The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Awards has granted USC Stem Cell scientists Justin Ichida, PhD, and Zhongwei Li, PhD, with substantial funding to pursue their high-risk, high-reward ideas for treating ALS and kidney disease. The annual awards honor scientists using unconventional approaches to develop trailblazing solutions for major global health concerns.

Ichida is the recipient of a $4.971 million NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award to help fund his development of improved treatments for ALS. Li received a $2.475 million NIH Director’s New Innovator Award to support his progress toward generating a synthetic kidney for patients in need of transplants.

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