Waisman Center investigator Brad Christian and Waisman Center affiliates Sterling Johnson and Barbara Bendlin were featured in a Nov. 26 Wisconsin State
Journal article this week about Alzheimer’s research. The article is a part of a series on Alzheimer’s called “Fading away: Wisconsin’s dementia crisis,” which chronicles the doubling rate of dementia patients in Wisconsin.
News
Time-to-degree improves again, setting record
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.
In Wisconsin, 3 in 5 people with Down syndrome diagnosed with dementia by age 55
By Kelly April Tyrrell 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 …
Whole Exome Sequencing Illuminates Genetic Condition
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
21st century medicine helps Amish deal with rare, inherited illnesses
By David Tenenbaum Editor’s note: A recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Dr. James DeLine’s work with the Wisconsin Amish community. This story describes how UW–Madison and the Wisconsin Partnership Fund are …
New funding for Down syndrome research and biobank
The Waisman Center is one of 25 recipients to receive funding through a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant that focuses on advancing research on Down syndrome. The grant is part of the NIH Investigation …
CMT advocate will not be sidelined
CMT is equally common among all ages, genders, and races and is one of the most common heritable neurological impairments. The symptoms present as neuropathy, foot drop, poor balance, difficulty with dexterity, or abnormal sensation – just to name a few.
Electronic records pin broad set of health risks on genetic premutation
It was long believed the FMR1 premutation — an excessive number of trinucleotide repeats in the FMR1 gene — had no direct effect on the people who carry it. Until recently, the only recognized effect on the carriers of the flawed gene was the risk of having offspring with fragile X syndrome, a rare but serious form of developmental disability.
Brain Imaging Study for Adults with Down Syndrome
The Waisman Center is seeking adults with Down syndrome, ages 30 and above, for a research study involving an MRI and a PET scan to examine amyloid plaque in the brains of these individuals. Researcher …
Emotion-detection applications built on outdated science, report warns
Facial Movements Are Unreliable Signals of Emotion, Researchers Say Software that purportedly reads emotions in faces is being deployed or tested for a variety of purposes, including surveillance, hiring, clinical diagnosis, and market research. But …