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 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|

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|