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 …
Stem Cells
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.
Graduate student Natasha Méndez Albelo is awarded fellowship from the UW-Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center
Natasha Méndez Albelo, graduate student in the lab of Waisman investigator Xinyu Zhao, PhD, was awarded the competitive SCRMC Graduate Training Award from the UW-Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. This award recognizes and …
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 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.
David Gamm, MD, PhD – Slide of the Week
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) causes blindness due to loss of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptors (PRs), which comprise the two outermost layers of the retina.
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.
New machine learning tool helps researchers demonstrate effectiveness of stem cell based models
Today, many researchers are using brain organoids – miniaturized and simplified versions of organs produced in a dish typically from stem cells – as analogs for studying the development of the human brain.
Timothy M. Gomez, PhD – Slide of the Week
Photoreceptors (PRs) are the primary visual sensory cells, and their loss leads to blindness that is currently incurable. Although cell replacement therapy holds promise, success is hindered by our limited understanding of PR axon growth during development and regeneration.
Masatoshi Suzuki, DVM, PhD – Slide of the Week
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neuromuscular disease in which patients gradually become paralyzed due to loss of motor function. Many genetically inheritable mutations have been linked to ALS; however, the majority of ALS patients are considered sporadic.