Associate Professor at USC. My laboratory builds kidney tissues from human stem cells for regenerative medicine and drug discovery.
Joined May 2021
- Tweets 86
- Following 144
- Followers 333
- Likes 146
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100K Americans are waiting for a kidney transplant. @USCStemCell researchers are growing lab-based kidney structures that mimic how real kidneys filter & function. stemcell.keck.usc.edu/team-m…
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
18 Sep 2025
By applying our understanding of kidney development, we were able to recapitulate some of the major renal organogenesis in vitro in our new human kidney progenitor assembloid! You can appreciate how the assembloid self-organizes in vitro!
@LiLab_Kidney dlvr.it/TN7QR7
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18 Sep 2025
We have published in Nature Protocols a detailed protocol of our human nephron progenitor cell differentiation and expansion technology that we described last year in @CellStemCell. Hope this is helpful!
29 Aug 2025
New Article! Expansion of human pluripotent stem cell–induced nephron progenitor cells (iNPCs) and the generation of nephron organoids from iNPCs bit.ly/4oWY76U
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17 Sep 2025
Thank you @ScienceMagazine for highlighting our research progress in this news article.
Scientists make most authentic kidney replicas so far | Science | AAAS science.org/content/article/…
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
17 Sep 2025
Online Now! Spatially patterned kidney assembloids recapitulate progenitor self-assembly and enable high-fidelity in vivo disease modeling dlvr.it/TN7QR7 #stemcells
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
17 Sep 2025
In a Cell Stem Cell paper, a team led by Zhongwei Li @KeckSchool_USC combine kidney filtering & urine-concentrating components to make “assembloids,” lab-grown kidney structures for developing new therapies. @USCStemCell @LiLab_Kidney @CellPressNews stemcell.keck.usc.edu/team-m…
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17 Sep 2025
Our newest human kidney assembloid model features the formation of spatially-patterned human nephrons connected to a central collecting system. It exhibits a variety of kidney functions in vitro and in vivo. Online now in Cell Stem Cell: cell.com/cell-stem-cell/abst…
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
30 Apr 2024
A @USCStemCell study, led by @LiLab_Kidney, improved the ability to cultivate nephron progenitor cells (NPCs), the cells that give rise to the kidney's filtration system. stemcell.keck.usc.edu/usc-le…
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
30 Apr 2024
A new @USCStemCell study, led by Zhongwei Li's Lab (@LiLab_Kidney), introduces a new and improved way to grow the cells that give rise to the kidney’s filtration system. @AndyMcMahonLab @LindstromLab @ukrocharity @CellPressNews @NIH_CommonFund stemcell.keck.usc.edu/usc-le…
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2 May 2024
In our new Resource Article @CellStemCell we describe an expandable nephron progenitor cell-based kidney organoid platform with broad applications. Unlimited supply of human nephron progenitor cells makes us one step closer to making a synthetic kidney for transplantation.
30 Apr 2024
Online Now! Long-term expandable mouse and human-induced nephron progenitor cells enable kidney organoid maturation and modeling of plasticity and disease dlvr.it/T6DMSv #stemcells
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
14 Mar 2024
Celebrating #WorldKidneyDay with @ukrocharity and Zhongwei Li’s lab @USCStemCell and @KeckSchool_USC. @LiLab_Kidney and colleagues @AndyMcMahonLab, @LindstromLab and @JPetiPeterdi are progressing on generating a transplantable kidney from human stem cells to replace dialysis.
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26 May 2023
Happy to share our new preprint: long-term clonal expansion of nephron progenitor cells (NPCs); genome-wide CRISPR screen in NPCs; nephron organoids with distal tubules; modeling nephron plasticity; rapid modeling and drug screening for PKD…biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
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22 Oct 2022
We are hiring! 👇
21 Oct 2022
Apply now for the USC Stem Cell postdoctoral program at stemcell.keck.usc.edu/postdo…. Enjoy terrific mentors, a generous stipend and 284 days of golden California sunshine.
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USC BME is hiring! See link for details - bme.usc.edu/about/careers-in…
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
13 Oct 2022
Periodic reminder for open job ads in the lab. Still looking for a talented stem cell biology post doc and 2 motivated PhD students 👇🏾👇🏾
5 Sep 2022
ERC funded 4-5 year fully funded Postdoc and Ph.D. position to study mRNA translation control mechanisms in human cardiac development and disease @UniCologne @UKKoeln @ERC_Research #sciencejobs #postdoc #phdpositions please RT🙏
Details below:
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Zhongwei Li retweeted
13 Oct 2022
Looking for a lab technician at Clinic Hospital, Barcelona, at the research line Regeneration in kidney diseases. More info and applications here! #barcelona #research clinicbarcelona.org/uploads/…
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12 Oct 2022
Congrats to my colleague Justin Ichida on receiving NIH Director’s Transformative Award! He is combating ALS using highly innovative paradigm-shifting approaches!
11 Oct 2022
Congratulations to Justin Ichida and Zhongwei Li @USCStemCell on their NIH Director's Awards for ALS and kidney research! #NIHHighRisk @LiLab_Kidney @KeckSchool_USC @KeckKidneys @ukrocharity @NIH_CommonFund stemcell.keck.usc.edu/justin…
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10 Oct 2022
Happy to co-write for @Dev_Cell with Nils @LindstromLab this Spotlight article highlighting Kyle and Joe’s recent kidney CD organoid work @NatureBiotech We also discuss the future of this field. authors.elsevier.com/a/1fub4…
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10 Oct 2022
Beautiful kidney organoid from Melissa Little group. Congrats to Jessica and other co-authors!
10 Oct 2022
Excited to share our new paper in @NatureComms: nature.com/articles/s41467-0…. We can make stem cell-derived kidneys (kidney organoids) with enhanced proximal tubules to benefit disease research and treatment in the future. @MCRI_for_kids @TheDohertyInst.
ALT Confocal immunofluorescence image of a proximal tubule-enhanced organoid showing proximalised and aligned nephrons radiating outwards (podocytes; grey, proximal tubules; blue, loop of Henle; red, nephron epithelium; green).
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4 Oct 2022
Humbled and grateful to get an Impact Score of 10 and receive NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2 grant). Many thanks to @NIH_CommonFund, my amazing team members, collaborators, and supporters! Together, we build a kidney! @USCStemCell @KeckKidneys @ukrocharity
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