Year 5

The USC Stem Cell Core Shared Research Laboratory (SRL), located at the Eli Edythe Broad CIRM center at the University of Southern California acts as a hub for dissemination of state-of-the-art technology in hESC research throughout the region. This laboratory functions to accelerate research involving pluripotent stem cells through the provision of quality controlled cells, bioreagents, shared equipment and laboratory space, biobanking, a cell repository, histology, karyotyping, technical assistance and consultation. The facility also provides stem cell culture training for researchers ranging from high school students to tenured professors. This year we expanded our iPSC derivation services and have started collaborating with PI’s to derive iPSC from fibroblasts, utilizing a non-integrating plasmid based technology. The SRL continued to see an increase in the total number of users for equipment usage and stem cell training courses. We participated in collaborative research which has resulted in a publication in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. We are continuously aiming to recruit more students for our hPSC techniques courses and host plan to host a techniques course for International researchers in the next reporting period. We further expanded our high school science education and outreach program called the EiHS Summer program in stem cell research, which is run in collaboration with a CIRM funded creativity award program. Together these programs have enabled over 20 high school students to participate in laboratory research and classroom based forums focusing on stem cell research and regenerative medicine last year. In addition to this we continue to work on the establishment of improved techniques for genetically modifying hPSC’s and validation of improved media for maintaining hPSC, particularly following single cell dissociation.