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Justin Ichida, PhD

Associate Professor​ at University of Southern California

2015 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumnus

2007 NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellow Alumnus

PhD, Harvard Medical School

Postdoctoral Training, Harvard University

Bio

Dr. Ichida is an Associate Professor in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Southern California, where he is focusing on using patient-specific disease modeling, next-generation sequencing, and chemical screening to identify disease mechanisms and new treatments for Lou Gehrig’s Disease and sensorineural hearing loss.

Dr. Ichida identified several chemicals that could replace 3 of the 4 special proteins involved in turning body cells into stem cells, a major step towards creating a source of easily available stem cells. He also developed an innovative strategy to convert skin cells directly into motor neurons, allowing the rapid and high-throughput constructions of models for patients with motor neurons diseases, like Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He is continuing his work of developing stem cell models of ALS to better understand the disease as an independent investigator at the University of Southern California. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Harvard in Dr. Kevin Eggan’s lab.

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