2023 News

The Waisman TIES Clinic, a psychiatry clinic that looks at disability and mental health through a holistic lens

Community TIES (Training, Intervention, and Evaluation Services) is a UW-Waisman Center behavioral support program that serves residents of Dane County with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

In remembrance of Don Anderson

The Waisman Center community is saddened by the passing of Don Anderson, MSSW, in March 3, 2023. Anderson was a clinical assistant professor in the UW-Madison Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work and the Waisman Center from 1974 to 2004.

Women’s History Month: Celebrating the Women of Waisman | Infographic

For Women’s History Month we are celebrating all of the women of Waisman who are advancing knowledge of intellectual and developmental disabilities and providing cutting-edge clinical care.

Newborn Screening Program on UW–Madison campus helps millions

Since 1978, more than 2.5 million Wisconsin babies have been touched by the University of Wisconsin–Madison within their first few days of being born.

Hope for Failing Eyes

Retinal cells grown from stem cells can reach out and connect with neighbors, according to a new UW study, completing a “handshake” that may show the cells are ready for trials in humans with degenerative eye disorders.

Let’s talk numbers: Epidemiology of intellectual and developmental disabilities research at the Waisman Center

In 2001, newborn screening of Hmong babies had an alarming number of positive results for an enzyme deficiency called MBADD.

From brain stimulation to speech and language interventions, Waisman researchers are making strides to better understand and treat individuals with cerebral palsy

More than 10,000 children are born each year with cerebral palsy (CP) making it the most common motor disability in childhood.

The Waisman Center’s comprehensive care and strides toward early interventions for children with cerebral palsy: Clinics and outreach

The clinics and the research laboratories of the Waisman Center intertwine to care for individuals with cerebral palsy. The mission is one: to improve the outcomes for individuals with cerebral palsy.

Resilience doesn’t equate to positive outcomes for individuals who have experienced early childhood maltreatment

Early childhood maltreatment can have long lasting effects that follow a person into adulthood.

Alexander disease: A lifetime’s work in the hope of saving lives

Messing wanted to study if the overexpression of GFAP resulted in a certain reactive response in the brain.

New Machine Learning Tool Helps Researchers Demonstrate Effectiveness of Stem Cell Based Models

Today, many researchers are using brain organoids – miniaturized and simplified versions of organs produced in a dish typically from stem cells – as analogs for studying the development of the human brain.

Ruth Litovsky featured on “Conversation with a Colleague”

A college degree may protect against neurodegeneration in genetically at-risk populations

Obtaining a college degree may be protective against neurodegenerative symptoms in women with an elevated genetic risk.

David Gamm works to bring research and medicine into a single vision

David Gamm is adept at keeping multiple things in focus. Gamm, MD, PhD, is a Waisman investigator, director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences. With one eye trained on patients, he treats children in the pediatric ophthalmology clinic.

The sound of the Waisman Center’s work to improve cochlear implants

The Waisman Center has been at the forefront of research on cochlear implants and hearing science for more than two decades.

WIN for the win: Wellness Inclusion Nursing helps improve quality of life of individuals with disabilities through nursing consulting

WIN is a Waisman Center Community Outreach Wisconsin (COW) program with nurses that serve as consultants for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families, caregivers, residential and vocational team members, and health care providers.

Weight loss may be early predictor of Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome

Unintentional weight loss in people with Down syndrome may predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease long before typical cognitive symptoms like memory loss and dementia are apparent.

Kennedy’s other moon shot: The origins of intellectual and developmental disabilities research centers and the Waisman Center

When President Kennedy made his inaugural speech in 1961, there was no mention of initiatives on intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). Yet, the efforts by his administration and the Kennedy family to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families are one of their most enduring legacies. The Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison bears the indelible fingerprints of those efforts.

Waisman postdoctoral training program: Training the next generation of IDD researchers

The first two years of the grant provided funding for two seminars in an academic year, but in a short span, seeing the tangible benefits these had, they expanded from two lectures a year, to two a month.

Waisman investigators receive grant to improve brain imaging in young children

A team of investigators at the Waisman Center was recently awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health to both improve brain imaging techniques for infants and build a quantitative atlas of typical early brain development.

The beginning of full community inclusion: TIES supports individuals with disabilities inclusion in community since 1986

Around 1986, there was a paradigm shift across the country to bring individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) out of institutions and inclusively integrate them into the community.

El comienzo de la inclusión comunitaria total: TIES apoya la inclusión de personas con discapacidades en la comunidad desde el 1986

English Por Charlene N. Rivera Bonet, Escritora Científica, Waisman Center Alrededor del 1986, hubo un cambio de paradigma en todo el país para sacar a las personas con discapacidades intelectuales y del desarrollo (IDD, por …

Celebrating Carol and John’s ceaseless support of the Friends

During her time with the Friends board, Carol Palmer defined the meaning of an extraordinary board member through her leadership, dedication, and vision that helped elevate the board to new heights.

Lab-grown retinal eye cells make successful connections, open door for clinical trials to treat blindness

Retinal cells grown from stem cells can reach out and connect with neighbors, according to a new study, completing a “handshake” that may show the cells are ready for trials in humans with degenerative eye disorders.

New study reveals changes in key pathway in Down syndrome

A new paper published by Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD reveals that the differences in brain structure in individuals with Down syndrome (DS or Trisomy 21) may be due to disrupted signaling pathways that alter brain development to result in the incorrect number or placement of cells in the brain.