Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Between wardrobe fittings, hours of coaching, makeup artists, and the moment that first shoe hits the runway, Chantel Brown watched her dream become a reality. Friday, May 29, 2015 marked the ninth annual Fashion Show for All Abilities where 73 models strut their stuff for this community awareness event.
What if teaching young children compassion and kindness made them better students as well as better people? Researchers with the UW’s Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center recently tested that hypothesis with preschool students in the Madison Metropolitan School District, after years of work developing a curriculum designed to help children develop both kindness and self-regulation skills.
Ruth Munz, a university associate in the Waisman Early Childhood Program, received the Excellence in Early Education Award last month after nomination from her co-workers. She was honored at Jazzin, the annual fundraiser for campus childcare and acknowledgement of exceptional early education teachers and leaders on campus.
Title: iPSC-Derived Forebrain Neurons from FXS Individuals Show Defects in Initial Neurite Outgrowth Legend: Left panel: Skin cells from individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that have characteristics of human embryonic stem cells. These iPSCs can then be differentiated into forebrain cortical neurons to study neuronal …
Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited intellectual disability and the greatest single genetic contributor to autism. Unlocking the mechanisms behind fragile X could make important revelations about the brain.
Norman Drinkwater, a UW-Madison professor of oncology, and Jan Greenberg, a UW-Madison professor of social work, have been named associate vice chancellors in the Office of Research and Graduate Education. Greenberg will lead the area of social studies while Drinkwater will lead the biological sciences.
Title: Insulin resistance predicts brain amyloid deposition in late middle-aged adults Legend: Healthy late middle-aged adults with higher insulin resistance (based on fasting glucose and insulin levels) show greater amyloid deposition on [C11]PIB-PET imaging. The results suggest that metabolic dysfunction in midlife may contribute to Alzheimer’s pathology. Shown on the left for illustrative purposes are …
Waisman Center investigator, Maureen Durkin, PhD, DrPH, professor of population health sciences and pediatrics, was featured by the Simons Foundation Autism Reseach Initiative (SFARI) in a Q&A article about the rising prevalence of autism.
Title: Sequencing Library Generation Legend: Each probe contains two parts of sequences: one for targeting interested CFTR gene regions, and another for annealing to PCR primers. The DNA templates containing targeted CFTR regions were generated by a sequential process consistent with hybridization, extension, and ligation. The indexes included in PCR primers allow multiplexing of 48 individual DNA …
June is Vision Research Awareness Month and the Waisman Center is home to a comprehensive vision research program led by David Gamm, MD, PhD. Gamm, a Waisman Center investigator, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and Director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, studies human retinal development and potential therapies for retinal degenerative diseases.
