Stem Cell News

Renowned Waisman Investigator Su-Chun Zhang Retires

After more than two decades at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin and several first-in-the-world stem cell scientific breakthroughs, Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, professor of neuroscience and neurology, is retiring. He came to the Waisman …

Organoids are becoming more popular in research, consistency in their use is needed for more accurate results

To the naked eye, they look like tiny blobs free floating in a pink liquid. Under a light microscope, they look similar. But organoids, a 3-D mini version of an organ grown in a lab, may contain invaluable information about how the human brain develops.

Earliest 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?

UW-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.

Researcher 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.

Scientists 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.

UW 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.

Research beyond Waisman Center: Discoveries that have spun into products

Multiple discoveries born from the minds and hard work of Waisman Center investigators have left the nest to become successful companies or products that have had a significant impact in the world through translational research.

Waisman investigator is only steps away from creating a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease

When Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, picked up the phone to answer a call in 2001, he could barely understand the man speaking on the other line. “I could not hear his voice clearly,” says Zhang, a Waisman investigator and professor of neuroscience and neurology. It turns out that the man, who was calling from Texas, was on a ventilator which was garbling his voice.

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