On the cusp of an iPSC-informed ALS therapy: an interview with Gabriel R. Linares

Justin Ichida has been named the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC. This new endowed professorship recognizes Ichida’s progress in developing stem cell-based approaches to studying neurodegenerative diseases including ALS, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. To read more, visit https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/justin-ichida-named-john-douglas-french-alzheimers-foundation-associate-professor-of-stem-cell-biology-and-regenerative-medicine-at-usc.

Scientists from the USC Stem Cell laboratories of Neil Segil and Justin Ichida are whispering the secrets of a simpler way to generate the sensory cells of the inner ear. Their approach uses direct reprogramming to produce sensory cells known as “hair cells,” due to their hair-like protrusions that sense sound waves. The study was Read More…

USC scientists are testing out experimental COVID-19 treatments on human “mini-lungs” and lung models, grown in the laboratory using stem cells. With names such as organoids and lung-chips, these simplified, lung-like structures are critically useful for studying infection and for screening large numbers of drug-like molecules to identify promising leads. To read more about these Read More…

Justin Ichida regularly gets emails from strangers asking the same urgent question: “Will your research on ALS be done in time to save my life?” The emails are a constant reminder that he’s in a race against time. “I don’t really know them, but they tell me their whole story,” says Ichida, Richard N. Merkin Read More…

Only 23 percent of biomedical PhD holders eventually land tenure-track faculty positions, according to a report by the National Institutes of Health Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group. Beating these odds, six postdoctoral trainees from USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine recently landed coveted jobs as tenure-track assistant professors: Lori O’Brien at the Read More…

Yingxiao (TK) Shi and colleagues in the Ichida Lab developed induced motor neuron (iMN) models from C9ORF72 and sporadic ALS (sALS) patients, which together comprise ~90% of patients. iMNs from C9ORF72 and several sporadic ALS patients share two common defects involving autophagosomes and glutamate receptors. An anticoagulation-deficient form of activated protein C, 3K3A-APC, rescues these Read More…

Direct lineage conversion offers a fast and simple method to study mature neurons in vitro, but its utility for investigating neurodevelopment has remained unclear. Yichen Li and Justin Ichida preview research by Chanda et al. (2019), using Ngn2-induced neurons to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms of the teratogenic compound valproic acid. To read the preview, visit Read More…

Congratulations to Shu-Ting (Michelle) Hung on receiving the Government Scholarship to Study Abroad (GSSA) from Taiwan!

The Department of Defense (DOD), which provides funding for ALS-related research through their Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, has featured a highlight on their website about the Ichida Lab. Read more at cdmrp.army.mil/alsrp/research_highlights/19Ichida_highlight.