In a landmark moment for both the treatment of heart disease and philanthropic support, The Marcus Foundation has awarded the head of USC Stem Cell Center, Chuck Murry, MD, PhD, $28.7 million to advance a clinical trial testing a stem cell-based therapy designed to regenerate damaged tissue after a heart attack. The award will also support a parallel track of discovery research on the immune response to cell transplantation. Researchers will investigate how immune cells respond to transplanted cells with the goal of developing approaches that could reduce or eliminate the need for immunosuppressive drugs in patients receiving regenerative cardiac therapies.  The pioneering trial will begin at Keck Hospital in 2027 in partnership with the USC Cardiac and Vascular Institute, with a second site at the University of Washington, where some of this technology originated. The 2027 trial will include a small cohort of about 18 patients who have experienced a severe heart attack, resulting in significant damage to the heart muscle. Designed primarily to assess safety and feasibility, the study will evaluate delivery of stem-cell-derived heart muscle cells into damaged regions of the heart. Researchers will also explore early signs of biological activity and potential improvements in cardiac function, while closely monitoring participants throughout their recovery and follow up care.

Addressing Texas’ growing healthcare workforce shortage and rising demand for care, the University of Houston today announced the launch of UH Health, an academic health enterprise designed to integrate education, research and community engagement across the University.

ORNL and Kyoto Fusioneering are developing UNITY-3, a first-of-its-kind, world-class fusion breeding blanket test facility capable of generating high-energy neutrons typical of those produced by a burning plasma. The strong neutron source will enable researchers to evaluate candidate commercial blanket designs and train AI-powered digital twins of next-generation fusion devices.

In a first for the field, a Pitt-led reseasrch team has grown heart valves on  organoids, miniature, simplified versions of a human heart.

BUFFALO, NY — August 11, 2026 — A new review was published in Volume 13 of Oncoscience on July 29, 2026, titled “Engineering CAR-T cells for solid tumors: Overcoming the microenvironment through integrated design and clinical translation.”

Researchers have developed a full-color near-eye display using a novel, prism-free process to stack three independent red, green, and blue holographic gratings. By eliminating complex alignment steps and boosting diffraction efficiency, this multilayer waveguide approach produces brighter virtual images with lower power consumption. The technology offers a scalable path toward lightweight, battery-powered AR glasses and vehicle head-up displays (HUDs).

SAN ANTONIO — August 11, 2026 — A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) project is developing techniques to improve inhalers for young children and other people who can’t inhale deeply. The multidisciplinary team of researchers is creating a more effective inhaler for people who can’t manage the strong, deep breath crucial for maximum benefit from standard inhalers. This work combines computational fluid dynamics (CFD), particle science, and pharmaceutical science to achieve improved designs. The internally funded project is a collaboration between three SwRI divisions: Mechanical Engineering, Powertrain Engineering, and Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.