Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Individuals with Down syndrome have differences in how their brains form that cause intellectual disability. Down syndrome or trisomy 21 is the most common genetic cause of intellectual and developmental disability and is caused by the triplication of chromosome 21.
Giang Pham, a rising senior from Lawrence University in Appleton, is spending her second summer doing research at the Waisman Center University of Wisconsin-Madison as part of an internship program established and supported by the late John Mielke, MD, a former member of the Waisman Board of Visitors and Appleton native, and his wife Sally. …
Puerto Rican families have started traveling to Wisconsin to be part of the research study, but the goal is to build the infrastructure to eventually conduct the studies on the island.
At a Glance: Postdoctoral fellowships occupy an unusual space between being a graduate student and becoming an independent scholar. The postdoc stage is marked by a focus on refining research skills, expanding their knowledge-base, and developing key professional development skills (e.g., grant writing) needed to be an independent scientist. It can feel at times, like …
FLAG Rounds were developed by Coleman and Danielle Gerber to use family faculty, or family members of children with complex medical needs as lecturers, and storytelling as a strategy to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitude in medical students and providers to dismantle ableism in pediatric care and partner with families in the care of their children.
For many, talking is as easy as breathing. A few words to tell your friend that you are hungry and ready for lunch. A long rant to your partner about frustrations at work. A description of what hurts to your doctor. A quiet, ‘I love you,’ to a close family member. Being able to talk helps to make communicating efficient and effective. But not everyone has access to speech.
The Pandemic Cancelled It, and They Never Brought It Back takes readers into the daily lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the COVID‑19 pandemic, using their own photographs and words to reveal moments of loss, adaptation, resilience, and connection. Created by researchers at the Waisman Center, the book offers an intimate portrait of a community whose experiences are too often overlooked.
Signs of neurodegeneration in individuals with Down syndrome may start as early as birth, a critical stage of brain development, a new study shows. The research, from investigators at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides an atlas of early brain development in Down syndrome that could inform potential targeted treatments to address the developmental and degenerative aspects of the condition.
A blood test alone cannot tell the full story of what’s happening inside a newborn’s brain after a brain injury. New research from the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that the hippocampus—a brain region critical for learning and memory—maintains its own powerful, locally regulated steroid environment during early development and after brain injury.
A new research study at the Waisman Center has been funded by the Eagles Autism Foundation to develop a precise, safe, and broadly applicable method for correcting a single-gene mutation associated with symptoms of autism spectrum disorders including learning deficits, anxiety, depression, and reduced social interactions.
