Graduate student Natasha Méndez Albelo is awarded fellowship from the UW-Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center
Natasha Méndez Albelo, graduate student in the lab of Waisman investigator Xinyu Zhao, PhD, was awarded the competitive SCRMC Graduate Training Award from the UW-Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. This award recognizes and …
March 18, 2024Earliest effects of chromosome 21 triplication in brain development discovered
It is well established that brain development looks different for individuals with Down syndrome, but how early do these differences appear?
March 15, 2024Life as neurodivergent people in Wisconsin
Waisman Center clinicians, Madeline Barger and Megan Farley, were featured on Wisconsin Public Radio's The Morning Show on "Life as Neurodivergent People in Wisconsin".
March 8, 2024Graduate student receives teaching award
Brooke Sasia, who is a graduate student in Waisman investigator James Li’s lab, recently received the Early Excellence in Teaching Award.
March 8, 2024Kids who feel their parents are less reliable take fewer risks vital to learning and growth
Trying something new is a risk every child undertakes as they explore and learn about the world. While risk can be costly, it can also pay off in rewards or knowledge.
March 6, 2024The Clinical Translational Core at the Waisman Center welcomes new manager Laura Bradley
The Clinical Translational Core (CTC) welcomed Laura Bradley, MS, as the new manager last October.
February 5, 2024UW-Madison researchers first to 3D-print functional human brain tissue
A team of University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists has developed the first 3D-printed brain tissue that can grow and function like typical brain tissue.
February 1, 2024Estrogen receptor alpha mediates protection against hypoxic ischemic brain injury in newborn female mice, study shows
In her practice as a pediatric intensivist, Cengiz noticed that even with similar brain injuries, functional outcomes varied from child to child. “So, I began wondering what could be the potential mechanisms of these differences in outcome”, Cengiz says.
January 26, 2024How Physical Environment Shapes Language Learning in Toddlers
The environment in which toddlers learn language may have a greater impact on word learning than previously understood.
January 24, 2024Developing a Neural Network to Overcome the Biggest Enemy of MRI Scans: Movement
Movement is the arch nemesis of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans.
January 17, 2024Researcher clinicians help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and medical care – Part 2
There is no one “typical” type of researcher clinician. There are differences in training, percentage of focus on research vs clinic, and type of research done. Many also carry teaching and administrative responsibilities on top of their already demanding positions.
January 10, 2024Researcher clinicians help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and medical care – Part 1
Research and clinical services go hand in hand. One can’t effectively work without the other.
January 9, 2024Study Reveals Differences in Brain Structure for Older Autistic Adults
A recent study continues to add to the body of evidence that the brain structure of autistic individuals is different from the structure of neurotypical individuals.
January 8, 2024Helping families navigate genetics through counseling: A history of the genetic counseling program at the Waisman Center
So, in 1976, Burns along with a few collaborators, established the Genetic Counselor Program at UW-Madison.
December 22, 2023The Waisman Center’s Clinics champion interdisciplinary care for individuals with disabilities for 50 years
This clinic specialized in the diagnosis and care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) – a service not easily found in the late 1960s.
December 19, 2023Waisman BioLibrary: Building a database to boost genetic research on intellectual and developmental disabilities now and for the future
The end goal is to build a collection of information for multiple disorders, the first one being Down syndrome.
December 15, 2023CASC Clinic: Enabling the basic human right of communication for all abilities
Without access to communication, people are isolated and frustrated and can end up having very different life experiences. If we can establish communication for a variety of individuals using alternative tools and techniques, and in so doing, increase that individual's quality of life, I think it's a pretty substantial impact...
December 13, 2023Waisman’s Own Takes Interim Position in OVCRGE
CMT is a slowly progressive disease in contrast to ALS, which affects the same neurons in the peripheral nervous system.
December 11, 2023Reaching beyond Rett Syndrome: How a family and the Waisman Center are working to improve care for those with rare syndrome
Several months after Ella’s first birthday, she received her diagnosis of Rett syndrome. “It was devastating, life changing. It’s rare – we hadn’t heard of it before we started this journey and it’s a very difficult diagnosis to process,” Jennifer says.
December 8, 2023Rebecca Alper on long-term impacts of early language skills
Early language skills are one of the best predictors of academic, social, vocational outcomes.
December 7, 2023Fit Families makes exercise accessible to children with disabilities
Families and their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities often face many barriers to getting accessibility to exercise.
December 7, 2023Branching out beyond where it’s planted: The story of the Waisman Center’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Part 2
Former UCEDD director Bill MacLean with current director Leann DaWalt.
December 6, 2023Branching out beyond where it’s planted: The story of the Waisman Center’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Part 1
The University of Wisconsin-Madison was one of the first sites to be selected to have an IDDRC and UCEDD because of the urging of Harry Waisman, MD, PhD, a prominent researcher physician, for whom the Waisman Center is named.
December 5, 2023Utilizing AI to Better Understand the Genotype-Phenotype Connection
There are thousands if not millions of steps to get from genotype, your genetic code, to phenotype, your physical attributes.
December 4, 2023A Pediatric Prognosis
Here’s how it typically works. A parent brings their child to their pediatrician, concerned about a potential mental health condition — maybe it’s anxiety, or maybe it’s depression.
December 1, 2023Neurodegeneration research at the Waisman Center from gene to organelle to cell to brain
Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and retinitis pigmentosa all have different manifestations and affect different body functions, but they are all connected by one mechanism: neurodegeneration.
December 1, 2023Wisconsin educators take on the surge in early speech delays
“Early language skills are one of the best predictors of academic, social, vocational outcomes,” said Rebecca Alper
November 30, 2023DHS Launches Wisconsin Wayfinder: Children’s Resource Network
Connecting Wisconsin families with special health care needs to essential support and resources The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) today launched a new service that will transform the support structure for families of children …
November 27, 2023The Children’s Resource Center – South helps families of children and youth with special health care needs navigate the health care system
The Children’s Resource Center-South, housed in the Waisman Center University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), is dedicated to supporting families with children and youth with special health care needs or disabilities and the providers who serve them.
November 27, 2023Scientists produce human norepinephrine neurons from stem cells, with significant implications for researching diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Researchers a have identified a protein key to the development of a type of brain cell believed to play a role in disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and used the discovery to grow the neurons from stem cells for the first time.
November 17, 2023Waisman Investigator Receives Prestigious Cajal Club Krieg Cortical Explorer Award
André Sousa, PhD, Waisman Center investigator and assistant professor of neuroscience, didn’t even realize he had received the Cajal Club’s Krieg Cortical Explorer Award.
November 13, 2023Traveling Full Circle
Over the past four decades, she (Durkin) has demonstrated an unrelenting passion for readily applying her vast knowledge about different cultures and the varying preponderance of health maladies among children.
October 27, 2023New study shows non-invasive brain stimulation can be safely administered at home
A non-invasive brain stimulation technique that may improve neuroplasticity has recently been shown to be possible and safe for children with cerebral palsy when remotely instructed and conducted in a person’s home.
October 26, 2023UW effort to map Down syndrome brain raises prospect of treatment for disorder
In a lab near UW Hospital, Megan Jandy grows stem cells from people with Down syndrome — 10 batches of cells, most in three-dimensional clusters, each batch featuring one group with the extra chromosome that causes the disorder and one group without it.
October 24, 2023Genomics and genetics cluster hire brings expansion into new research avenues
Tiny but mighty is a good way of describing our genome – the collection of our DNA. Although not visible to the naked eye, the human genome holds around 21,000 genes and millions of DNA variants, containing the information needed to maintain an organism throughout its life.
October 19, 2023- More News posts