Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Alexander disease patient astrocytes have impaired calcium wave propagation Legend: A) Still images over time from mechanical stimulation of 6-month astrocytes loaded with Fluor-4AM and accompanying post-experiment GFAP stains. B) Average duration of increased calcium signal above threshold ± S.D. C) Average proportion of field of view traveled by calcium wave. D) Rate of calcium …
Leaders of the University of Wisconsin–Madison lab that first transformed human stem cells into brain cells have started a company that produces and sells specialized neurons to drug researchers. BrainXell develops neurons from stem cells in its Madison lab, then freezes them for shipment. Once thawed in the customer’s lab, the cells undergo a final …
Several research and infrastructure projects featuring Waisman Center researchers as the primary or co-investigator have been selected for the second round of funding through the UW2020
A University of Wisconsin—Madison neuroscientist has inserted a genetic switch into nerve cells so a patient can alter their activity by taking designer drugs that would not affect any other cell.
An innovative project led by Waisman Center researchers Anita Bhattacharyya and Su-Chun Zhang is one of fourteen research initiatives that have been chosen for the first round of funding by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education for the UW2020: WARF Discovery Initiative.
Su-Chun Zhang, a pioneer in developing neurons from stem cells at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has created a specialized nerve cell that makes serotonin, a signaling chemical with a broad role in the brain. Serotonin affects emotions, sleep, anxiety, depression, appetite, pulse and breathing. It also plays a role in serious psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, …
As basketball season gathers steam (go Badgers!), one small town in northern Wisconsin will be buzzing with excitement about a different basketball tournament on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
In his 19-year career at UW–Madison, Dr. Su-Chun Zhang has transformed the field of stem cell research. The renowned neuroscientist was the first in the world to isolate neural stem cells from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a landmark discovery he patented with the help of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) in 2001.
The news that legendary Green Bay Packer quarterback Bart Starr has undergone stem cell therapy to recover from a stroke has raised the profile for a promising but unproven regenerative treatment intended to replace dead neurons with live ones.
A biologist who uses mathematical models to illuminate the changes within ecosystems and a neuroscientist who’s exploring how stem cells can treat diseases of the brain and spinal cord are the newest recipients of Steenbock Professorships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
