USC Stem Cell

09/03/2025

A Nature Communications paper from Nils Lindström's lab at USC Stem Cell and the Keck School of Medicine of USC identifies key molecular switches that generate distinct cell types within the kidney’s filtering units, or nephrons. The lab is getting closer to making therapeutic kidney cells on demand! https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/scientists-unlock-blueprint-for-lab-grown-kidney-cells/

07/24/2025

Meet USC CIRM Scholar Alumnus Alex Quiyu Guo, Senior Scientist for Discovery Biomarkers at Amgen. https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/cirm-scholar-alumni-alex-qiuyu-guo/

07/23/2025

Partnering with USC Stem Cell and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to train the next generation of leaders in stem cell research.

Since 2006, CIRM has supported 110 USC trainees including PhD students, postdocs, and clinical fellows, through $13.5M in funding. These scholars have gone on to drive innovation in academia, biotech, and patient care across California and beyond.

Together, we’re advancing science, shaping careers, and building the future of regenerative medicine.
https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/usc-trains-biotech-leaders-thanks-to-state-stem-cell-funding/

07/21/2025

The rib’s natural ability to regenerate bone declines with age, but a new study published in Aging Cell suggests that components from young circulation can partially rescue this lost healing potential. The study represents a collaboration between corresponding authors Luciana Yamamoto de Almeida and Janice S. Lee from NIH, a team of scientists from NIH and UCSF, and Francesca Mariani from USC Stem Cell.

Although the ribs are the only human bones capable of regenerating large-scale defects, this remarkable ability declines with skeletal maturity and age. Here, we reproduce skeletal maturity and age-r...

07/19/2025

Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar Alumna Joanna Smeeton, Assistant Professor at Columbia University. https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/cirm-scholar-alumni-joanna-smeeton/

07/09/2025

Meet USC CIRM Scholar Alumnus 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 developed an early fascination with molecular biology. He grew up in the city of Xinya...

07/09/2025

Meet USC CIRM Scholar Alumna Vivian Medina, Senior Manager of Digital and Data Analytics at Takeda, who pursues her career in science with the ultimate goal of helping people. https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/meet-cirm-scholar-alumni-vivian-medina/

07/08/2025

Meet USC CIRM Scholar Alumnus Maksim Plikus, a professor at the University of California Irvine who studies hair biology.

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 it to see if it could form a new hair follicle.“I squished it to bits, and it looked like soup,” said Plikus, wh...

07/03/2025

Congratulations to USC Stem Cell clinician-scientist Yang Chai, who has been named Dean of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC!

The school’s associate dean of research has been serving as interim dean.

07/02/2025

Meet USC’s CIRM Scholar alumna Suhasni Gopalakrishnan, Director at Allogene Therapeutics in San Francisco. Later this year, a product called ALLO-329, which she helped design and develop, will go into clinical trials for rheumatology disorders.

“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. Originally from Chennai in southern India, she grew up in a family of scientists and engineer...

06/30/2025

Following CIRM’s investment in his postdoctoral training at USC, clinician-scientist Noah Merin is not only saving lives, but also advancing the science that is improving bone marrow transplantation outcomes 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 to replace the immune system and the hematopoietic system of the recipient with t...

06/27/2025

$13.5 million from a CIRM Scholars program at USC Stem Cell has supported and will support 110 trainees, including PhD students, postdocs and clinical trainees. They've had an outsized impact on the biomedical field in California and beyond.

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. At USC, $13.5 million from a CIRM Scholars program has supported 81 trainees, including 38 Ph...