When cancer spreads, tiny amounts of cells can break away from tumors and circulate in the bloodstream. A liquid biopsy is a means to detect the presence of cancer by detecting these cancer cells floating in blood samples. However, current state-of-the-art methods have necessitated trained specialists to comb through and review images of thousands
By focusing on a trigger of brain inflammation, scientists are in pursuit of a new drug therapy and now understand why some with a key risk factor for the disease develop dementia. Backed by the combined expertise of three USC schools, scientists are developing a new drug aimed at a previously unexplored biological target in
A startup co-founded by Daniel Lidar, a pioneer in quantum computing, is producing software to unlock quantum’s considerable potential. As a physics Ph.D. student at Hebrew University in Israel in the ’90s, Daniel Lidar met a fellow graduate student studying quantum computing, then in its infancy. After she told him about Shor’s algorithm, a quantum algorithm that could
We are thrilled and honored to be the host university for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Annual Conference in 2026! Our Executive Director, Dr. Erin Overstreet, was on stage at the 2025 NAI Annual Conference in Atlanta on June 26th to make the formal announcement at the Celebration Gala in front of hundreds of
Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC have developed a blood test that can identify early signs of Alzheimer’s disease by measuring proteins linked to the condition. The new test, known as Penta-Plex Alzheimer’s Disease Capture Sandwich Immunoassay (5ADCSI), detects five biomarkers simultaneously, which is more than existing blood tests, and runs on
The glioma subtype known as glioblastoma is notoriously difficult to treat. Current treatments for glioblastoma are unable to successfully address the heterogeneity between different glioblastoma tumors. The fact is that glioblastomas differ markedly between patients, and even within an individual patient, a glioblastoma does not stay the same. Instead, it mutates over time, making
The University of Southern California (USC) is thrilled to announce that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the Ellison Medical Institute (EMI) for the rights to develop and commercialize a novel therapeutic drug for the treatment of prostate cancer and related diseases. Beginning in 2019, Chemistry Professor Charles McKenna, Co-Director of the
Today, a USC-licensed startup that developed an intranasal drug delivery system for brain tumors will be listed for the first time on Nasdaq. To celebrate the direct listing, the USC Stevens Center for Innovation and the startup, NeOnc Technologies Holdings Inc., will ring the opening bell at 9:30 a.m. EDT/6:30 a.m. PDT. NeOnc is based
Is Alzheimer’s something you can prevent? Scientists at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California discovered a way to activate a natural cleanup system in brain cells, removing toxic tau proteins linked to memory loss. The neurotransmitter glutamate is essential for regulating everything from mood to memory, but it can also encourage
An ambitious endeavor to restore sight unites the Keck School of Medicine of USC with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and several other institutions from academia and beyond. A federal funding agency that supports high-impact research capable of driving biomedical and health breakthroughs has awarded up to $47 million for a project aimed
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