Year: 2019

Time-to-degree improves again, setting record

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Undergraduates at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are taking less time to complete their degrees, setting a record on a key measure of student success. The average time-to-degree for 2018-19 bachelor’s degree recipients was 3.96 elapsed calendar years, the lowest since the university began actively tracking the measure in the 1980s and the first time the number has dropped below four years, according to the university’s Office of Academic Planning and Institutional Research.

Lauren Bishop, PhD – Slide of the Week

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We have seen a profound increase in lifespan for individuals with Down syndrome (DS) in the past few decades leading to a large and somewhat understudied population of middle- and older aged adults with DS. One health condition consistently seen in clinic-based DS samples is dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease).

In Wisconsin, 3 in 5 people with Down syndrome diagnosed with dementia by age 55

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Not so many years ago, people with Down syndrome rarely survived to middle age. Many died young due to heart problems associated with the congenital condition. Today, advances in treatment have allowed them to live longer, healthier lives.

Bradley T Christian, PhD – Slide of the Week

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 Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and show the earliest signs of amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in the striatum. The metric for tracking Aβ burden using PET radiotracers frequently uses average standard uptake value ratios (SUVr) in signature regions of the brain specific to Aβ deposition.

Leann Smith DaWalt, PhD, becomes UCEDD director

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Leann Smith DaWalt, PhD, a longtime Waisman Center investigator, began her appointment as the director of the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) on Oct. 14. She succeeds Bill MacLean, PhD, who retired in early October. The UCEDD supports the full inclusion and self-determination of people with developmental disabilities and their families through …

Whole exome sequencing illuminates genetic condition

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If you ask David Seamans what his favorite thing to do is, he’ll pause thoughtfully for a moment before responding, “Everything.” He really does mean everything

Sriram Boothalingam, PhD – Slide of the Week

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The auditory brainstem reflex tag-team: panel A is a schematic of the neural connections between two brainstem auditory reflexes, the medial olivocochlear (MOCR) and the middle ear muscle (MEMR) reflex. While we know that the two reflexes work in tandem and at slightly different frequencies and input sound levels, how the activity of one reflex influences the other is poorly understood.

21st century medicine helps Amish deal with rare, inherited illnesses

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There is no car in the driveway, neither phone nor electricity in the house. Handmade clothes dry on the line. It’s fall 2018, and La Farge physician James DeLine has brought us to talk with Barbara and Daniel Hochstetler, part of the large Amish population in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region.

Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD – Slide of the Week

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To identify mechanisms that lead to neurodevelopmental differences in Down syndrome, we used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) generated from individuals with Down syndrome and differentiated them into progenitors of the cerebral cortex. The progenitors were analyzed by RNA Seq at Day 17 in culture when cells have acquired their positional phenotype. 

Waisman Whirl 2019 Results

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WAISMAN WHIRL Madison, WI 10/06/2019 ********** OVERALL 5K RUN RESULTS ********** Place Bib Name Sex City Div/Tot Div Finish Pace ===== ===== ======================= === ================ ======== ========== ======= ===== 1 2510 Kyle Fisher M 1/4 M11-19 25:41 8:16 2 2505 Nick Burkee M 1/7 M30-39 26:18 8:28 3 2507 Payton Cigler F 1/1 F11-19 26:23 …