Alper’s path to communication sciences was not straight forward. She initially started down the biotechnology path and sprinkled in some reproductive embryology research as well. It wasn’t until she started in a voice physiology lab seeking research with more direct human interaction that she found the path she wanted to be on.
Research
Weight loss may be early predictor of Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome
Unintentional weight loss in people with Down syndrome may predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease long before typical cognitive symptoms like memory loss and dementia are apparent.
Kennedy’s other moon shot: The origins of intellectual and developmental disabilities research centers and the Waisman Center
When President Kennedy made his inaugural speech in 1961, there was no mention of initiatives on intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). Yet, the efforts by his administration and the Kennedy family to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families are one of their most enduring legacies. The Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison bears the indelible fingerprints of those efforts.
Waisman investigators receive grant to improve brain imaging in young children
A team of investigators at the Waisman Center was recently awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health to both improve brain imaging techniques for infants and build a quantitative atlas of typical early brain development.
Lab-grown retinal eye cells make successful connections, open door for clinical trials to treat blindness
Retinal cells grown from stem cells can reach out and connect with neighbors, according to a new study, completing a “handshake” that may show the cells are ready for trials in humans with degenerative eye disorders.
New NIH grant to study language use as potential predictor of neurodegenerative disorder in FMR1 premutation carriers
A new study will investigate if language differences can predict the development of a neurodegenerative disorder in people that carry a premutation of the gene FMR1.
Waisman investigator receives grant to study interventions to reduce racial biases in children
Waisman Center investigator Kristin Shutts, PhD was recently awarded a $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study whether an intervention given by White parents to their kids would help reduce racial biases in young children.
Study shows differences between brains of primates — humans, apes and monkeys — are small but significant
While the physical differences between humans and non-human primates are quite distinct, a new study reveals their brains may be remarkably similar. And yet, the smallest changes may make big differences in developmental and psychiatric disorders.
Understanding recovery and development in children
Early interventions in children with cerebral palsy can be pivotal to improving motor and cognitive outcomes. The focus of this study is to longitudinally assess, over the first two years of life, the recovery and development of the infant brain after early stroke or brain bleed.
Waisman center funds six internal grants to expand DEI efforts in research and clinical services
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are critically important goals for the Waisman Center and UW Madison.