A dangerous bird flu, in other words, was suddenly circulating in mammals — mammals with which people have ongoing, extensive contact. “Holy cow,” says Thomas Friedrich, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “This is how pandemics start.”
At a time when gender-affirming care in Wisconsin is under fire, providers at a speech clinic are helping transgender clients find their voice.
“Our voice is [an] external representation of us,” Maia Braden, a speech-language pathologist at the UW Speech and Hearing Clinic told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “Anytime our voice doesn’t match who we feel we are, it can be extremely distressing.”
We know sitting for long periods of time can result in back pain. A recent study has also confirmed that sedentary behavior, such as time spent scrolling on smartphones, causes neck pain, too. Physical therapists Lori Thein Brody and Jill Thein-Nissenbaum explain how to avoid this outcome.
Preschoolers often miss the lessons we think they learn from watching Clifford, Sesame Street, and other educational programs, while teens may use TV sitcoms to broach difficult topics with their parents. Includes interview with Marie-Louise Mares, a professor of communication science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
With the study of social genomics — or sociogenomics — scientists argue that genes and environment truly coexist and influence another throughout a person’s lifetime.
University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor Silvia Helena Barcellos said social genomics really just got started roughly 10 years ago, around the same time that scientists decoded the human DNA sequence and began to better understand it.
As Elissa and Russell said their vows, Xu and Cain were working to build HistoSonics, the company they’d formed in 2009 with Tim Hall, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and J. Brian Fowlkes, a professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at U-M.
Their company created the Edison System, a device with a robotic arm that delivers precision histotripsy treatments using a specialized, high-powered ultrasound transducer through a tub of water.
“Ideally, if it’s not a huge challenge, trying to see (the) use of thumb sucking or pacifier use stop by 18 months is a good thing, but I wouldn’t get too worked up about it if it was still happening at age two, maybe even three,” said Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health who is also a pediatrician and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Early Childhood.
Part of this path to acceptance was to get out in front of audiences and talk again – slurred speech, flailing tongue and all. A pivotal moment came at an interdisciplinary conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall of 2023, about a year to the day that I began suffering from symptoms. I was terrified of embarrassing myself, but I walked to the podium and, before I began, openly and honestly described my condition to the audience.
New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that mindfulness and therapy led to lasting improvements in chronic back pain. We hear from an author of the study, Dr. Bruce Barrett.
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health OB/GYN Dr. Ryan Spencer explains the difficulties that arise when fewer obstetric providers are available to serve mothers in a community.
Still, other researchers argue broad restrictions on gain-of-function research could stifle studies that could ultimately protect people from risky viruses. The University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Medical College of Wisconsin testified against the bill last year.
“Gain-of-function experiments allow investigators to understand the complex nature of host-pathogen interactions that underlie transmission, infection, and pathogenesis and can help attribute biological function to genes and proteins,” a UW-Madison spokesperson said in a statement to WPR.
UW-Madison conducts a wide range of health and disease studies, including research that helps track viruses like avian influenza. The university is assessing how the order and related NIH guidance might affect research on campus, the spokesperson said.
In a 2024 study conducted by Chloe Grace Hart, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she found that Americans were less likely to say they believed a Black woman describing a sexual harassment experience compared to a white women describing the same thing.
“That suggests that when it comes to sexual violence, Black women survivors face a particularly steep uphill battle to be believed,” Hart previously told USA TODAY.
Dr. Yi Fuxian of the University of Wisconsin, an expert in China’s demographics and prominent critic of that country’s one-child policy, has been digging into the details of China’s population claims — and what he has found is not good.
For starters, Yi believes that China’s population is overestimated by at least 130 million — more than one-third of the U.S. population. In a recent monograph, Yi details the many discrepancies buried within China’s current and past census data.
“Without the continued research that’s made possible with federal funding, it would set us back,” said John Shutske, an agricultural safety and health specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We’ve seen over the last several decades a pretty dramatic decrease overall in our farm fatality rate. And while I think [the number of deaths] would probably plateau, I don’t think we would be able to continue to make the kind of progress that we’ve had.”
Almost 15 years ago, professor Betty Chewning of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy was struck by an idea. Instead of focusing only on helping students learn how to speak with patients, what if she could help teach patients, as well?
Her idea became Med Wise Rx, an education program aimed at teaching older Wisconsinites to better communicate with pharmacists and safely manage multiple prescriptions.
When you’re graduating, all eyes are on the new places you’re going. But for University of Wisconsin–Madison medical school grad Shane Hoffman, he’s excited to get back to places like the ones where he came from.
According to Cortland Dahl, a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds, a mindful body scan is a powerful way to ease chronic stress and mental rumination. You can do this simple mindfulness exercise while lying in bed.
“Bring attention to each part of your body, starting with your head and moving slowly down until you reach your toes,” he told HuffPost. “Pay attention to the sensations you notice in your body with a sense of warmth and non-judgmental curiosity. This activates the brain network critical for self-regulation and inner balance. It’s also a great way to de-stress and let go of all the tension that builds up in our busy lives.”
These statements appear to blame parents for vaccinating their kids and causing autism, a developmental and neurological condition that is overwhelmingly genetic, said Jessica Calarco, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net.
“That’s very much what he’s implying and how it’s going to be read,” Calarco said.
Earlier this year, Dr. Avtar Roopra, a professor of neuroscience at UW-Madison, published research that shows a drug typically used to treat arthritis halts brain-damaging seizures in mice that have a condition similar to epilepsy. The treatment could be used to provide relief for a subset of people with epilepsy who don’t get relief from other current treatments.
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) this April, five University of Wisconsin-Madison students partnered with University Health Services (UHS) to organize a ‘What Were You Wearing?’ art installation, an effort to challenge victim-blaming toward sexual assault survivors.
Dr. Ryan Spencer is an OB/GYN at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He says the state is in a maternal health care crisis, in part due to years without Medicaid expansion.
“I think we’re actually in the long-term impacts of having not addressed those for decades,” he said. “Any expansion to Medicaid is highly likely in any given area or state to improve access that women have to prenatal care, intrapartum care, and postpartum care.”
A new independent study by the University of Wisconsin found that preschool-aged children who used the Toniebox showed 32% higher emergent literacy scores compared to those who didn’t. The randomized control study focused on kids ages 3–5 and measured literacy gains over time.
The April sun shines down on the dark pavement of the Sellery basketball courts on the UW–Madison campus. Chalk scatters the ground, leaving behind hearts, rainbows and pastel words of comfort. Music echoes through the square. Though dozens of people gather in the area, and though the day is bright and warm, laughter is light. People talk and smile — some in a way where it doesn’t reach their eyes.
Stories of students: Read about students making a difference on campus.
Written by Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD, FAAP, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and also holds master’s degrees in public health and children’s librarianship.
This year, the festival is pulling out all the stops. “To kick things off on Thursday, we’re hosting the inaugural Wisconsin Art of Cheese Open—a golf outing perfect for both cheese connoisseurs and golf lovers,” says Kerr. Also on the docket: a creamery tour and tasting at Crave Brothers Farmstead and a cheese-and-wine excursion that begins with a sensory evaluation course taught by experts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research.
The National Farm Medicine Center was established in 1981 as a nonprofit entity dedicated to rural health and safety research and service. It partners with Marshfield Clinic Research Institute and the University of Wisconsin Extension on studies that have shown strong results over time.
Kristin Litzelman deals with data sets and research studies in her work studying caregiving as an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But she wanted to contribute something artistic for “In Care Of: Postcard-Sized Portrayals of Caregiving in Wisconsin,” a new exhibit she helped put together at UW-Madison’s Nancy Nicholas Hall, 1300 Linden Drive.
The administration for Mental Health Services at University Health Services is working to connect with the student body at the University of Wisconsin to shut down rumors of inaccessible mental health services that may prevent students from seeking mental health support.
The National Institutes of Health director faced a flurry of questions from Medical College of Wisconsin researchers about the Trump administration’s funding cuts that have caused financial uncertainty across higher education.
Written by Anthony Hernandez, a faculty member in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Madison (UW-Madison), who received a research award from the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation for his study on leadership in higher education. He has been recognized with four teaching awards at UW-Madison. He led the evaluation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in Dane County, Wisconsin for two years.
In 2023, University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Michigan researchers published a study that found that when people felt positively about “doing their own research,” they were more likely to believe misinformation about the pandemic and to mistrust scientific institutions in general.
Leonard Polzin, a Dairy Markets and Policy Outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joined on News 3 Now Live at Four on Thursday about whether you should be concerned.
Julie Poehlmann with the University of Wisconsin-Madison said, “Positive parent–caregiver relationships are associated with more stability in children’s living arrangements when mothers are in prison, and relationship quality is related to parent–child contact as well.”
Like much of her work, a new project by University of Wisconsin-Madison genetics professor Ahna Skop includes research, experimentation and inspiration from other scientists.
The general public wants clean rivers and streams. Less clear is how much people are willing to pay to ensure waterways are unpolluted. UW-Madison environmental economist Daniel Phaneuf shares the data.
Led by Dr. Abigail Cutler, a practicing OB-GYN at UW Health, the new study intended to document changes in clinical practice among Wisconsin doctors as a result of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.
New research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that 1 in 31 American 8-year-old children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder — raising renewed focus on arguments why autism diagnosis rates have increased for the last 25 years.
April 30th is known as Demin Day which is a day dedicated to raising awareness about sexual violence and supporting victims by wearing denim.
To investigate this phenomenon, psychologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison used mathematical and computational tools (including ChatGPT) to study word embeddings, which are mathematical models that capture how words are used together in large collections of words, like books, news articles, and transcripts of speech.
The arrival of drug treatment has made people living with Alzheimer’s more optimistic, says Dr. Nathaniel Chin, a geriatrician at the University of Wisconsin who was not involved in the survey.
“Even if it doesn’t stop the disease in its tracks, it tells people that we’re making progress,” he says. “They want to know if they potentially could have this therapy or maybe the next therapy or two therapies down the road.”
“There are many kids with autism that have IQ scores that would define them as having intellectual disability, but their adaptive scores are higher,” said a co-author of the research, Maureen Durkin, a professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Outside of specific genetic diseases, scientists have identified more than 250 genes that are associated with a higher likelihood of ASD. As Maureen Durkin, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained to me, some of these genes are also associated with beneficial traits. “It’s not as simple as ‘these are causes of autism, and you’d want to edit them out of the genome,’” she said.
Belleville Area EMS is fully staffed — which is increasingly rare in Wisconsin — but a drop in volunteers has forced the service to rely on student recruits from the University of Wisconsin-Madison more than on local residents. Belleville also is among a growing number of EMS services shifting from an all-volunteer model to one that leans on some paid staff.
“Influenza infection can become severe in anyone, in particular older adults,” said Ajay Sethi, associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “One of the reasons it can become severe is due to the damage that influenza does to the lungs.”
On Wednesday, UW Health physicians reflected on Med Flight 40 years after its first ever dispatch.
Most doctors are used to staying indoors whether it be a hospital or clinic, but 21 UW Health physicians prefer a different method, where they take to the sky to meet those in need.
Four UW-Madison faculty members have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Our physical therapists return to prehabilitation for hip and knee replacements. Then, we talk to a surgeon and a medical physics researcher at UW-Madison about their research into a treatment for burns.
About 1 in 20 people report ongoing difficulties after their psychedelic experience, Dr. Charles Raison, a professor of psychiatry and human ecology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, told CNN in a prior interview. He was not involved in the new research.
“A year later, they say, ‘I had an experience that was so distressing to me that it messed up my ability to function, or alienated me from my family, or gave me post-traumatic stress disorder,’” Raison said.
The detriment to higher education and scientific innovation, however, is crystal clear, research advocates say. Mike Wagner, a journalism and communications professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, called the NSF changes a “Friday Night Massacre of accurate information.”
The new procedures for city police mirror a policy that has already been adopted by University of Wisconsin-Madison Police.
Anthony Gitter, a computational biologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, had a grant about using deep learning for protein modelling flagged by the Cruz report. It contained a single sentence about offering summer research opportunities to underrepresented minorities as part of the broader impact statement. The Cruz report “plays into the narrative that universities are these elitist places that harbour out-of-touch academics that are no longer doing science,” he says. “But it’s out of touch with the data.”
If changes in the global gadolinium market make it harder to source the fluid, “patient care will suffer,” said Thomas Grist, a professor of radiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s a very important agent to enhance contrastfor MRI,” he added, explaining there are no direct alternatives.
The report cards, compiled by Manuel Teodoro, a professor at UW-Madison’s La Follete School of Public Affairs, evaluated 572 water utilities using data from 2022 and 2023 provided by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Teodoro’s research team.
“January and February were just a disaster,” Ron Kean, a poultry specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, said in an interview last month. “We’ve been pretty fortunate here in Wisconsin, knock on wood.”
“The more you look for it, the more you find,” said Dr. Maureen Durkin, a professor of population health sciences and pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has long studied autism. Dr. Durkin is one of the authors of the C.D.C. report.
This is less privacy than the legal system typically affords young people, confirmed Cary Bloodworth, who directs a family law clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Bloodworth said both child welfare and juvenile courts tend to keep records confidential for a number of reasons, including that what happens in a person’s youth will follow them for a lifetime.
“I certainly think having a higher level of privacy for kids is a good thing,” Bloodworth said, adding that she thinks the publication requirement is unnecessary for people of any age.
“If there were no fungi in the soil, I don’t think there would be life on Earth. Plants likely colonized land alongside fungi and without them, the world as we know it might never have existed,” said Aishwarya Veerabahu, a scientist with the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The poverty guidelines are “needed by many people and programs,” said Timothy Smeeding, a professor emeritus of economics at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin. “If you’re thinking of someone you fired who should be rehired, Swenson would be a no-brainer,” he added.
University of Wisconsin-Madison public affairs professor Mariel Barnes, whose research focuses on backlash to gender equality and the manosphere, says the manosphere started to coalesce online around 2008 and grew with the rise of blogging websites.
