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|