Birds of a feather flock together for stem cell research

By Robin Heffler

The cellular and molecular composition of feathers can be experimentally manipulated to test the hypothesis that certain molecular components may enhance or suppress pigment differentiation. The cellular and molecular composition of feathers can be experimentally manipulated to test the hypothesis that certain molecular components may enhance or suppress pigment differentiation.

To eventually use stem cells in regenerative medicine, scientists need to understand how stem cells become organized into particular tissue patterns and shapes. With that in mind, researchers at USC recently found clues by studying the cellular and molecular basis of complex pigment patterns in bird feathers.

Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers uncovered several fundamental rules of morphogenesis ─ the organizational process of functional cellular patterning. Their study appeared on April 25 in Science Express, the online version of the journal Science.

“Feathers are a good research model because they are unique, able to regenerate repetitively under normal conditions and are positioned at the surface of the body so that we can see their patterns,” said Cheng-Ming Chuong, the study’s team leader and professor of pathology at the Keck School. “Therefore their cellular and molecular composition can be experimentally manipulated to test the hypothesis that certain molecular components may enhance or suppress pigment differentiation.” … Read More »

June 28th, 2013|Announcements|

USC study charts exercise for stroke patients’ brains

By Robert Perkins

A new study has found that stroke patients’ brains show strong cortical motor activity when observing others performing physical tasks — a finding that offers new insight into stroke rehabilitation.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a team of researchers from USC monitored the brains of 24 individuals — 12 who had suffered strokes and 12 age-matched people who had not — as they watched others performing actions made using the arm and hand that would be difficult for a person who can no longer use their arm due to stroke — actions such as lifting a pencil or flipping a card. … Read More »

June 28th, 2013|Announcements|

YouTube inspires cross-country trek for pharmacy student

By Alexis Young

PharmD candidate Cedona Watts is researching gene expression and translocation at the Center for Cancer Research in Bethesda, Md. Photo/Lillian Insalata PharmD candidate Cedona Watts is researching gene expression and translocation at the Center for Cancer Research in Bethesda, Md.
Photo/Lillian Insalata

After watching a YouTube video about the USC School of Pharmacy, Cedona Watts was convinced that she should leave her hometown of Huntsville, Ala., and head west to Trojan town. Now entering her fourth year as a PharmD candidate, Watts credits her USC education for the multitude of fellowships, scholarships and awards she’s received.

“That one YouTube video really inspired me,” said Watts, who graduated from the University of Alabama with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and biological sciences. “I saw the dean and the different faculty in the video. Their message was to increase diversity within the pharmacy profession, and the other important things were the opportunities to do research and dual degrees.” … Read More »

June 28th, 2013|Announcements|

More than 1,000 flock to learn ‘sidewalk CPR’

In honor of National CPR Week, the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency offered a countywide CPR training program to the greater Los Angeles Area. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

Pfizer and USC team up to create a new R&D partnership

By Amy E. Hamaker

A significant number of drugs originate in the academic medical community, but progress toward translating new pharmaceutical breakthroughs to the clinic is often slow and prohibitively expensive.

Research suggests that since the early 1980s, the number of Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs has stayed the same, while investments in research have increased from $5 billion to $35 billion. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

Analyze This!

A team of graduate students from the Keck School of Medicine Department of Preventive Medicine’s Health Behavior Research PhD Program recently won the Sloboda Bukoski Cup competition at the Society for Prevention Research conference. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

50-Year Fellows visit campus that has changed much since 1963

By Josh Grossberg

Tuition was a few thousand dollars. The campus was dotted with open fields. There were a handful of women students.

A lot has changed since Robert Ouwendijk graduated from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. But one thing hasn’t — the camaraderie he shared with his fellow members of the Class of 1963.

Fifty years later, on May 31, he joined many of his classmates for induction as a 50-Year Fellow, a distinction that is bestowed only on former students who graduated at least 50 years ago. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

Common genetic disease linked to father’s age

By Robert Perkins

Scientists at USC have unlocked the mystery of why new cases of the genetic disease Noonan Syndrome are so common: a mutation that causes the disease disproportionately increases a normal father’s production of sperm carrying the disease trait.

When this Noonan syndrome mutation arises in a normal sperm stem cell, it makes that cell more likely to reproduce itself than stem cells lacking the mutation. The father then is more likely to have an affected child because more mutant stem cells result in more mutant sperm. The longer the man waits to have children the greater the chance of having a child with Noonan syndrome. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

New USC research points to prospective avenue of treatment for Alzheimer’s patients

By Sara Reeve

A USC team of scientists has published research that highlights a new potential therapeutic agent for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have found that a mutant protein helps to bind amyloid beta peptide in the brain more efficiently than a wild type — or naturally occurring — version. Amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) is a primary component of amyloid plaques — deposits found in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients — and most researchers believe it plays a central role in the development of Alzheimer’s.  … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

Keck Medical Center program doles out $250,000 in community grants

By Josh Grossberg

Although it is not even a year old, the Community Grants and Sponsorship Program of Keck Medical Center of USC is already making its presence felt.

In the fiscal year ending July 1, the department has given out $250,000 in grants and $25,000 in sponsorships, according to Sevanne Sarkis, administrative director of community benefit and outreach for the medical center. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

Keck School of Medicine of USC launches NIH-funded study to improve treatment for pre-diabetes and early type 2 diabetes

The Keck School of Medicine is looking for volunteers to take part in a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial, the BetaFat Study, to improve and preserve the production of insulin in people with prediabetes or recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

CHLA earns back-to-back top five rankings in the U.S. News & World Report survey

By Lorenzo Benet

For the fifth year in a row, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named to the elite Honor Roll of the nation’s “best” children’s hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report rankings released online June 11.

Staffed by faculty from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the hospital is often referred to as USC’s third campus. It is one of only 10 children’s hospitals in the country and the only West Coast pediatric medical center to make the list. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles also secured a fifth place overall national ranking, repeating its placement from last year’s survey. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

What It Means to Be a Trojan

By Pamela J. Johnson

USC honored undergraduates, graduate students and teaching assistants — including four from the health sciences — for their volunteer work at the annual USC Community Service Awards Dinner, held April 16 at Town and Gown on the University Park Campus.

Health sciences honorees included Conan Teng of Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC; Jane Desmond and Kendra King Treichler of USC Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy; and Amanda Wong of the USC School of Pharmacy. … Read More »

June 24th, 2013|Announcements|

Keck Medical Center implements new EMR system

By Josh Grossberg

With hands-on training of a new electronic medical record system well underway, Keck Medical Center of USC is a step closer to eliminating most paperwork, as well as improving patient experience.

Several years in the works, KeckCare is now being implemented at Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital. … Read More »

June 21st, 2013|Announcements|

Keck School alumnus Mitchell Lew named USC trustee

By Annette Moore

Mitchell W. Lew Photo/Dietmar Quistdorf Mitchell W. Lew
Photo/Dietmar Quistdorf

Physician, health care entrepreneur and longtime USC volunteer Mitchell W. Lew has been elected to the USC Board of Trustees. Lew is CEO of Prospect Medical Systems, an independent physician association with a network of primary care physicians, specialists and affiliated hospitals throughout Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

In May 2012, Lew became the first Asian-American president of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors. Previously, he served as president of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association (APAA) from 2009 to 2011. … Read More »

June 21st, 2013|Announcements|

Gift of $90,000 makes the little things possible

By Amy E. Hamaker

The little things are what the Office of Patient and Family Experience at the Keck Medical Center of USC is all about.

The Patient Experience team welcomes and visits every patient within 24 hours of admission. During these visits, the staff answers any questions the patients or family members may have, checks on issues like staff responsiveness and room cleanliness, and makes sure that patients and their families feel cared for at USC’s hospitals. These initial connections help foster communication and trust between patients, their families and their medical care teams. … Read More »

June 21st, 2013|Announcements|

Physician departures reflect well on Keck faculty strength

By Josh Grossberg

Showing that the reputation of the Keck School of Medicine of USC is well regarded in the national medical community, three top doctors in their fields have been recruited for prestigious chairmanships at other institutions.

On July 1, Anthony Senagore will be leaving his position as professor in the Keck School and chief of colorectal surgery at Keck Medical Center of USC to accept a tenured position as chair of Surgical Disciplines at Central Michigan University School of Medicine.

Rohit Varma left his position as associate professor of ophthalmology and has accepted the chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

And Eila Skinner has left her post as associate professor of clinical urology to become chair of the Department of Urology at the Stanford School of Medicine. … Read More »

June 21st, 2013|Announcements|

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center 40th anniversary

As USC celebrates the 40th anniversary of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Weekly will run in each issue through the end of the year items highlighting key moments in the history of the institution.

On May 10, 1979, ground is broken for the new site of the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Research Institute. At the time, the effort was described as the “largest building project in the 99-year history of the University.” … Read More »

June 21st, 2013|Announcements|

Students present research at annual MD/PhD symposium

By Sara Reeve

As Tom Buchanan, vice dean for research of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, welcomed the room full of MD/PhD candidates to the annual USC-Caltech MD/PhD symposium, he had a very simple message — doing good science will make you happy.

“To me, at its core, science is fun,” he stated. “There are incredibly complicated structures in the world out there, and as a scientist, you get to figure out how the world works. … And medicine at its core is a real opportunity to do good for society. With an MD/PhD, you can make a difference in the way medicine is practiced. You can have an impact on a very large number of people while doing science, and I can’t think of a better thing than that.” … Read More »

June 21st, 2013|Announcements|

Research points to prospective treatment for Alzheimer’s patients

By Sara Reeve

A USC team of scientists has published research that highlights a new potential therapeutic agent for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have found that a mutant protein helps to bind amyloid beta peptide in the brain more efficiently than a wild type — or naturally occurring — version. Amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) is a primary component of amyloid plaques — deposits found in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients — and most researchers believe it plays a central role in the development of Alzheimer’s. … Read More »

June 21st, 2013|Announcements|