By Hope Hamashige

Helen Hislop

Helen Hislop, PhD, a pioneering former chair of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, a division at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, died on Nov. 15 in North Carolina at the age of 84. Hislop spent 30 years at USC, heading the division from 1975 to 1998.

In a message to colleagues at USC, James Gordon, EdD, current chair of the division, wrote, “More than anyone, she was responsible for the growth of our research programs, the formation of our clinical programs, and the excellence of our education programs. She was a true visionary, and she is recognized as a giant in the physical therapy profession. Every physical therapist, not just those of us at USC, benefits from her legacy.” … Read More »

By Alison Trinidad

For the first time, scientists and engineers have identified a critical cancer-causing component in the virus that causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, the most common cancer among HIV-infected people. The discovery lays the foundation for developing drugs that prevent Kaposi’s sarcoma and other related cancers.

“The mechanism behind the Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) that causes healthy cells to become malignant is not well understood despite two decades of intensive studies,” said S. J. Gao, PhD, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and principal investigator of the study. “This is the first time that a viral factor has been shown to be required for KSHV-induced malignant transformation. We have identified a mechanism by which these tiny viral molecules cause the cells to become malignant.”

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By Paul Karon

A public education program that trained and fielded a cadre of health mentors in California significantly boosted Latino residents’ knowledge of everything from cholesterol and diabetes to the importance of nutrition and exercise, a USC study showed.

The study, by the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI), showed that specially trained “promotoras” — community members who act as health-oriented helpers and liaisons to their neighbors and communities — were effective at communicating key health information. … Read More »

Above, the USC Trojan Marching Band plays at the event, held at the USC Galen Center.
Photo/Leslie Ridgeway

The USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI) launched its Saturday Academy on Jan. 18, expanding to include nearly 100 sixth graders who live near the Health Sciences Campus.

The NAI is a seven-year enrichment program preparing low-income, minority students living in neighborhoods surrounding USC’s campuses for success at a college or university. The kickoff event gave students and parents a chance to meet with NAI alumni, who spoke to the students about their experiences with the program and described how it helped them succeed in higher education. … Read More »

U.S. News & World Report ranks many of our excellent clinical departments among the top programs in the country. These rankings are an important marker that communicates the high quality of our patient care and medical research to the public.

Each program’s reputation among physicians is a vital component of scoring. In previous years, U.S. News sent its survey to a small group of board-certified specialists across the country. This year, U.S. News has announced it will expand the survey to reach 50,000 board-certified physicians using an online voting process through Doximity, a new online physician network. … Read More »

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By Leslie Ridgeway

Shaul G. Massry (left) presents Keck School of Medicine Dean Carmen A. Puliafito with a check to support the Fifth-Year Research Scholars program.
Photo/Amy Hamaker

With a goal of helping young researchers launch their careers, the Meira and Shaul G. Massry Foundation has provided a $175,000 gift to the Keck School of Medicine of USC Dean’s Fifth-Year Research Scholars program.

With this gift, seven fourth-year medical students have the opportunity to focus on research projects for a year after graduation from medical school.

Fifth-year scholars receive a stipend of $25,000 each to continue their research. The $175,000 gift is $75,000 more than last year’s gift, giving three more students an opportunity for support.

“I believe that a student who has finished four years of medical school and is ready to postpone his or her career is motivated to be a scientist, and that’s critical,” said Shaul Massry, MD, professor emeritus of medicine, physiology and biophysics at the Keck School and president of the Massry Foundation. … Read More »

Paul Macklin, assistant professor of research, will speak at the American Association for the Advancement of Science ann

ual meeting, to be held Feb. 13-17 in Chicago. As part of a discussion on “big data” — data sets so large and complex that they become difficult to process using traditional applications — Macklin will present his talk, “Integrating Next-Generation Computational Models of Cancer Progression and Outcome.”

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By Amy E. Hamaker

Don’t wear stilettos. Cultivate “om” in the office. Know your grocer. Smile.

David Agus, professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito discuss the rules for living a healthy life during a recent lecture in the Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer series.
Photo/Jon Nalick

These topics aren’t just good advice for living a happier life, but also a healthier one, according to David Agus, MD, professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Agus and Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA discussed Agus’ new book A Short Guide to a Long Life as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Jan. 15 in Mayer Auditorium.

The 208-page book groups 65 rules into two chapters titled “What to Do” and “What to Avoid,” followed by a chapter titled “Doctor’s Orders,” which offers advice on how to care for your health in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond. The book recently sold out of its third printing, and is on the New York Times best-seller list.

Agus explained the differences between his first book, The End of Illness, and his new book. “The End of Illness was really a science book,” noted Agus. “This is more of a how-to book. I wanted to appeal to people who don’t know what to do to prevent disease.” … Read More »

The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation has selected the Keck School of Medicine of USC to host the 2014 Lasker Lectures featuring recipients of the 2013 Lasker Awards.

The Lasker Awards — among the most respected and coveted science prizes in the world — are given each year by the foundation for outstanding basic and clinical medical research discoveries and for lifetime contributions to medical science. The awards, which carry an honorarium of $250,000 in each category, were presented on Sept. 20, 2013, in New York City. … Read More »

By Amy E. Hamaker

The new Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator uses sophisticated imaging and respiration synchronization tools to visualize soft tissue during treatment and make changes accordingly.
Photo/Ryan Ball

In the fight to make cancer a disease of the past, Keck Medicine of USC has a new weapon. The Department of Radiation Oncology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC recently received a new Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator.

Used to perform external beam radiation treatments for patients who have cancer, linear accelerators deliver high-energy X-rays to the area of a patient’s tumor, destroying cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact. The new linear accelerator allows Keck Medicine of USC to offer the most cutting-edge intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) techniques available.

The system uses sophisticated imaging and respiration synchronization tools to visualize soft tissue during treatment and make changes accordingly. Its high-definition, multi-leaf collimator narrows the radiation beam with precision and allows physicians to provide larger doses of radiation to smaller places accurately. Treatment times are much faster. SBRT also will allow some patients, who would normally require a standard course of 30 to 40 radiation therapy treatments, to be treated in five or fewer treatments. … Read More »

By Ryan Ball

The Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Department of Surgery was recently awarded a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to join the Cardiothoracic Surgery Trials Network. The consortium of sites throughout the United States and Canada has been charged with the mission to develop, coordinate and conduct collaborative, proof-of-concept studies and interventional protocols to improve cardiovascular disease outcomes.

The grant money will provide infrastructure support over a five-year period as USC operates as one of the core sites in the network. Michael Bowdish, MD, assistant professor of surgery and director of the Keck School’s mechanical circulatory support program, serves as the principal investigator for the USC site. Bowdish will work with the other nine centers’ steering committees to decide which trials will be performed. The centers will then conduct the same four or five trials, working collaboratively from design to analysis of results and the publishing of papers. … Read More »

The Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC has launched the new division of oral and maxillofacial surgery, which will provide students, residents and faculty of the Ostrow School access to unique educational, clinical and research opportunities in the field.

Announced by Ostrow School Dean Avishai Sadan, DMD, in November 2013, the division will encompass educational activities related to the Ostrow Advanced Program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, located at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, and the Oral Surgery Clinic, located in the Norris Dental Science Center. … Read More »

USC names Jonathan Samet USC President C. L. Max Nikias has named Jonathan Samet, MD, MS, the Flora L. Thornton Distinguished Chair of Preventive Medicine and chair and professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, … Read More »

By Leslie Ridgeway

New research to slow vision loss for macular degeneration patients has been funded at Keck Medicine of USC as part of the third round of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine’s (CIRM) Disease Team awards.

The nearly $19 … Read More »

By Jen Waters

Occupational therapy student Donna Ozawa runs a circular saw to construct a wheelchair ramp for a classmate.
Photo/Photo/Courtesy Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy

To many, do-it-yourself renovation projects can be a costly headache waiting to happen. But for occupational therapy student Donna Ozawa, it’s a real passion.

Ozawa has two decades of experience in disciplines including sculpture, design and wheelchair engineering. She received an executive certificate in home modification from the USC Davis School of Gerontology in 2012, and has worked with several professional and volunteer organizations to adapt home spaces to better fit residents’ needs.

Now a student in USC’s occupational therapy master’s class of 2015, Ozawa is pursuing a career that will allow her to seamlessly combine her experiences and interests to help people lead healthier, happier lives in their residences.

The purpose of home modification projects — such as placing non-slip backing under floor rugs, installing grab bars for easy shower entry and exit, or retrofitting entire houses to be wheelchair accessible — is to make tasks easier, reduce in-home accidents and support independent living. … Read More »

By Cristy Lytal

Valter Longo

Valter Longo, PhD, is out to prove that gerontology is a young man’s game. The 46-year-old USC professor of gerontology and biological sciences has dedicated his career to slowing the implacable process of aging.

Growing up in Genoa, Italy, Longo spent countless hours emulating the guitar stylings of rock legends Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits. At age 16, he moved to Chicago to take jazz guitar lessons before heading to the University of North Texas to continue his studies.

During his second year of college as a music major, Longo was tapped to direct the marching band. As his music sensibilities were deeply rooted in rock, he refused, and the music department told him to find a different major. “Without hesitation, I said, ‘I want to learn about aging,’” he said.

After receiving his PhD in biochemistry at UCLA, Longo decided to take a molecular approach to aging, so he joined the UCLA labs of chemist Joan S. Valentine, PhD, and geneticist Edith B. Gralla, PhD. … Read More »

By Alison Trinidad

On Dec. 18, 2013, Keck Medicine of USC became the world’s first medical center to surgically implant a responsive brain device newly approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat epilepsy, with the potential to help millions of people worldwide.

The device, manufactured by NeuroPace Inc., detects and then directly responds to abnormal brain activity to prevent seizures before they occur. In a three-hour surgery, USC faculty physicians implanted the device in a 28-year-old Lakewood, Calif., woman who was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2004.

Kathleen Rivas, an aspiring journalist who sought care from the university’s student health center in 2009 while earning her master’s degree elected to have the implant because medication had not fully controlled her seizures. Over the next few months, her doctors will program the device to detect specific brain activity indicative of a seizure’s onset. … Read More »

By Ellin Kavanagh and Cristy Lytal

With the launch of the Translational Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (TBIL), investigators at USC and The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles moved medical science closer to a day when diseases can be detected before symptoms appear.

TBIL is a unique, interdisciplinary collaboration that combines dynamic equipment, including state-of-the-art microscopes for imaging living specimens and whole organs, with an intellectual infrastructure of optical physicists, computer scientists, translational researchers and clinicians. … Read More »