NOTE: Each individual interviewed for this story stated their preference between person-first or identity-first language. The language used reflects the preference of each person. Researchers interviewed use identity-first language in alignment with the preferences of …
Sigan Hartley
A Family’s Committment to Down Syndrome Research at the Waisman Center Spans Four Decades and Counting
When Heather Huismann was in middle school she called the police on her teacher. “He was not teaching me very well,” Heather says. So, she did what her parents taught her to do when there …
Sigan Hartley, research team receive $9 million National Institutes of Health grant to study Down syndrome
Sigan Hartley, 100 Women Distinguished Chair in Human Ecology and Human Development & Family Studies professor, and a team of researchers have received a $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Sigan Hartley, PhD – Slide of the Week
AT(N) biomarker profiles and Alzheimer’s disease in People with Down syndrome
Neurodegeneration research at the Waisman Center from gene to organelle to cell to brain
Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and retinitis pigmentosa all have different manifestations and affect different body functions, but they are all connected by one mechanism: neurodegeneration.
Understanding the connection between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease
Allison and Amber Westemeier get excited every time they take a trip to the Waisman Center from Oshkosh, WI.
The beginnings and evolution of brain imaging at the Waisman Center
The development of brain imaging techniques has helped us understand emotion, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases in ways we could not before.
Weight loss may be early predictor of Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome
Unintentional weight loss in people with Down syndrome may predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease long before typical cognitive symptoms like memory loss and dementia are apparent.
Waisman postdoctoral training program: Training the next generation of IDD researchers
The first two years of the grant provided funding for two seminars in an academic year, but in a short span, seeing the tangible benefits these had, they expanded from two lectures a year, to two a month.
Thoughts of gratitude: The Dewey family is a catalyst of support for the Waisman Center
Individuals with Down syndrome are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and it typically presents it at an earlier age than the general population. It is estimated that 90% of people with Down syndrome will have developed Alzheimer’s by age 65.