Current Courses

BISC 486 From Development to Regenerative Medicine

Instructor: Andrew P. McMahon, PhD, FRS
This course focuses on general mechanistic principles that underpin development, maintenance and repair of body systems from worms to man. We will discuss critical experimental studies that frame the current view of animal organization, and the application of knowledge-gained to the goals of regenerative medicine. Lectures will be supplemented with a study of groundbreaking papers from the primary literature.

MEDS 335 Human Development: From Stem to Sternum

Instructors: Neil Segil, PhD, and Senta Georgia, PhD
An introduction to transformation of a single cell into a mature organism. This course will introduce you to some of the fundamental biological processes that go into the development of organisms with an emphasis on the development of the human body. In this context, we will also discuss the origin of birth defects, and the role of the environment in influencing embryonic development.

MEDS 380 Stem Cells: Fact and Fiction

Instructor: Gage Crump, PhD
This course discusses how stem cells and regenerative medicine have been portrayed in culture, the scientific underpinnings of what is currently possible, and visions into the future of this field. Many concepts that were strictly in the realm of science fiction have now become, or are on the verge of becoming, reality. We will explore bringing extinct animals back to life, conceiving embryos with three biological parents, and imagining a brave new future that currently only exists in literature, film and media.

Stem Cell Courses at the USC Roski School of Art and Design: Advanced Drawing, Advanced Ceramics, Special Project and Design, Art and Technology

Instructors: Faculty from USC Roski
USC Stem Cell is partnering with the USC Roski School of Art and Design to bring art students into its laboratories. While scientists improve their ability to communicate with non-scientists, art students learn the beauty of science through hands-on research, creating stem cell-inspired works of art to cap their experience. To date, art students have produced a series of sculptures, paintings, animation and design installations inspired by USC’s stem cell research center.

Past courses

ENGR 499 Microscope Design and Construction

Instructor: Seth Ruffins, PhD
This special one-time offering brought together a small cross-disciplinary team of undergraduate students from USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering to build a state-of-the-art optical project tomography microscope for imaging biological samples. Students participated in all aspects of the microscope design, construction and verification, and learned how to work as members of a professional team. The advanced 3D microscope is now integrated into the USC stem cell research center’s Microscopy Core Facility, where it enables stem cell researchers to better understand gene expression and tissue morphology.