Keck School of Medicine of USC

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Keck School's Lourdes Baez Conde, PhD, welcomed 100 students and their parents from Lompoc and Oxnard’s rural communities in Spanish. On campus, students and their guardians learned about USC admissions and the application process, toured campus, and experienced college life.

Medical AI is only as reliable as the data behind it. A new NSF-funded project, with Ruishan Liu (joint appointment, USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Keck School of Medicine of USC) aims to trace AI errors to their source. https://bit.ly/4k0mvET 📸 Midjourney/AI Gen

The food environment matters. In a study of 46 children, Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers linked more ultra-processed foods to stronger brain responses to food images, which were associated with body fat gains. #diabetes keck.usc.edu/news/childre...

What do schizophrenia, depression, autism, and five other conditions share in the brain? Principal investigator Paul M. Thompson, PhD, of the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute will lead an NIH-funded analysis of over 94,000 scans to find out. https://bit.ly/4jBlnHw

Pain relief was expected. Improved sensation and nerve-fiber density were the encouraging part. A 91-person #Diabetes Care trial of spinal cord stimulation for diabetic neuropathy, explained in our video. @dgarmstrong.bsky.social of Keck School of Medicine of USC is a co-author.

Discovery from the lab to the bedside, all here at USC. The Keck School of Medicine of USC and Keck Medicine of USC took center stage at the USC presidential investiture. In his speech, President Beong-Soo Kim shared our collective vision: working together to make the biggest impact in health care.

Astroglia are star-shaped brain cells that support brain function. A @USCStemCell study links abnormal immature ones to lower fluid intelligence in older adults with epilepsy. #StemCellResearch https://bit.ly/4i7tyIX

Join us in congratulating Vassilios Papadopoulos, interim dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC for his electtion to the National Academy of Medicine. Cited for pioneering work on steroidogenesis and neurosteroidogenesis that led to new drugs. #Research https://bit.ly/482LHmJ

%p-tau217 is a blood biomarker that helps identify cognitively unimpaired adults more likely to have elevated brain amyloid. A USC study found levels differed by race and ethnicity, yet relationship to PET amyloid was similar. #AlzheimersResearch https://bit.ly/4yhHhD6

Unhoused patients need a guide, not just a referral. At USC Street Medicine's Sidewalk to Bedside symposium, the solution: street medicine teams that help navigate care, advocate at intake, and arrange follow up once patients are back on the street. #StreetMedicine https://bit.ly/3VEys8S

EVIDENT-MAP, a USC trial led at the Keck School of Medicine of USC: 80 adults with depression, psilocybin therapy with or without 8 weeks of mindfulness, tracked with EEG, MRI, biosamples and wearables. Hypothesis: mindfulness helps sustain gains. https://bit.ly/473w26n

Pilot funding works: the joint @usc.edu & @ucirvine.bsky.social Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center has a 30-to-1 return on its pilot program, and NIH just awarded it $8 million. Based at Keck School of Medicine @uscpphs.bsky.social #PublicHealth keck.usc.edu/news/8-milli...

Dean's POV 🔎 Last week, Carolyn Meltzer, MD, transitioned into a new role. Her leadership advanced research, strengthened our clinical enterprise, and shaped countless careers. I'm grateful for that impact, and look forward to keeping the momentum going. — Interim Dean Papadopoulos

Can #StemCell based organoids and assembloids finally give scientists a real model for kidney disease? Zhongwei Li, PhD at USC Stem Cell just got a $240,000 PKD Foundation grant to find out. https://bit.ly/3Vh8AQg 📸 Carrie Zhang/Li Lab/USC Stem Cell

USC BME marked its 50th anniversary: from the first retinal prosthesis approved to restore partial sight to an implant that restores memory. Now a joint dept with @viterbischool.usc.edu and @keck.usc.edu, here's to the next 50 yrs of turning engineering into care. https://bit.ly/4yQNFC1

Last Friday, the Molecular Pathology & Experimental Medicine Master’s Program hosted its Pathology Research Open House. Faculty presented their current projects, giving students a chance to explore potential thesis topics, connect with mentors, and learn about the department's range of research.

A device the size of a coffee cup could change how cancer is detected. Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers are building a platform to make PET scan tracers faster and more accessible, backed by a $2.6M NIH grant. #KeckSchoolOfMedicine https://bit.ly/4yRJFkW

Dr. Anthony El-Khoueiry, USC oncologist and researcher, shares why patients should take the time to research their options. Being informed can help patients make decisions with confidence. Learn more about clinical trials for you and your loved ones at gastriccancer.org/clinicaltrials

New in Nature Communications: @uscloni.bsky.social researchers introduce CCSI, comparing 7-Tesla MRI blood flow to cortical cell density across 360 brain regions. Alignment was strongest in visual and sensorimotor cortex. #AlzheimersResearch https://bit.ly/4yNh8Ns

A new Science Advances study led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC finds Australopithecus paired ape-like arm strength with human-like leg strength, a movement strategy unmatched by any living species today. https://bit.ly/4hcznEA

Chlorine doesn't just kill germs on your food, it can chemically change it. @viterbischool.usc.edu engineer Adam Simpson is now teaming up with the Keck School of Medicine of USC to test what that means for your liver cells. https://bit.ly/4hdpwP1

A blood-based screening algorithm is a clinical trial tool that flags Alzheimer's risk using plasma biomarkers, cutting unnecessary PET scans from over 70% to 31% in the AHEAD 3-45 study. Published in Alzheimer's & Dementia. #AlzheimersResearch https://bit.ly/4xeUPyG

CW: depression/suicide. SENTINEL: an ARPA-H funded study (up to $4M) will track ~210 USC students for 36 months, using EEG, wearables and smartphone data to model risk and resilience for depression and suicide. https://bit.ly/3UlopoL

Dean's POV 📸 So much fun enjoying ice cream and açai bowls with students at the Welcome Social last week. Great conversations, great energy, and an even better sign of things to come this year.

Two @viterbischool.usc.edu master's student teams (health systems management + analytics) built a forecasting model and Tableau dashboard to help @keckmedicineusc.bsky.social anticipate patient demand and plan staffing ahead of time. Project wraps later this summer. https://bit.ly/4qHMfah

#PFAS are in nearly every American's blood and half the country's drinking water. Keck School of Medicine of USC and @uscnorris researchers now have $7.5M in NIH funding to find out if it's fueling liver and endometrial cancer. https://bit.ly/4glIsvQ

Dean's POV 📸 A selfie with the Class of 2030 before their white coats went on. Already inspired by what this class is going to bring to medicine. Wishing you all the best as you get started.

New Keck School of Medicine of USC Stevens INI study: superficial white matter health may soften the cognitive impact of gray matter loss. Analyzed in 459 older adults across India, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia. https://bit.ly/4xdpnBX

@keck.usc.edu researchers award $3.2M NIH grant to study age-related inflammation and cancer https://cancerletter.com/in-brief/20260814_9d/

Solid tumors have dodged CAR-T cell therapy for a decade, no clear target for immune cells to find. @uscbme.bsky.social engineers built SHIFTERS: focused ultrasound that makes tumor cells briefly display a marker CAR-T cells already know. #CancerResearch. https://bit.ly/4gFd4Iz

New Keck School research: Stevens INI researchers found PM2.5 and NO2 exposure linked to divergent cortical thickness patterns in Alzheimer's-vulnerable regions: thinner in older women, thicker in younger men. Published in NeuroToxicology #AlzheimersResearch https://bit.ly/4bZmEDv

Stevens INI researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC built an open-source MRI pipeline that standardizes stroke injury measurement across 6 labs, matching human expert analysis. https://keck.usc.edu/news/usc-researchers-develop-automated-mri-system-to-strengthen-stroke-treatment-studies/

Welcome to medical school, Class of 2030!🥼 The white coat ceremony marks a pivotal milestone for the Class of 2030. Students don their white coats for the first time, symbolizing their formal entry into the medical profession.

Dean's POV 📸 Putting community first. During orientation, our incoming students spent a day serving LA. Events included volunteering at Homeboy Industries, the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. This is how we build measurable health improvements, together.

Depression may shrink a specific hippocampus region tied to memory, independent of Alzheimer's risk factors like amyloid and tau. New @keck.usc.edu study in Translational Psychiatry. #AlzheimersResearch https://bit.ly/4xlXHKF

New NIH-funded work at Keck School of Medicine of USC probes thymulin, a thymus hormone, as a driver of "inflammaging" and a potential lever for improving anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy response in aged mouse models of breast cancer and melanoma. https://bit.ly/3TGssLV #cancerresearch

It all begins with the white coat. Watch the livestream of our White Coat Ceremony this Friday, August 7th, 2026, at 11:00 AM.✌️🩺 https://bit.ly/452Ovin

New in Women's Health Issues: Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers led an expert panel synthesizing 100+ studies on intimate partner violence among veterans, recommending broader VA screening and a "no wrong door" clinical approach. https://bit.ly/4fhucUe

New in Communications Medicine: Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers tested Lumipulse G p-tau217 and PrecivityAD2 blood assays in 39 adults with Down syndrome, finding accuracy nearly matching general population results for detecting amyloid pathology #alzheimersresearch https://bit.ly/4wleb5C

New NIH grant funds Keck School of Medicine of USC and Rancho Los Amigos research mapping how stroke disrupts brain to bladder connectivity via fMRI and diffusion MRI, testing whether imaging biomarkers can predict response to spinal cord stimulation. https://bit.ly/4vXIa2H Photo/Stevens INI

USC in the house at Comic-Con✌️ @summerin3d.bsky.social, PhD, and @virtuallyjon.bsky.social, PhD, from USC's 3D lab, the Center for Innovation in Medical Visualization (CIMV), hit the stage at Comic-Con Friday July 24 at 10am. Get your #FightOn sign ready when they're introduced! #SDCC #SDCC2026

New in Genome Biology: USC researchers used Region Capture Micro-C and CRISPR to show prostate cancer enhancers form hierarchical 3D networks, not isolated switches. Deleting "central hub" enhancers silenced cancer genes and slowed tumor growth. #CancerResearch https://bit.ly/4fdBdFC

MS affects every patient differently, but a new study of 42,000+ U.S. deaths is revealing patterns linked to age, race and geography. High blood pressure and cardiac arrest also linked to rising mortality. #MultipleSclerosis https://bit.ly/4vEXReV

New in @natcomms.nature.com: Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers identify thymulin, a thymus-derived hormone, as a driver of age-related inflammation. Restoring it in older mice improved cancer survival and anti-PD-1/PD-L1 response. #CancerResearch https://bit.ly/3Tbywfi

Dean's POV 📸 White Coat ceremony X 4 Every August, a new class puts on that white coat for the first time. I've stood at enough of these now to know the moment never gets old. This year's ceremony is August 7, and I'm already looking forward to it. #HealOn ✌️

PET Scan, CT, & MRI: What each one tells your doctor Break it down with Dr. Kim, resident physician in molecular imaging and therapy.

New in Gastroenterology: Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers identify a DR5/Lig3 feedback loop that helps explain why MSI and dMMR colorectal cancers respond better to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Human tumor data backs up the mouse model findings. #CancerResearch https://bit.ly/4wJ2N3t

An FDA commissioned review from the Keck School of Medicine of USC finds ADHD stimulant misuse among U.S. adults under 30 fell from 7.5% (2016) to 3.7% (2023) across 64 studies. Frequent misuse in a smaller subgroup stays an open question. #ADHD https://bit.ly/4h4en4v

Hearing studies use pure tones, but real ears handle speech and music that shift constantly in pitch and volume. Karolina Charaziak, PhD (Keck School of Medicine of USC) won a $3.3M NIH R01 to study how the cochlea processes sound. #Audiology https://bit.ly/4p6yC3H