A Family’s Committment to Down Syndrome Research at the Waisman Center Spans Four Decades and Counting
When Heather Huismann was in middle school she called the police on her teacher. “He was not teaching me very well,” Heather says.
March 17, 2025
UW-Madison’s Cool Science Image Contest: Waisman Winners
Matt Zammit, PhD, Waisman scientist in the Brain Imaging Core, and affiliate investigator Erik Dent, PhD, are both winners of UW-Madison’s Cool Science Image Contest.
October 4, 2024
UW-Madison researchers first to 3D-print functional human brain tissue
A team of University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists has developed the first 3D-printed brain tissue that can grow and function like typical brain tissue.
February 1, 2024
Fit Families makes exercise accessible to children with disabilities
Families and their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities often face many barriers to getting accessibility to exercise.
December 7, 2023
Neurodegeneration research at the Waisman Center from gene to organelle to cell to brain
Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and retinitis pigmentosa all have different manifestations and affect different body functions, but they are all connected by one mechanism: neurodegeneration.
December 1, 2023
Scientists produce human norepinephrine neurons from stem cells, with significant implications for researching diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Researchers a have identified a protein key to the development of a type of brain cell believed to play a role in disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and used the discovery to grow the neurons from stem cells for the first time.
November 17, 2023
Understanding the connection between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease
Allison and Amber Westemeier get excited every time they take a trip to the Waisman Center from Oshkosh, WI.
October 10, 2023
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.
January 31, 2023
New NIH grant to study language use as potential predictor of neurodegenerative disorder in FMR1 premutation carriers
A new study will investigate if language differences can predict the development of a neurodegenerative disorder in people that carry a premutation of the gene FMR1.
December 19, 2022
Thoughts of gratitude: The Dewey family is a catalyst of support for the Waisman Center
Individuals with Down syndrome are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and it typically presents it at an earlier age than the general population. It is estimated that 90% of people with Down syndrome will have developed Alzheimer’s by age 65.
November 18, 2022Jose Martinez connects science and policy as a BTP trainee
While working as a health care administrator in Santa Cruz, California during the 2015 Zika virus outbreak, Jose Martinez realized his background in chemistry and pharmacology could be harnessed to set policies that are grounded in science.
March 7, 2022New $11 million award to study intellectual disability in Down syndrome
Waisman investigators Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD, an assistant professor of cell and regenerative biology and Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, professor of neuroscience and neurology at the School of Medicine and Public Health at UW-Madison, were awarded …
November 26, 2021
Studying the connection between Alzheimer’s and Down syndrome for Down syndrome awareness month
By Emily Leclerc, Waisman Science Writer The month of October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month and is dedicated to not only raising awareness about Down syndrome but also to celebrating the abilities and accomplishments of …
October 19, 2021
Stem cell project to create new model to study brain development and Down syndrome
Waisman Center researchers are creating a new approach to study how changes to brain development in the womb result in intellectual disability in people with Down syndrome.
October 11, 2021
A new computational pipeline connects disease and discovery at the cellular level
Could Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia be biologically connected?
July 1, 2021
The identities of enzymes: study further defines the function of a potential target for Alzheimer’s therapy
A new study from the lab of UW-Madison professor of medicine Luigi Puglielli, MD, PhD, opens a door to potential treatments for diseases of age, such as Alzheimer’s disease, by defining the roles of two enzymes that are imperative to protein production.
April 20, 2021
New NIH-funded initiative will examine Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome
A team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is part of a new multi-institution effort to better understand Alzheimer’s disease in adults with Down syndrome. Adults with Down syndrome are at high risk for …
October 26, 2020Running toward renewal: new study links physical activity with cognitive health
Research has shown voluntary running is an activity most commonly associated with the reversal of negative impacts of aging and neurodegeneration, but little is understood about why that is.
August 4, 2020Newly identified cellular trash removal program helps create new neurons
New research by University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists reveals how a cellular filament helps neural stem cells clear damaged and clumped proteins, an important step in eventually producing new neurons.
March 3, 2020
Mancheski Foundation funds next-gen research on Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s
A gift from the Mancheski Foundation continues to provide integral support to doctoral student Matthew Zammit as he furthers his research on the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome. Zammit is beginning …
December 19, 2019- More Alzheimer’s Disease posts
Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.