Category: Research

Waisman Biomanufacturing partners with GigaGen to manufacture new COVID-19 drug

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Waisman Biomanufacturing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison will begin manufacturing a new drug to treat and prevent COVID-19, developed by California-based biotech company GigaGen. The drug, called GIGA-2050, uses a new approach similar to treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma, or blood products from people recovering (convalescing) from an infection. Waisman Biomanufacturing was created to facilitate just this sort of development and testing of new types of drugs.

Inside Waisman: Meet Lindsay McCary

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As a third year graduate student in school psychology at the University of South Carolina, Lindsay McCary, PhD, was looking for a new advisor to help her with her dissertation.

UW researchers devise approach to treat rare, incurable form of blindness

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Waisman Center investigator David Gamm, MD, PhD, and Waisman affiliate Kris Saha, PhD, have published a proof-of-concept method to correct Best disease – an inherited form of macular degeneration that causes blindness, and that is currently untreatable. To read the article, click here.

Research Core Revitalization Program funds upgrades to shared resources on campus

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Projects from three research cores at the Waisman Center are among 17 UW core projects to receive grants from the Research Core Revitalization Program—an initiative with support from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Awards range from $20,000 to $300,000. Cores provide specialized equipment …

For caregivers of children with autism, COVID-19 conditions can present extra challenges

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It’s hard to think of an aspect of life that hasn't changed since the novel coronavirus began spreading across the globe. Many aspects of life — from work, to school, to travel, shopping and socializing — are dramatically different than they were just a few months ago.

School closure strains families with children who have disabilities

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Waisman investigator Sigan Hartley, PhD, was recently featured in a Wisconsin State Journal article about the difficulties being faced by children with special needs and their families while schools are currently shut down. This article highlights the importance of the services that schools offer some of our more vulnerable populations and how to adapt in …

UW–Madison’s EdNeuroLab tackling math learning through brain imaging

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In 2012, Edward Hubbard, a cognitive neuroscientist and assistant professor with UW‒Madison’s Department of Educational Psychology, created the Educational Neuroscience Lab to understand — through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) — how the physical changes that occur in children’s brains as they learn may help improve education practices.

Improved technique illuminates fragile X protein

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Researchers at the Waisman Center made a significant step in understanding the function of a specific protein, FMR1, whose absence causes fragile X syndrome, or FXS. Waisman investigators Xinyu Zhao, PhD, and Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD, with research associate Meng Li, published their paper “Identification of FMR1-regulated molecular networks in human neurodevelopment” in the March issue of the journal Genome Research.

New researcher uses machine learning to decode genomic information

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Recent advances in genome sciences — the study of an organism’s complete set of DNA — present a golden opportunity to identify the genetic causes and underlying mechanisms of intellectual and developmental disabilities. These discoveries will also improve diagnosis and potential treatments for these conditions. To advance science in this innovative field, the Waisman Center …

Low genetic risk for ADHD may protect against negative life experiences

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A recent study shows that people at low genetic risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not only less likely to have the disorder, they also have better than expected economic, health and behavioral outcomes in later life.