Keck School of Medicine of USC will launch a new research initiative focused on extending the human health span with a $10 million transformative gift from R. Rex Parris and his wife Carrol Parris. The USC Parris Longevity Accelerator, to be led by Denis Evseenko, MD, PhD, professor of orthopedic surgery and regenerative medicine, will bring together experts from engineering, stem cell research and gerontology to uncover predictive biomarkers of aging and develop early interventions for age-related diseases.  The USC Parris Longevity Accelerator aims to create treatments for major age-associated conditions like osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders, with the goal of bringing them to clinical trials within a few years.

University of Texas at Dallas bioengineers, in collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, are developing an enhanced light-activated immunotherapy approach that could one day treat patients with stomach cancer that has spread throughout the abdomen.

The approach uses lab-designed molecules and far-red or near-infrared light to “prime” the immune system to help it attack stubborn cancer cells, said Dr. Girgis Obaid, assistant professor of bioengineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.