Pelin Cengiz, MD, an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a Waisman Center investigator, is among this year’s recipients. She received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research: Independent Investigator.
Research
Fetal tissue research carries on at UW after Biden team reverses Trump limits
The Biden administration’s loosening of restrictions on the use of fetal tissue in research will allow UW-Madison scientists to continue such studies, which opponents have tried several times to ban in Wisconsin.
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. “Endoplasmic reticulum acetyltransferases Atase1 and Atase2 differentially regulate reticulophagy, macroautophagy and cellular acetyl-CoA metabolism” was published in April in the journal Communications Biology.
Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to Waisman Investigator Seth Pollak
Dr. Seth Pollak, the College of Letters & Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology, has been named a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, one of 184 artists, writers, scholars, and scientists selected through a rigorous peer-review process from more than 3,000 applicants.
Artificial intelligence can accelerate clinical diagnosis of fragile X syndrome
An analysis of electronic health records for 1.7 million Wisconsin patients revealed a variety of health problems newly associated with fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and autism, and may help identify cases years in advance of the typical clinical diagnosis.
When research goes remote: adapting studies in the face of COVID-19
By Peter Jurich, Waisman Science Writer With every challenge comes new opportunities. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in March 2020, much of the country went on lock-down with only essential services and operations …
Covering faces around kids won’t mask emotions
By Chris Barncard, UW Communications MADISON — The proliferation of face coverings to keep COVID-19 in check isn’t keeping kids from understanding facial expressions, according to a new study by University of Wisconsin–Madison psychologists. It’s …
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 …
New Innovator Award winner looking for unprecedented view of the brain
Congratulations to Aviad Hai, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and a Waisman affiliate, on being selected as a 2020 National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award.
The sound beneath the waves
If you’ve ever seen a graphical representation of a sound, you are probably familiar with what it looks like: hundreds of steep, tightly packed peaks and valleys, all of different heights, moving above and below a common line of symmetry that cuts horizontally through the middle. “When a sound travels through the air, it basically sets the molecules around us in motion, using sound pressure to create sort of a wave,” says Waisman researcher Michaela Warnecke, PhD.