USC Announces Stem Cell Collaboration

Treatment and prevention of heart failure are unmet medical needs in the United States. One in every eight deaths in the United States can be linked to this disease. The Keck School of Medicine at USC and the biotechnology company StemCardia formed a collaboration to address cardiac failure.

The collaboration will be lead by StemCardia founder and USC scientist Charles Murry, MD, PhD. Dr. Murry is the chair of the KSOM Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. 

The team has two initial goals. The first is to develop stem cell replacement therapies, including using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to regenerate heart muscle. The second is to develop new gene therapies to strengthen heart muscle contraction.