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March 7, 2025

Top Stories

Democratic lawmakers introduce new bill to address gaps from federal funding freeze

The Daily Cardinal

Wisconsin receives roughly $654 million per year in National Institutes of Health grants, which supports more than 7,700 jobs and $1.4 billion in economic activity, according to United for Medical Research.

Without additional funds from elsewhere, UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said the capping of indirect costs would have a “ripple effect” on the state’s economy.

‘It’s gut-wrenching’: life-saving neurological research on line with NIH funding cuts, UW leaders say

Channel 3000

Life-saving work in biomedical research is on the line, University of Wisconsin System and UW-Madison administrators said, if the National Institutes of Health makes cuts to its funding to the system.

“Taking a meat cleaver to this funding is simply wrong,” Universities of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman said Thursday.

UW leaders, Wisconsin medical researchers defend NIH funds amid uncertainty

Wisconsin Public Radio

Researchers at the Universities of Wisconsin defended their work in medical research on Thursday as they face uncertainty amidst federal funding cuts.

UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin warned of the danger of “indiscriminate reductions in research funding,” and medical and scientific researchers argued that funding from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, is critical to their work.

He studies Alzheimer’s. Federal cuts could cripple his search for treatments

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Sterling Johnson leads one of the world’s largest and longest-running studies of people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. His team aims to diagnose the disease years before people even develop symptoms and identify ways to slow its progression. He finds his work meaningful and rewarding.

But over the past seven weeks, as President Donald Trump’s administration proposes deep cuts to biomedical research, Johnson has encountered a new feeling. Something he’s never felt since he started studying studying Alzheimer’s in 1997.

Research

New fossil discovery reveals surprising insights into prehistoric human behavior

Discover Magazine

In a press release, Professor Pickering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison estimates that “this individual, probably a female, was only about a meter tall and 27 kg (60 lbs) when it died, making it even smaller than adults from other diminutive early human species, including those represented by the famous ‘Lucy.’” 

Madison teachers wary as district notifies principals of staff cuts

The Cap Times

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have projected overall enrollment declines at Madison schools next year, according to the district’s long-range facilities plan. However, in advocating for the referendum last year, district leaders and school advocates said those predictions were imperfect. They said the district defied projections this year and anticipated future enrollment increases, citing expected growth in the city of Madison and new housing developments.

Campus life

Trigger warnings in the classroom: Helping or hindering students? UW professor weighs in

The Badger Herald

Halverson-Bascom and Douglas Kelly professor of French Jan Miernowski said he began placing trigger warnings in his course syllabi for two reasons.

For one, Miernowski observed his students placing content warnings in their assigned essays when there is explicit content present. The second reason is that his students reached out saying they were extremely affected by the content of his course books.

State news

How attack ads in elections for judges can affect sentencing

PBS Wisconsin

“There is a lot of evidence that when judges are approaching an election, they sentence people more harshly than they do in other points in their term, said Zoe Engberg, an assistant clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

“And there’s also a lot of evidence that shows that negative campaign ads, in particular, have a large impact on how judges make decisions in cases,” she added.

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