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The Evseenko Lab research program is designed to form a bridge between basic studies of early embryogenesis, stem cell biology, and the clinically relevant application of stem cell and small molecule-based therapies for degenerative joint disease known as osteoarthritis as well as chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases of the joint such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Stories

National Academy of Inventors elects four Keck School of Medicine of USC faculty as senior members

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI), a nonprofit member organization that encourages inventors in higher education, has announced that four researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC are part of …

Building an Incubator for Medicine of the 21st Century

Building an Incubator for Medicine of the 21st Century

USC Stem Cell is pleased to introduce our new publication. We hope you’ll enjoy reflecting back on our history, while looking ahead to the transformative times to come. Read now at https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/wp-content/themes/stemcell/incubator.

(Image courtesy of iStock)

For dogs with arthritis, pet pain relief effort could be a game-changer

A USC researcher is launching a biopharmaceutical startup with backing from the university to develop a drug to slow premature aging and arthritis — in dogs. Denis Evseenko, a professor of orthopedic …

From left, Denis Evseenko and Jay Lieberman (Photo by Sergio Bianco)

Potential relief for osteoarthritis moves to clinical trial after animal studies

A team of researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have found a drug with the potential for curbing painful hyperinflammation from osteoarthritis, according to results of an animal study. …

DNA (Image by Christoph Bock/Max Planck Institute for Informatics)

How to rewind the clock on arthritic cartilage … stat!

A new study in Aging Cell describes how a key protein, called Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3), might turn back the clock on aging cartilage that leads to osteoarthritis. …

Kuo-Chang (Ted) Tseng from the Crump Lab and Michelle Hung from the Ichida Lab enjoy a beachside brainstorm.

Scientists feel the sand between their toes at the retreat for USC’s stem cell department

A pair of young scientists picked up a piece of driftwood and thoughtfully traced a series of letters in the wet sand of Ventura Beach. The word “microglia”—referring to the immune cells …

Spine from a healthy mouse (left) and a mouse with genetically disrupted cartilage progenitor cells (Image by Dawei Geng and Tea Jashashvili)

Arthritis-related gene also regenerates cartilage in joints and growth plates

The IL-6 family of proteins has a bad reputation: it can promote inflammation, arthritis, autoimmune disease and even cancer. However, a new USC-led study published in Communications Biology reveals the importance of …

Frank Petrigliano, MD, and Denis Evseenko, MD, PhD, have been collaborating on medical innovations to help heal and even regenerate damaged joints. (Photo/Ricardo Carrasco III)

Stopping arthritis before it starts

A novel off-the-shelf bio-implant containing embryonic stem cells has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of cartilage injuries More than a million Americans undergo knee and hip replacements each year. It’s a …

Students

California’s stem cell agency awards USC $5 million to train scientists and clinicians

USC has been awarded a $5 million training grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to prepare PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical fellows for careers in stem cell research. …

Osteoblasts

Broad Clinical Fellows take a stem cell-based approach to liver disease and bone loss

This year’s Broad Clinical Research Fellows are developing stem cell-based approaches for patients of all ages—from two-week-old infants with liver disease, to senior citizens with bone loss following joint replacement surgeries. Since …

USC Stem Cell PhD Student Ruzanna “Rose” Shkhyan works to end inflamm-aging

USC PhD student Ruzanna “Rose” Shkhyan has gotten a first-hand look at how stem cell discoveries can lead to clinical trials. As member of the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Denis Evseenko, …

USC's stem cell research center

California’s biggest stem cell experiment: The impact of the stem cell ballot proposition at USC

In 2008, USC broke ground on an $80 million building dedicated solely to stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The plans called for a monolithic structure clad in black marble and reflective …

Knee pain

Significantly less addictive opioid may slow progression of osteoarthritis while easing pain

A novel preclinical study by Keck Medicine of USC researchers, published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, reveals that a potential new opioid medication may have the ability to slow the progression of osteoarthritis …

SARS-CoV-2

USC Stem Cell scientists use “mini-lungs” and lung models to understand COVID-19

USC scientists are testing out experimental COVID-19 treatments on human “mini-lungs” and lung models, grown in the laboratory using stem cells. With names such as organoids and lung-chips, these simplified, lung-like structures …

Frank Petrigliano, MD, and Denis Evseenko, MD, PhD, have been collaborating on medical innovations to help heal and even regenerate damaged joints. (Photo/Ricardo Carrasco III)

Sports medicine innovations are helping weekend warriors stay in the game

Call them recreational athletes. Couch-to-5K joggers. Weekend warriors. Whichever name you use, they’re the ones who wait all week to hit the soccer field, basketball court or running trail on Saturday morning. They’re …

Denis Evseenko (Photo by Chris Shinn)

From babies to senior citizens, USC Stem Cell researcher Denis Evseenko is working for better outcomes

When Denis Evseenko was still a student at Novosibirsk State Medical University in southern Siberia, he began pondering the meaning of life. “I was reading a lot of philosophic things [saying that] …

Denis Evseenko (Image by Chris Shinn)

NIH awards USC Stem Cell scientist Denis Evseenko $1.69 million to study arthritis and aging

What causes joints to age, lose their regenerative capacity and succumb to arthritis, and how can we slow this process? To address these questions, the National Institutes of Health have awarded a …

Denis Evseenko leads a research team at CarthroniX that works on anti-inflammatory and regenerative drugs that may work against autoimmune disorders. (Photo by Chris Shinn)

Innovators of USC: University-affiliated entrepreneurs focus on autoimmune disease

Approximately 50 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease, according to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association. This includes the millions suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Researchers at USC have developed novel …

The Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Symposium sparked collaborations. (Photo by Sergio Bianco)

USC researchers converge at the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Symposium

“The field of stem cell biology is one of our great convergence opportunities,” said USC Provost Michael Quick, addressing an audience of biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers, clinicians and many others. This diverse …

Note to self (Photo by Sergio Bianco)

At the retreat for USC’s stem cell department, the students become the masters

Students and trainees took center stage at the annual retreat for USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. They presented their latest research to the 180 stem cell scientists who …

Denis Evseenko, MD, PhD