Countdown to Commencement: Mohamed El-Farra pursues holistic and humanistic medicine
For Mohamed El-Farra, medicine does not stop at the disease or the injury.
Researchers test stem cell–based retinal implant for common cause of vision loss with encouraging results
Physicians and researchers at the USC Roski Eye Institute have collaborated with other California institutions to show that a first-in-kind stem cell–based retinal implant is feasible for use in people with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration.
At USC’s Junior Faculty Mini-Symposium, stem cell scientists build to understand
When physicist Richard Feynman died in 1988, he left a message scrawled across his chalkboard: “What I cannot create, I do not understand.”
A Zika surprise: African strain can do more damage than Asian strain
The Zika virus has spread to 44 countries, with thousands infected and thousands of babies born with microcephaly, a rare complication that causes small heads. But even though research dollars are being poured into understanding the virus, there are still numerous outstanding questions. USC Assistant Professor Jianfu Chen is working to answer some of the persistent questions about the virus.
Never accept a kidney donation from a mouse
Researchers are hard at work building mini-kidneys from human cells — using blueprints mostly drawn from lab mice. But mouse kidneys differ from their human counterparts in more than mere scale, as detailed by the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Andy McMahon in three studies in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
The toxic relationship between ALS and frontotemporal dementia
In the study, Yingxiao TK Shi and Shaoyu Sebastian Lin in the laboratory of Justin Ichida describe how a mutation in a gene, called C9ORF72, leads to toxicity in nerve cells—causing 10 percent of all cases of ALS, and an additional 10 percent of FTD.
Small molecule could make a big difference for arthritis patients
When RCGD 423 was applied to joint cartilage cells in the laboratory, the cells proliferated more and died less, and when injected into the knees of rats with damaged cartilage, the animals could more effectively heal their injuries.
USC professor Malcolm Snead elected to AIMBE College of Fellows
Malcolm Snead, a professor at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC and a principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.
USC Stem Cell scientists chew on the mysteries of jaw development
Scientists in the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Gage Crump have revealed how key genes guide the development of the jaw in zebrafish. These findings may offer clues for understanding craniofacial anomalies in human patients.