USC Stem Cell

02/17/2026

Take a journey into the world of stem cell biology with our Masters program at USC! Our application portal is open! If you would like to learn more, please register for our INFO SESSION on Feb. 20, by clicking here: bit.ly/3JqJJUu.

02/04/2026

01/28/2026

“Where I am now is ‘give-back’ time,” the Half Century Trojan says.

01/16/2026

Dean's POV 📸 I'm blown away by this photo of a lab-grown human kidney assembloid, and was thrilled to hear it was selected by Nature as Image of the Year.

Scientists from the Li Lab at USC Stem Cell combined kidney filtering and urine-concentrating components to create “assembloids,” the most mature and complex kidney structures ever grown in a lab and a tool for developing new therapies. Incredible!

(Image by Pedro Medina/Li Lab/USC Stem Cell)

01/13/2026

Can stem cells build artificial kidneys? Dr. Nils Lindstrom, an assistant professor for the Department of USC Stem Cell at Keck School of Medicine of USC, breaks it down.

12/30/2025

CAR T-cell therapy works remarkably well in the bloodstream, where rogue cancer cells are exposed and easily targeted. However, solid tumors are another story. They hide deep in tissue, shielded by a microenvironment fortress of healthy cells. Every tumor is different, making it hard to find a single flag that marks cancer cells without causing damage to healthy ones.

Dr. Peter Yingxiao Wang and his team found a creative way around this biological camouflage. By using focused ultrasound (FUS), the same gentle sound waves used in medical imaging, they discovered they could mechanically prompt cancer cells to express a specific protein on their surface.

That protein, known as CD19, acts as a bullseye for CAR T-cells, which are designed to hunt down and kill any cell displaying it. Once the CAR T-cells are activated, they don’t stop there, they also go after the neighboring cancer cells within the tumor region.

Learn more here:

New research from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering harnesses focused ultrasound to reprogram solid tumors, making them more effective targets for immune cells.

12/23/2025

Take a journey into the world of stem cell biology with our Masters program at USC! Our application portal is open! If you would like to learn more, please register for our INFO SESSIONS Jan.9 and Feb. 20, HERE: bit.ly/3JqJJUu.

12/19/2025

Researchers at USC Roski Eye Institute, part of Keck Medicine of USC, are launching a phase 2b clinical trial examining if stem cells bioengineered to replace failing cells in the retina damaged by macular degeneration could restore eyesight. Learn more: https://news.keckmedicine.org/can-a-retinal-implant-reverse-macular-degeneration/.

LOS ANGELES — Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss and blindness for Americans 65 and older, is a progressive disease affecting central vision. Over time, faces, book pages and anything directly in front of a person become obscured by blurry, dark or blind spots.Now, ...

12/17/2025

A little holiday cheer with the Department of Stem Cell at the Keck School of Medicine of USC🎄 From Habit food truck favorites to a gingerbread house–making competition, it was a sweet way to celebrate the season together.

12/04/2025

USC Stem Cell’s Chuck Murry shows heart for local third-graders through the medical and cancer STEM programs! Check out some highlight below and read the full story here: https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/chuck-murry-shows-heart-for-local-third-graders-through-the-medical-and-cancer-stem-programs/.

11/26/2025

Dean Meltzer, we truly appreciate you!

This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for:

‣Students asking tough questions that even seasoned faculty have to think about

‣Laughter during stressful times

‣Researchers who celebrate both breakthroughs and failed experiments, because both move science forward

‣Faculty who are excited about teaching (and learning from!) their students

‣The joy that comes from our wonderful community partnerships

‣A patient who shares how their Keck care made all the difference

‣The simple fact that the work we do matters. . . every day

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

—Dean Carolyn Meltzer, MD

11/25/2025

What can we learn from people who live for 30-40 years with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons. The Ichida Lab is doing research in ALS to find out.