Experimental drug reduces brain damage, eliminates brain hemorrhaging in rodents afflicted by stroke

By Alison Trinidad

An experimental drug called 3K3A-APC appears to reduce brain damage, eliminate brain hemorrhaging and improve motor skills in older stroke-afflicted mice and stroke-afflicted rats with comorbid conditions such as hypertension, according to a new study from Keck Medicine of USC.

The study, which appears online in the journal Stroke, provides additional evidence that 3K3A-APC may be used as a therapy for stroke in humans, either alone or in combination with the FDA-approved clot-busting drug therapy tPA (tissue plasminogen activator). Clinical trials to test the drug’s efficacy in people experiencing acute ischemic stroke are expected to begin recruiting patients in the United States in 2014. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|

USC STEM CELL SOCIAL

(Photo/Cristy Lytal) (Photo/Cristy Lytal)

The dessert tray and cheese platter seemed self-renewing at the first USC Stem Cell Social, held on Oct. 25 at the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. Nearly 100 guests toured the labs, viewed research posters, voted on their favorite scientific images and mingled with researchers and faculty at this public event hosted by USC Stem Cell and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in honor of Stem Cell Awareness Day. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|

Tiny technology may be the future of medicine

By Robert Perkins

Sometimes the smallest tools are required to tackle the biggest problems. At the forefront of innovative research on regenerative medicine and cancer treatment, experts from the top research institutions in the greater Los Angeles area converged for the first-ever UCLA-USC-Caltech Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine Symposium on Oct. 18. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|

USC professor at CHLA awarded $9.5 million by NIH for sickle cell disease research

By Ellin Kavanagh

Thomas Coates, MD, professor of pediatrics and pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and section head of hematology in the division of hematology oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, along with four other co-principal investigators, recently received a five-year, $9.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The award will fund research into the underlying physiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) and identification of biomarkers that will aid in the development of new treatment options. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|

Cardiovascular symposium takes the pulse of current research

By Jennifer Jing and Cristy Lytal

Researchers addressed the leading cause of death in the United States at the Los Angeles Area Cardiovascular Research Symposium and Research Award Reception, which brought together the region’s cardiovascular specialists to examine the developmental origins of heart health and disease.

Held at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the event was the first meeting of its kind since 1997, when the American Heart Association (AHA) disbanded local chapters in favor of regional affiliates. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|