In a new study published in Cell Stem Cell, USC scientists report significant progress in cultivating nephron progenitor cells (NPCs), the cells destined to form the kidney’s filtration system, the nephrons. NPCs hold immense promise for understanding kidney development, modeling diseases, and discovering new treatments. “By enhancing our capability to grow NPCs from human stem Read More…
Author: lytal
USC-led study introduces a new and improved way to grow the cells that give rise to the kidney’s filtration system
Lab grown human nephron progenitor cells (Image by Biao Huang/Li Lab)In a new study published in Cell Stem Cell, USC scientists report significant progress in cultivating nephron progenitor cells (NPCs), the cells destined to form the kidney’s filtration system, the nephrons. NPCs hold immense promise for understanding kidney development, modeling diseases, and discovering new treatments. Read More…
Justin Ichida and Zhongwei Li receive NIH Director’s Awards
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. Read More…
Li Lab and colleagues make big progress in building mini-kidneys
A team of scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC has created what could be a key building block for assembling a synthetic kidney. In a new study in Nature Communications, Zhongwei Li and his colleagues describe how they can generate rudimentary kidney structures, known as organoids, that resemble the collecting duct system Read More…
Faculty balance babies with biomedical research
Growing stem cells isn’t just something faculty do in the lab. Zhongwei Li is one of eight faculty in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine who recently welcomed new babies into their families—more than half of them within the past year. Here, Dr. Li and other faculty parents share their joy and Read More…
Li lab welcomes new lab member Yidan Li
Welcome new lab member – Yidan Li! Yidan got doctoral course training in Tottori University in Japan working on stem cells and liver regeneration before joining Li lab as a lab technician to study kidney regeneration. Welcome!
Zhongwei Li is invited to give a talk in University of Georgia
Dr. Zhongwei Li is invited to give a talk on kidney regeneration in the Opening Symposium of Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM) in University of Georgia.
Zhongwei Li is writing a recipe for a kidney
USC Stem Cell scientist Zhongwei Li could have gone into the family restaurant business. Instead, he’s dedicated his career to experimenting with a very different set of ingredients: kidney stem cells. “The kidney is a very important organ, and it is also a very fragile organ,” he said. “More than 10 percent of people develop Read More…
