Dr. Laura Perin is an Assistant Professor at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Prior to joining the faculty there in 2009, she obtained a master’s degree in biological sciences at the University of Padua, Italy, and a Ph.D. in stem cells and tissue engineering at the Harvard School of Medicine. Dr. Perin also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
As a faculty member at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles/Keck School of Medicine at USC, Dr. Perin studies the role of stem cells derived from amniotic fluid in renal repair and regeneration, utilizing acute and chronic modeling of the disease. The Perin laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanism of renal protection by stem cells, with a particular concentration on podocytes, the key cells responsible for maintaining renal filtration. Dr. Perin has also recently become involved in developing new strategies for kidney regenerative medicine using disciplines such as tissue engineering, developmental biology, and cell biology.
Dr. Perin has established important national and international collaborations to advance the treatment of chronic kidney disease, and has received many intramural and extramural awards—including a Career Development Award—from organizations such as the Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the American Urology Foundation, the Alport Syndrome Foundation, and the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She has three joint academic appointments at USC, volunteers on various committees, and serves as an international reviewer for several funding agencies.