A decade after scientists announced the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, Waisman investigators, including Su-Chun Zhang and David Gamm, continue to use these cells to research and develop potential therapies for several disorders and conditions, such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and macular degeneration.
iPSC
“Assembling Tridimensional Brain Models to Study Human Development and Disease”
Sergiu P. Pasca, MD – Stanford University Pasca’s lab is interested in deciphering the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders. To achieve this, they employ a multidisciplinary approach involving human genetics, molecular and developmental …
Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD
Title: Creation of a human reporter stem cell line for detecting fragile X mental retardation (FMR1) gene reactivation in human neural cells. Legend: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual …
Derek Hei, PhD
Title: iPSC derived Optic Vesicles (OVs)/Neural Retinal Progenitors (NRPs) – Production, Characterization and Cryopreservation Legend: 1) Representative pictures of selected OVs derived from iPSCs grown on E8/Matrigel. iPSCs, cultured on E8/Matrigel, mTeSR1/Matrigel, and E8/vitronectin, were …
UW eye researchers publish second study of stem cells and blinding eye disease
A team of eye researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have used a custom stem cell model of a rare but blinding eye disease to test whether a commonly used drug might offer hope for treatment.
Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD
Title: iPSC-Derived Forebrain Neurons from FXS Individuals Show Defects in Initial Neurite Outgrowth Legend: Left panel: Skin cells from individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that …
Vision research month
June is Vision Research Awareness Month and the Waisman Center is home to a comprehensive vision research program led by David Gamm, MD, PhD. Gamm, a Waisman Center investigator, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and Director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, studies human retinal development and potential therapies for retinal degenerative diseases.
Hearing research at the Waisman Center
More than 278 million people are affected by hearing loss caused by damaged hair cells in the inner ear that process sound to the brain. Waisman Center scientists work to research novel treatments and therapies for individuals with hearing loss that include stem cell research and cochlear implants.
Su-Chun Zhang has a unique view of Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research
From his sixth-floor laboratory in the University of Wisconsin Waisman Center, Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, has a unique vantage point on the second tower of the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR II), which is nearing completion.
Adult cells transformed into early-stage nerve cells, bypassing the pluripotent stem cell stage
A University of Wisconsin-Madison research group has converted skin cells from people and monkeys into a cell that can form a wide variety of nervous-system cells — without passing through the do-it-all stage called the induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPSC.