Category: Down Syndrome

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 of Co-occurring Conditions Across the Lifespan to Understand Down Syndrome (INCLUDE) project. INCLUDE is a trans-NIH effort that will fund …

Waisman’s stem cell research into Down syndrome gives family hope

It’s not a cure for Down syndrome that Dave Witte and Cristina Delgadillo want for their 5-year-old daughter. “Olivia is our daughter and we love her, and we love her because of who she is. And part of who she is, is she has Down syndrome,” Witte says. But they would be happy if stem …

Studying Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome

About once every year and a half, Erin Harvey takes time off of her job as a teacher’s aide and along with her mom, Nancy, makes a two and a half hour drive from her home in central Illinois to the University of Wisconsin–Madison Waisman Center to “embark on an afternoon of adventure.” At the …

Down Syndrome Clinic helps Jackie Cleveland keep dancing

Brown eyes afire and colorful skirt awhirl, Jackie Cleveland has been dancing since she could walk. Now in sixth-grade, Jackie, who has Down syndrome, performs at Native American pow wows across the country, dancing traditional Ho-Chunk dances with style and unabashed joy.

After decades of service, Waisman clinician Tina Iyama-Kurtycz retires in December

Iyama-Kurtycz’s journey from an 8-year-old with a dream to a skilled clinician took her to medical school at the University of Michigan and a residency at the University of Kansas. “While at Kansas, I met a pediatrician who was taking care of children with disabilities and I realized that’s what I wanted to do,” says Iyama-Kurtycz.

Waisman Center director search advances as interim leadership is named

“Dr. Messing has been an outstanding director of this center since his appointment in 2015. He is both a superb scientist and has been a strong leader across this center’s multifaceted mission,” says Norman Drinkwater, UW–Madison associate vice chancellor for research in biological sciences.

A bone to speak and to swallow

Only one out of the more than 200 bones in our bodies is free-floating, with no local attachment to other bones, but it’s no freeloader. The hyoid bone is located in the front of the neck, just below the lower jaw, carrying the weight of the tongue and playing a vital role in speech and swallowing.

Waisman Center awarded Evjue grant to expand Day with the Experts series

The Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of the Capital Times, has awarded the Waisman Center $8,000 to expand the accessibility and reach of its free, community-oriented Day with the Experts series. The four Waisman Center Day with the Experts educational events focus on autism, cerebral palsy, cochlear implants and Down syndrome. The series features presentations …

Thoughts of Gratitude: Dan Campbell

Dan Campbell passed away recently. He was a prolific artist and contributed many pieces of his work to the Waisman Center’s Harvey A. Stevens Collection of Art by People with Disabilities. Dan and his family also participated in a number of research studies at the Waisman Center over the course of more than 30 years, …

Holiday Generosity from St. Peter’s School, Reedsburg

Led by their student council members and teachers, the students carried out a ‘Dimes for Down’ syndrome fundraiser and raised more than $700 in support of the Down Syndrome Clinic at the Waisman Center.