervisor asked him to dissect a rat whisker, and to recombine parts of …
Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Suhasni Gopalakrishnan, Director at Allogene Therapeutics
“I feel like I’m a person who goes with the flow,” said Suhasni Gopalakrishnan, Director at Allogene Therapeutics in San Francisco. Going with the flow has led Gopalakrishnan to many fascinating places. …
Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumni: Noah Merin, Assistant Professor at Cedars-Sinai
For physician-scientist Noah Merin, the form of stem cell transplantation known as bone marrow transplantation remains the “coolest thing in medicine” and the focus of his career. “I do bone marrow transplantation …
USC trains biotech leaders, thanks to state stem cell funding
To accelerate stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has always recognized the need to educate and train a scientific workforce. Since 2006, …
Guided by COMPASS, USC undergraduates navigate stem cell research at inaugural symposium
Thirty undergraduates gathered to share their research at the first year-end symposium for USC CIRM COMPASS, a comprehensive two-year program designed to prepare juniors and seniors for careers in stem cell biology …
Meet the nine scholarship winners in USC’s stem cell master’s program
This year, philanthropic giving supported scholarships for nine students in USC’s master of science (MS) program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. Launched in 2014 as one of the only programs …
Getting lost in translation—the clinical kind—at USC’s stem cell retreat
At the retreat for USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, newly appointed leader Chuck Murry shared a vision as sweeping as the panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean from …
Gage Crump receives the 2025 USC Provost Mentoring Award
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 …
USC Stem Cell mouse study identifies shared genes involved in hearing and vision regeneration
The same genes could hold the key to regenerating cells in the ear and eye, according to a new mouse study from the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Ksenia Gnedeva, published in …
How to clear the toxic tau protein that can lead to Alzheimer’s and related diseases
USC Stem Cell scientists discover a new way to rid cells of toxic tau protein in a study involving mice and lab-grown human “mini-brains,” known as organoids. The neurotransmitter glutamate is essential …