Yang Chai, DDS, PhDUniversity Professor and George and MaryLou Boone Chair in Craniofacial Molecular Biology; University Professor, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine; Director, Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology; Associate Dean of Research, Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC ychai@usc.edu

Dr. Chai’s laboratory is interested in early craniofacial development and malformations, including the molecular regulation of cranial neural crest cells. His laboratory has developed genetically engineered mouse models, and has made important discoveries about the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) niche in the craniofacial region and about utilizing MSCs with 3D printed scaffolds for tissue regeneration.

Stories

USC researchers move one step closer to natural tooth restorations

Posted April 28, 2015

A rodent’s incisors never stop growing. It’s one of the reasons mice gnaw through cupboards, hamsters chomp mindlessly on metal cage bars and rats will chew through, well, just about anything. They …

Discovery could lead to biological treatment for common birth defect

Posted March 24, 2015

Throughout every human and animal’s body, stem cell populations are responsible for the growth, regeneration and repair of tissues. While the power of some types of stem cells is already being used …

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

USC Stem Cell Symposium creates scientific synergy

Posted January 22, 2015

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 …

“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

Posted November 20, 2014

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 …

Human skull with sutures (Public domain image courtesy of Gray's Anatomy)

USC, UCLA and UCSF put their heads together to find stem cell-based cures for craniofacial defects

Posted July 17, 2014

One in every 2,000 babies is born with a skull that can’t grow normally. Various sections of these babies’ skulls are fused together at joints called sutures, constricting the developing brain and …

The inferior alveolar nerve provides a niche for stem cells that maintain incisor homeostasis. When the nerve is severed, homeostasis is disrupted and within one month the affected incisor becomes chalky and breaks. (Photos/courtesy of Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology)

Dental study provides wealth of stem cell details

Posted February 6, 2014

An Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study has uncovered new details on how bundles of nerves and arteries interact with stem cells and also showcases revolutionary techniques for following the cells …

A series of mouse skulls (Image by Hu Zhao)

Winner of the December 2013 USC Stem Cell Image of the Month Contest

Posted December 11, 2013

Dr. Andy McMahon and the judges of the USC Stem Cell Image of the Month contest would like to congratulate our December 2013 winner, Dr. Hu Zhao, DDS, PhD, a research associate …

Keynote speaker Clive Svendsen (right) and Director Andy McMahon

A Retreat from everything but stem cells

Posted November 7, 2013

It wasn’t the pristine 27-hole course that drew more than 120 stem cell researchers from USC and beyond to the Desert Princess Golf Resort near Palm Springs. It was the sixth annual …

Ostrow School study links growth factor glitch to tongue defects

Posted September 12, 2013

New findings about how cell signaling directs tongue development may have big clinical applications for healing tongue defects, according to an Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study published in The Journal …