USC President Nikias casts USC as trendsetting academic leader

By Amy E. Hamaker

USC President C. L. Max Nikias describes USC’s strengths and challenges at his annual address to the Health Sciences Campus faculty on Feb. 11. Photo?Tom DeSanto USC President C. L. Max Nikias describes USC’s strengths and challenges at his annual address to the Health Sciences Campus faculty on Feb. 11.
Photo/Tom DeSanto

The future of online education in higher learning, the global and local nature of university activities and the reintroduction of humanistic principles were topics touched on by USC President C. L. Max Nikias, PhD, in his address to Health Sciences Campus faculty on Feb. 11 at Aresty Auditorium.

Nikias discussed the changing face of higher learning, noting that online courses at USC are leading the way in terms of maintaining academic rigor and integrity. USC will not offer massively open university courses or online degrees for undergraduates, he said.

However, USC’s masters, executive and graduate programs will reach 7,600 students globall

y and bring in $123 million in revenue this year, a figure that is unprecedented for a top American research university.

Nikias expects that all USC schools will have some online offerings by next year, and hopes to double enrollment and degree offerings online over the next five years. … Read More »

February 21st, 2014|Announcements|

Exploring the connection between Alzheimer’s disease and stroke

By Shelby Roberts

Alzheimer’s disease is the No. 6 cause of death in the United States, and stroke is the No. 4 cause.

Helena Chui, MD, chair, Department of Neurology, Raymond and Betty McCarron Chair in Neurology, and professor of neurology and gerontology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, recently gave a presentation on Alzheimer’s disease and its relation to stroke on Nov. 6 as the sixth lecture in an ongoing Stroke Seminar Series at the Rio Hando Community Center in Downey, Calif. The event was hosted by the Roxanna Todd Hodges Stroke Foundation. … Read More »

December 24th, 2013|Announcements|

Top Trojan scientists converge at Neuroscience 2013

By Robert Perkins

Several key faculty members from USC presented the latest pioneering research in neuroscience at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting in San Diego in November.
More than 30,000 scientists and collaborators from 80 countries gathered for presentations by luminaries in the field, including USC’s Antonio Damasio, MD, PhD, Berislav Zlokovic, MD, PhD, and Dan Campbell, PhD. … Read More »

December 23rd, 2013|Announcements|

BEST OF THE WURST

Students, faculty and staff on the Health Sciences Campus were treated to German music and a feast of bratwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad, beer and pretzels to celebrate the coming of October — and the USC Good Neighbors Campaign. … Read More »

December 23rd, 2013|Announcements|

OT symposium convenes scholars of sensory integration research

By Mike McNulty

National experts on the sensory issues tied to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders exchanged their respective research at the 24th USC Occupational Science Symposium, which brought together dozens of leaders from across the country to assess the field and prioritize future research directions.

Hosted by the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and its Sensory Integration, Engagement and Family Program, more than 350 researchers, clinicians and educators attended the Nov. 7 event, titled “Sensory Integration at the Crossroads: Diverse Perspectives in Occupational Therapy Research.” … Read More »

December 23rd, 2013|Announcements|

USC researchers apply brainpower to understanding neural stem cell differentiation

By Cristy Lytal

How do humans and other mammals get so brainy? USC researcher Wange Lu, PhD, and his colleagues shed new light on this question in a paper published in Cell Reports on Oct. 24.

The researchers donned their thinking caps to explain how neural stem and progenitor cells differentiate into neurons and related cells called glia. Neurons transmit information through electrical and chemical signals; glia surround, support and protect neurons in the brain and throughout the nervous system. Glia do everything from holding neurons in place to supplying them with nutrients and oxygen, to protecting them from pathogens.

By studying early mouse embryo neural stem cells in a petri dish, Lu and his colleagues discovered that a protein called SMEK1 promotes the differentiation of neural stem and progenitor cells. At the same time, SMEK1 keeps these cells in check by suppressing their uncontrolled proliferation. … Read More »

December 23rd, 2013|Announcements|

Keck School Faculty Council discusses admissions, GME, research funding

By Amy E. Hamaker

The Keck School of Medicine of USC Faculty Council met in a Town Hall meeting on Oct. 15 at the Edmondson Faculty Center on the Health Sciences Campus to discuss medical recruitment, trends and financing in graduate medical education, research trends at the Keck School and faculty recruitment. … Read More »

December 23rd, 2013|Announcements|

Ostrow study illustrates how growth factor defect causes tongue malformation

By Beth Newcomb

New findings about how cell signaling directs tongue development may have big clinical applications for healing tongue defects, according to an Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Yang Chai, DDS, PhD, principal investigator of “Non-canonical transforming growth factor beta (TGFb) signaling in cranial neural crest cells causes tongue muscle developmental defects” and director of the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the Ostrow School of Dentistry, said the tongue is a unique, highly mobile muscular organ that many view as a “fifth limb.” When the tongue develops improperly or is damaged by injury or disease, it cannot regenerate on its own.

“The current standard of care is to repair the tongue surgically using a skin flap, but it doesn’t have the muscle components to move the tongue and lacks the ability to taste food,” explained Chai. “We want to understand how the tongue is formed and how we can use that knowledge to regenerate the tongue.” … Read More »

December 23rd, 2013|Announcements|

Six USC professors named fellows of AAAS

By Robert Perkins

Four scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of USC have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), selected for the honor by their academic peers.

AAAS, the world’s largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science, began the tradition of selecting fellows in 1874. The nonprofit organization has been around since 1848. … Read More »

December 19th, 2013|Announcements|

Call to Cure supports USC Norris through art auctions

Art is supporting science thanks to DreamWorks Animation. Once per month for the next year, DreamWorks artists are donating original works for auction on eBay in support of Call to Cure, an organization supporting colorectal cancer research at USC. … Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

Everything’s coming up roses at HSC

ROYAL VISIT For the 18th year, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade Royal Court visited the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center on Dec. 5 to spread holiday cheer among day-hospital patients and meet with faculty <span style=… Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

Everything’s coming up roses at HSC

DONATE LIFE Scott Evans, PharmD, MHA, CEO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, presents a rose on behalf of the hospitals’ organ transplant team to Alan Cochran, vice president of quality <span style=… Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

EPIGENETICS AND YOU

From left, Stephen Gruber, MD, MPH, director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center; Peter Jones, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Urology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; and Art Ulene, MD, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, author and speaker, <span style=… Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

USC researchers to grow organs to unlock cancer tumor development

By Leslie Ridgeway

Using three-dimensional organ creation, Keck Medicine of USC researchers aim to discover clues to metastatic cancer growth by developing a first-ever integrated bioengineered/computational model of metastatic colon cancer.

David B. Agus, MD, director of the USC Center for Applied Molecular Medicine and professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is the principal investigator of a $2.3 million, four-year “Provocative Questions” grant awarded recently by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The project title is “An Integrative Computational and Bioengineered Tissue Model of Metastasis.” … Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

Keck School Cell & Neurobiology chair receives AAMC teaching award

By Sara Reeve

For Mikel Snow, PhD, it’s an honor just to be nominated. The chair of the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Department of Cell & Neurobiology has received the 2013 Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

“I feel incredibly honored, even humbled by the magnitude of this award,” said Snow. “To be honest, I was deeply touched by the gesture of last year’s USC AOA [chapter] students who told me they would be nominating me. I do not think of myself in terms of anyone special, but rather someone who was fortunate to stumble into a teaching career that I happened to enjoy very much.” … Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

Keck Medicine and Operation Walk offered free joint replacements

By Amy E. Hamaker

Patricia Domay is a busy woman. At 72 years old, she caters for commercial video shoots, work she’s done for nearly 30 years. She grows her own organic vegetables, bakes an amazing coffee cake and charms those around her with her sunny personality.

In fact, the only thing that slows her down is her hip: The cartilage in Domay’s left hip joint has been worn away completely for nearly eight months, and the pain has taken its toll “My work is really strenuous,” she said. “Events are 10- to 12-hour days, plus an additional two days of prep work — all on my feet. I’ve always been very athletic — I’ve raced motorcycles, competed in tournament racquetball and hiked. It’s all hard on your body, but you don’t think about it when you’re young.” … Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer discusses overeating, appetite in American culture

By Amy E. Hamaker

Have you ever felt driven to eat something sweet, even when you didn’t want to? The reason for this drive may be the high levels of sugar, fat and salt in food, which produce a dopamine hit that alters brain chemistry, according to David Kessler, MD, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.

Kessler’s comments came during his lecture on Nov. 12 as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series, held in Mayer Auditorium. His focus was from his book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. … Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

L.A. benefactor pledges $5M to Alzheimer’s research at USC

Zlokovic named holder of newly endowed chair; brings total Zilkha giving to $30M

By Alison Trinidad

Los Angeles residents Selim Zilkha and Mary Hayley are raising the stakes in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot currently be prevented, cured or slowed.

Zilkha, a member of the Keck School of Medicine of USC Board of Overseers, has pledged a gift of $5 million to the school to fund a new endowed chair in Alzheimer’s disease research. This latest gift brings Zilkha’s total giving to neuroscience research at the Keck School to more than $30 million. … Read More »

December 13th, 2013|Announcements|

MED-SCHOOL PARENTS GO TO CLASS

Keck School of Medicine of USC Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA, speaks at the Parents Association Mini-Medical School on Oct. 25. The annual event offers medical school students’ parents tours of the campus as well <span style=… Read More »

November 22nd, 2013|Announcements|

Massry Prize winners discuss mechanics of protein movement in cells

By Ryan Ball

Next time you’re sitting in freeway gridlock, consider the complex system of traffic moving through each and every one of your cells — proteins and other molecules all trying get to the right place at the right time to perform a specific function, such as contacting muscles so you can lay on the horn when the distracted driver in front of you doesn’t move.

Uncovering the mechanisms through which that intracellular traffic works earned researchers Michael P. Sheetz, PhD, of Columbia University, James A. Spudich, PhD, of Stanford University and Ronald D. Vale, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, the 2013 Massry Prize. … Read More »

November 22nd, 2013|Announcements|