Keck School of Medicine of USC - HSC News

Researchers identify gene variant that raises risk for colorectal cancer from eating processed/red meat

By Suzanne Wu

A common genetic variant that affects one in every three people significantly increases the risk of colorectal cancer from consuming red meat and processed meat, according to a study presented at the annual American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting, the largest gathering of human geneticists in the world.

In addition, the study — the first to identify the interactions of genes and diet on a genome-wide scale — also reveals another specific genetic variation that appears to modify whether eating more vegetables, fruits and fiber actually lowers your colorectal cancer risk. … Read More »

November 5th, 2013|Announcements|

MEDICAL STUDENTS GET THE INSIDE STORY ON HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGES

More than 50 second-year medical students came to the Edmondson Faculty Center at the Keck School of Medicine of USC on Oct. 17 to hear Kim Belshe, one of the five board members for the California Covered health benefit exchange, and Professor Michael L. Cousineau discuss the public policy ramifications of the new health benefit exchanges that are central to the Affordable Care Act. … Read More »

November 5th, 2013|Announcements|

Keck Medicine of USC researchers to study air pollution/obesity connection

By Leslie Ridgeway

Could air pollution make you fat? Keck Medicine of USC researchers received funding to investigate the hypothesis that children who live near busy roadways may be exposed to air pollution that causes inflammation, leading to obesity and other health problems.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have granted $7.8 million to Keck Medicine’s Southern California Children’s Environmental Health Center (SC-CEHC) over the next five years. Three teams of scientists will mine data from previous research and conduct new studies on near-roadway air pollution’s role in the development of obesity and metabolic abnormalities that may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. … Read More »

November 5th, 2013|Announcements|

USC researchers to grow organs to unlock how cancer tumors develop

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). … Read More »

October 25th, 2013|Announcements|

A WEEK OF USC NORRIS CELEBRATIONS

The USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center has sponsored a host of activities in October to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its founding as one of the eight original National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Centers. … Read More »

October 25th, 2013|Announcements|

USC, UCLA get $2M to develop stroke center network in Southland

By Mark Wheeler

Stroke is the second leading cause of death in Los Angeles County. To cut those numbers, it’s imperative that new treatments be developed and refined for stroke prevention, acute therapy and recovery after stroke.

Now, a three-way partnership between the USC Comprehensive Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center at Keck Medicine of USC, the UCLA Stroke Center at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and UC Irvine Health Comprehensive Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center has been awarded a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to address these three stroke priorities. … Read More »

October 25th, 2013|Announcements|

Being a good neighbor can help HEAL a local community

By Sara Reeve

HEAL program youth members Heriberto Alfaro and Eddie Mendoza chop produce grown in the Proyecto Jardin community garden in Boyle Heights. The program teaches participants how to grow and prepare healthy food in several stages: planting, harvesting and cooking.
(Photo/Courtesy Proyecto Jardin)

Q: Can USC staff and faculty help to transform the food environment of East Los Angeles?

A: Yes, if they contribute to the USC Good Neighbors Campaign.

The Community Youth Health Education and Action Leaders (HEAL) program teaches youth in the Boyle Heights area about urban agriculture and healthy food choices. A partnership between the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Patient Education and Community Outreach Center and Proyecto Jardin Community Garden, HEAL received a new grant of $45,000 in June 2013 from USC Neighborhood Outreach (UNO), funded by the Good Neighbors Campaign. … Read More »

October 25th, 2013|Announcements|

USC researcher reveals how to better master stem cells’ fate

By Cristy Lytal

USC scientist Qi-Long Ying, PhD, MSc, and a team of researchers have long been searching for biotech’s version of the fountain of youth — ways to encourage embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) to endlessly self-renew, or divide to produce more stem cells.

In a pair of studies published in Nature Communications in September and in The EMBO Journal in August, Ying and his team revealed some of the ways that ESCs and EpiSCs retain their pluripotency, or ability to differentiate into virtually any kind of cell. … Read More »

October 25th, 2013|Announcements|

Hoag/USC partnership establishes new comprehensive cancer program

Keck Medicine of USC has announced a new partnership with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Orange County to establish new cancer and oncology services at the Hoag Family Cancer Institute and, eventually, other locations in Orange County.

The new Hoag/USC partnership marries Orange County’s largest community cancer program with the strengths of USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. The latest collaboration between the two leading medical centers promises to enhance patient care and services by significantly expanding cancer research and treatment — including advanced clinical trials — in Orange County. … Read More »

October 25th, 2013|Announcements|

Gala celebrates USC Norris’ 40 years of progress

By Sara Reeve

Actor-comedian Martin Short was the master of ceremonies for the gala.
(Photo/Steve Cohn)

The USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center has made tremendous advances in the understanding and treatment of cancer during its four decades of existence. At the gala anniversary celebration, “40 Years of Progress – Discovering New Cures,” held on Oct. 11, USC Norris leaders, researchers and supporters came together to honor that advancement.

“This is a very special night for us. We are here to recognize 40 years of movement toward the goal that Ken Norris Jr. set: to end cancer as we know it,” said Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA, dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

The celebration, which raised nearly $2 million to support cancer research at USC Norris, was held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, and attracted 500 guests. Actor/comedian Martin Short served as master of ceremonies, captivating the audience with his witty banter and his personal connection to the cancer center. … Read More »

October 25th, 2013|Announcements|

USC researcher reveals how to better master stem cells’ fate

By Cristy Lytal

Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers have discovered new ways to encourage human embryonic stem cells like these to self-renew.
(Photo/Courtesy Qi-Long Ying)

USC scientist Qi-Long Ying, PhD, MSc, and a team of researchers have long been searching for biotech’s version of the fountain of youth — ways to encourage embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) to endlessly self-renew, or divide to produce more stem cells.

In a pair of studies published in Nature Communications in September and a study in The EMBO Journal in August, Ying and his team revealed some of the ways that ESCs and EpiSCs retain their pluripotency, or ability to differentiate into virtually any kind of cell. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

Research team discovers protein’s ability to help and hinder cancer

By Cristy Lytal

Can the same gene prevent and promote cancer? When it comes to liver cancer, the gene that codes for P53, a protein found in humans and many other animals, can indeed do both.

In a pair of articles published in Oncogene and the Journal of Hepatology, Qi-Long Ying, PhD, associate professor of cell and neurobiology at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, and a team of researchers revealed that P53 can both help and harm a liver exposed to carcinogenic chemicals. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

VIETNAMESE VISITORS SEE VALUE IN VENOM

A group of top government science and technology officials from Vietnam visited USC on Sept. 17, touring the Health Sciences Campus and meeting with researchers. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

High school students hit the lab for summer learning at Keck School

By Leslie Ridgeway

Jason Chen and Diana Zhou, both seniors at Diamond Bar High School, part of the Summer High School Advanced Research Program, work on a device they designed and built to measure reaction time. They envision using a form of the device in a future medical technology designed to warn surgeons of potential errors during procedures.
(Photo/Jon Nalick)

While many high school students were spending their summer working at coffee shops and restaurants or on their tans, a group of more than 20 students from private and public high schools throughout the Los Angeles area dug in to intensive science projects as part of a new program based at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

The Summer High School Advanced Research Program (SHSARP) gave students eight weeks of hands-on experience in several labs, including ophthalmology, cell and neurobiology and preventive medicine at the Keck School, and at the USC School of Pharmacy, USC School of Dentistry, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

Friends’ Facebook, MySpace photos affect risky behavior among teens

By Alison Trinidad

Teenagers who see friends smoking and drinking alcohol in photographs posted on Facebook and MySpace are more likely to smoke and drink themselves, according to a new study.

“Our study shows that adolescents can be influenced by their friends’ online pictures to smoke or drink alcohol,” said Thomas W. Valente, PhD, professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study’s principal investigator. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply social network analysis methods to examine how teenagers’ activities on online social networking sites influence their smoking and alcohol use.” … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

Cancer-killing cells controlled by epigenetic process, new study shows

By Alison Trinidad

Natural killer (NK) cells in the human body can kill and contain viruses and cancerous tumors. A new study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC describes for the first time how those cells can be manipulated by epigenetics. The discovery, detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, paves the way for developing more effective cancer drugs. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

USC team given new grant to study genetic makeup underlying disease risks in minority populations

By Leslie Ridgeway

A research team co-led by USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists is one of five teams to be awarded four-year grants totaling nearly $14 million to study the genomics of disease susceptibility in ethnically diverse populations. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded the grant funds.

A team led by co-principal investigators Christopher Haiman, PhD, professor of preventive medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Loic Le Marchand, MD, PhD of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, is scheduled to be awarded $3.1 million to examine the DNA from samples collected from the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC). … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

Physician Assistant students receive 100 percent pass rate on national certifying exam

By Elise Herrera-Green

The class of 2013 of the Physician Assistant Program at USC, comprised of 50 graduates, received a 100 percent pass rate for first-time test takers on the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE). … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

USC scientists ID protein that regulates cellular trafficking, potential for anti-cancer therapy

By Alison Trinidad

Chengyu Liang, MD, PhD, was the principal investigator on a new study that discovered two intracellular processes that could lead to novel therapeutics for cancer treatment.

Molecular microbiologists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have uncovered intricate regulatory mechanisms within the cell that could lead to novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Their findings, which have long-standing significance in the basic understanding of cell biology, appear in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

“Our research reveals a new regulatory mechanism that coordinates two distinct intracellular processes that are critical to cellular homeostasis and disease development,” said Chengyu Liang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School and principal investigator of the study. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

Keck School student receives NAMME scholarship

By Elise Herrera-Green

Sheila Lau, a second-year student in the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Primary Care Physician Assistant Program, has been selected to receive a 2013 National Association of Medical Minority Educators (NAMME) Scholarship. Lau was one of only eight students in the nation selected for this scholarship. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

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