Category: News

USC Stem Cell scientists discover a new way to rid cells of toxic tau protein in a study involving mice and lab-grown human “mini-brains,” known as organoids. The neurotransmitter glutamate is essential for regulating everything from mood to memory, but it can also encourage a toxic buildup of the notorious tau protein, which can contribute…Continue Reading How to clear the toxic tau protein that can lead to Alzheimer’s and related diseases

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can quadruple your risk for developing dementia, and also increase your chances of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS. In a new study published in Cell Stem Cell, USC scientists use lab-grown human brain structures known as organoids to offer insights into why this is the case and how to…Continue Reading Organoids reveal how to protect the brain against dementia and ALS following traumatic injury, according to USC Stem Cell study

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI), a nonprofit member organization that encourages inventors in higher education, has announced that four researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC are part of its 2024 class of senior members. Election as an NAI senior member recognizes remarkable innovation producing technologies that have brought, or aspire to…Continue Reading National Academy of Inventors elects Justin Ichida and three other Keck School of Medicine faculty as senior members

USC Stem Cell scientist Justin Ichida has learned to inhabit two worlds: the university where his lab makes discoveries, and the companies that can help commercialize these discoveries into new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. The first of these potential treatments now has the potential to enter clinical development for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),…Continue Reading Research from Justin Ichida’s lab advances toward clinical development for ALS, following a license agreement between companies Takeda and AcuraStem

Even though neurodegenerative diseases often strike in middle age or later, patients could have structural differences in their brains that arise before birth. In a new study in Cell Reports, USC Stem Cell scientists used both patient-derived nerve cells and laboratory mice to demonstrate that the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)…Continue Reading ALS and frontotemporal dementia show origins in utero, according to evidence from mice and patient-derived stem cells

Each year in the U.S., 5,000 patients receive a diagnosis of ALS, an incurable neurodegenerative disease that will likely kill them within two to five years. In the quest to find a cure for these patients, a team of researchers led by USC Stem Cell scientist Justin Ichida has identified two promising avenues for developing…Continue Reading USC Stem Cell-led studies point the way to broadly effective treatments for ALS

In March 2020, Justin Ichida, PhD, was appointed to a prestigious endowed professorship at Keck School of Medicine of USC through a generous philanthropic gift from the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation. On October 20, 2022, more than two years later, an appreciative group of scientific leaders, colleagues, philanthropists, family, and friends were at last…Continue Reading Justin Ichida honored as the inaugural John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC

It’s hard to obtain research funding for safe ideas, and it’s even harder to find funding for risky ones. But thanks to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Awards, USC Stem Cell scientists Justin Ichida and Zhongwei Li have secured the funding to pursue their high-risk, high-reward ideas for treating ALS and kidney disease….Continue Reading Justin Ichida and Zhongwei Li receive NIH Director’s Awards

Yichen Li has always been driven to understand the world around her. Growing up in an Eastern province in China, Li’s inquisitive nature steered her toward science. “When I was a girl, I wouldn’t stop asking my dad questions, such as what is light, electricity or heat,” she said. Li’s father shared the same delight…Continue Reading Curiosity, commitment and compassion drive Yichen Li’s research in neurodegenerative diseases

Now that Justin Ichida and Dion Dickman are both tenured professors at USC, they no longer have to worry about who was the coolest kid in their elementary schools back in Honolulu. But just for the record, it was Ichida. To read more, visit https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/scientists-justin-ichida-and-dion-dickman-uscs-coolest-tenured-professors-from-hawaii….Continue Reading Justin Ichida and Dion Dickman: USC’s coolest tenured professors from Hawaii