How to help low-income children with autism
Speaking with Spectrum News, Waisman Center investigator Maureen Durkin describes the connections between autism prevalence numbers, socioeconomic status and race, and what the connections means for research. To read the full video, visit the Spectrum …
March 22, 2019‘This can be changed’: Verona family carries on daughter’s fight to end vision diseases
A recent story on Channel 3000 highlights the efforts by the family of Kenzi Valentyn to raise money for vision research in their daughter’s name. Waisman investigator David Gamm focuses on using stem cells to …
March 6, 2019‘Anything can kill her’: Area family credits newborn screening with saving baby’s life
Maddie’s parents know that, although they wish to take her home, the hospital is still the safest place for her. Born in January, Maddie was diagnosed with severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID, a rare condition that makes her highly susceptible to infection.
February 28, 2019Cell component breakdown suggests possible treatment for multiple neural disorders
UW-Madison research published today (Feb. 11, 2019) reveals how one mutation causes fragile X, the most common inherited intellectual disability. “Fragile X syndrome has been studied as a model of intellectual disability because in theory it’s comparatively simple,” says senior author Xinyu Zhao, a professor of neuroscience in the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
February 11, 2019Lab to Clinic Video: David Gamm, MD, PhD
David Gamm, director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, and Forward Bio Institute director Bill Murphy explain how stem cell scientists at UW–Madison are working with industry to put scientific breakthroughs on the path to …
February 8, 2019Waisman’s stem cell research into Down syndrome gives family hope
It’s not a cure for Down syndrome that Dave Witte and Cristina Delgadillo want for their 5-year-old daughter. “Olivia is our daughter and we love her, and we love her because of who she is. …
January 24, 2019
How speaking is a lot like playing darts
Winning a game of darts requires being accurate. A player who can pick a spot on the board, focus their mind, and execute the specific motor action needed to land the bullseye will win the game. And if they miss, well, practice makes perfect.
January 15, 2019
Connecting research and clinics to help those with autism
One of the goals of the study is to discover how genetic variations in young people with ASD are related to brain changes that lead to clinical symptoms of the disorder, such as impaired social interaction and repetitive behaviors. “If you think about it, in between genes and clinical symptoms [of ASD] are changes in brain development,” says Lainhart. “Genes first impact brain development, and as a result of changes in how the brain develops, there are clinical manifestations of what we recognize as ASD.”
January 7, 2019Waisman Center 2018: Year in Review
We’re delighted to share a video highlighting many of the strides we have made over the past year. Your generous and thoughtful contributions help us continue to pioneer research and expand clinical services that benefit …
December 21, 2018
Ritalin drives greater connection between brain areas key to memory, attention
We know enough about methylphenidate – more commonly known as Ritalin – to prescribe it to mediate attention challenges. However, UW researchers aided by Waisman scientists are taking the first steps toward a deeper understanding …
December 14, 2018Black youths less protected from antisocial behaviors than white peers
Black youths are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Yet, says University of Wisconsin–Madison Psychology Professor James Li, they are underrepresented by research studies examining the behaviors that can lead them there, and the potential interventions to help prevent it. Most studies have focused on predominantly white adolescents.
December 14, 2018
Annual Poster Fair Showcases Research, Collaboration
The Waisman Center hosted their annual poster fair on Thursday, Dec. 6. The well-attended event featured nearly fifty posters highlighting the interdisciplinary research of students, graduates and investigators working at the Waisman Center. This event …
December 12, 2018
New gene editing tool driving stem cell services and discovery
A new gene editing service provides researchers on campus with genetically engineered pluripotent stem cell lines derived using CRISPR-Cas9. The UW-Madison iPSC Reprogramming and Human Stem Cell Gene Editing Service is co-operated by the Waisman …
December 11, 2018
Five questions for Su-Chun Zhang, forger of stem cells
Su-Chun Zhang, a Waisman Center investigator, was the first person in the world to craft human brain cells both from human embryonic stem (ES) cells and later from induced pluripotent (iPS) cells. In a recent interview …
November 29, 2018New gift to support research and training
A new estate gift will help support research and expand undergraduate and graduate student training in the area of intellectual and developmental disabilities at the Waisman Center. This significant gift – more than $1 million …
November 21, 2018
STEM CELLS @ 20
Twenty years ago, a seminal discovery by researchers at UW-Madison introduced stem cells to the world. Since then, this new tool has transformed science and opened new doors for translational research. Stem cells are undifferentiated …
November 20, 2018
Small miracle: Stem cells drive research and entrepreneurship in Madison
From five examples of human embryonic stem cells in 1998 to 1,364 different lines of stem cell cultures today, the field of stem cell research has come so far in the past 20 years. The …
November 14, 2018
UW researcher using stem cells to create ‘spare part’ for blindness
To mark the 20th anniversary of the stem cell discovery at UW-Madison, the Wisconsin State Journal featured a series of stories on stem cell research, highlighting the work of Waisman Center investigators David Gamm, Anita …
November 6, 2018
Years after promise of stem cells seemed to be fading, clinical trials underway
A story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reflects on the history of stem cells and its future direction. Two decades after the first stem cell breakthrough, the promising biological discovery is beginning to take steps …
November 2, 2018Families Navigate An Autism Diagnosis With Interventional Services, Networks
Waisman Center social workers Paola Perez and Erin Thomson were featured guests on the Larry Meiller Show on Wisconsin Public Radio’s the Ideas Network. Perez and Thomson discussed a broad range of autism-related topics including …
October 25, 2018Mutation in common protein triggers tangles, chaos inside brain cells
In a study published today, Waisman Center investigators Su-Chun Zhang, Albee Messing and colleagues point to new understandings of the broad range of effects that result from the GFAP mutation impacting astrocytes — important supporting …
October 23, 2018Giizhik, young artist with autism, featured on WPT’s ‘Wisconsin Life”
Wisconsin Public Television’s Wisconsin Life recently featured Klawiter, a young artist with autism, who for the past decade has been designing and selling holiday cards across Sawyer County, raising awareness for autism and more than …
October 18, 2018- More News posts
Newsletter
Through Waisman Intersections, our quarterly newsletter, we hope you will get to know us better and see how innovative research and compassionate clinical services intersect at the Waisman Center.
Slide of the Week
The Waisman Center Slide of the Week highlights recent research of Waisman Center principal investigators.