University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Year

Seth Pollak honored with Boyd McCandless Award

Seth Pollak, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and a Waisman investigator in the Child Emotion Research Laboratory, received the 2003 Boyd McCandless Award from the American Psychological Association. The award acknowledges distinguished and significant contributions made to developmental psychology at an early career stage. Seth Pollak Pollak’s current research interests include: the effects of child …

Growth factor shows promise in Parkinson’s patients

By pumping a potent growth factor directly into the human brain, an international team of scientists and surgeons has demonstrated significant remediation of the debilitating symptoms of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Health Disparities Report Now Available

The University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at the Waisman Center has just released its final report about last fall’s Invitational Conference on Health Disparities and Developmental Disabilities in Wisconsin. The 36-page report, A Wisconsin Blueprint to Improve the Health of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities, provides background information on health disparities and lists …

First test in United States of a child with dual cochlear implants

Micha Wiggins and her mother Doty not only travelled a long way-from Dallas, Texas-to visit Ruth Litovsky’s lab on March 10 and 11, they also had made a long personal journey to arrive at this point. Micha was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at 10 months, recei ved her first cochlear implant at age four, underwent …

Dr. Richard Davidson Receives NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award

Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, and director of the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior at the Waisman Center, received the 2003 Distinguished Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. The award acknowledges Davidson’s innovative research at the …

Autism Society of Wisconsin Honors Waisman Center

The Autism Society of Wisconsin (ASW) has selected the Waisman Center to receive a special recognition award for its involvement in providing awareness, understanding and support in the area of autism research. The award will be presented at the ASW Conference on Friday, April 11, 2003 at the Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton, Wisconsin. For …

Associate Directors Appointed: Dr. Leonard Abbeduto and Dr. Albee Messing

Waisman Center director Marsha M. Seltzer announced the appointments of two new associate directors: Len Abbeduto as Waisman Center Associate Director for the Behavioral Sciences and Albee Messing as Waisman Center Associate Director for the Biological Sciences.

Study shows preschool can prevent child abuse

In one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, a little girl with pigtails and a denim jumper stands in front of a table and fingers the shape of wooden letters as she fits them into a puzzle.

Meditation produces positive changes in the brain

In a small but highly provocative study, a UW-Madison research team has found, for the first time, that a short program in "mindfulness meditation" produced lasting positive changes in both the brain and the function of the immune system.

Orphanage experience alters brain development

During the last decade, many American families have opened their hearts and homes to children adopted from Eastern European orphanages.