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Participate in Research

The Waisman Center is an interdisciplinary research center with investigators representing 25 different university departments, including communicative disorders, educational psychology, pediatrics, and human development and family studies.

Our research projects focus on different areas, such as behavior, language, social development, learning, and the role of the family in human development. Some studies involve visiting a lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, while other studies may have a research team visit your home. In some instances, a visit is not required and investigators will use methods such as questionnaires or phone interviews.

All studies are conducted according to strict federal standards set for research involving human participants and are approved by one of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institutional Review Boards.

Who We Need

We are looking for individuals ranging in age from infancy to adulthood. Many projects require participants who have a particular developmental disability, such as Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, or autism spectrum disorder. Other projects require participants who are typically developing.

How to Enroll

Waisman Center maintains confidential registries of families and individuals who would like to be contacted about upcoming research projects. You can enroll in one of our registries to be notified when a study you qualify for is seeking participants. Joining a research registry does not obligate you or your family to participate in any study.  Signing up only takes a few minutes. Click here to learn more about the registries and how to enroll.

Looking for a specific study? Click here to view a listing of studies currently seeking participants.