Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
The FDA approved Zanvastro, the first drug to treat Alexander Disease, a breakthrough that wouldn’t have been possible without research at the Waisman Center. By Addison Dama for The Daily Cardinal October 8, 2026 | 2:00am CDT The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Zanvastro, the first injectable treatment for Alexander Disease, on Sept. 3. …
AT A GLANCE: Clinical trials serve as the crucial bridge between groundbreaking laboratory research and the eventual approval of new treatments or interventions. At the Waisman Center, researchers like Albee Messing, VMD, PhD, and David Gamm, MD, PhD have dedicated decades to transforming innovative ideas into potential therapies, now undergoing rigorous testing to ensure their …
The Waisman Center has a long history of excellent and remarkable leadership. Each director of the center has played a pivotal role in advancing Waisman's research, service, training, and outreach efforts. This article highlights the Waisman Center's directors, both past and present, that have allowed the center to proudly follow its mission of advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
The hallmarks of Alexander disease, aggregation of misfolded GFAP proteins and dysregulation of brain cells called astrocytes, may be stopped and reversed in rodent models with the inactivation of the transcription factor STAT3.
Messing wanted to study if the overexpression of GFAP resulted in a certain reactive response in the brain.
Alexander disease is a progressive and rare neurological disorder with no cure or standard course of treatment. But a new study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison involving a rat model of the disease offers a potential treatment for the typically fatal condition.
The Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, launched a new fund to support interdisciplinary research in the area of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) genomics.
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 cells which comprise 20 to 40 percent of all cells in the brain. Cells donated by patients with Alexander disease …
A single injection of antisense oligonucleotides into the lateral ventricle of adult mice leads to nearly complete elimination of GFAP throughout the CNS (GFAP quantitation by ELISA).
