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Category: Health

Longer postpartum Medicaid coverage will save lives, doctors say

The Cap Times

Wisconsin mothers on Medicaid will soon have access to a full year of postpartum health coverage after Gov. Tony Evers signed legislation extending benefits from 60 days to 12 months after giving birth.

The policy change addresses what doctors consider a dangerous and long-standing gap in care, when many pregnancy-related complications and mental health challenges emerge.

UW Health becomes official health care partner of Green Bay Packers

ABC 27

UW Health has become the Official Health Care Partner of the Green Bay Packers through a new multi-year agreement.

The partnership, announced at a Thursday press conference, includes joint community initiatives, fan-focused events throughout the year and a visible presence at Lambeau Field. UW Health will have permanent signage at the north entry gate of Lambeau Field and logo patches on Packers practice jerseys.

Ukrainian surgeons learn limb-saving microsurgery at UW-Madison to treat war injuries

NBC 15

Ukrainian surgeons are in Madison this week, training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to learn specialized techniques they can take back home to treat patients injured in the war.

Six surgeons are taking part in a two-week intensive training at UW’s Microsurgery Regenerative Medicine Lab, working under microscopes to practice reconnecting tiny blood vessels and nerves.

As ALS takes its toll, a patient leans on a top-rated Madison clinic

The Cap Times

It began with a fall. Then another, and another. 

LuAnn Guffey had watched over the years as her brother suffered with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that gradually disrupts a person’s basic muscle functions. When she began losing strength in her own legs, falling without tripping, suddenly losing the ability to stand, she feared she was following the family footsteps. 

UW Health acquires University Podiatry Associates of Madison

Wisconsin State Journal

UW Health said Wednesday it has acquired University Podiatry Associates of Madison.

The podiatry clinic, which opened in 1981, is located in a roughly 7,600-square-foot facility at 450 S. Yellowstone Dr. on the West Side.

The practice provides podiatry care for a wide range of conditions, including diabetic foot ulcers, arthritis, bunions, hammertoes and other deformities or injuries.

Badger women’s sports teams to add UW Health patch to jerseys

Channel 3000

UW-Madison’s women’s sports teams will soon have some extra branding on their jerseys.

UW Health on Thursday announced it would become the official jersey patch sponsor for the Badgers women’s squads. The healthcare provider’s logo will appear on basketball, volleyball, hockey and softball uniforms beginning with the 2026-27 season.

UW-Madison: Christian Capitini named director of the UW Carbone Cancer Center

WisBusiness

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and UW Health are pleased to announce that Dr. Christian Capitini, a national expert in the treatment and research of childhood cancers, has been named the next director of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. Capitini will also hold the title of director of UW Health Cancer Services. He will assume the role of Carbone Cancer Center director on April 19.

UW Health recognizes ‘Donate Life’ Month to promote organ donation

Channel 3000

UW Health is joining organizations across the country to recognize April as Donate Life Month, honoring organ, eye, and tissue donors.

Over 108,000 adults and children in the U.S. are awaiting an organ transplant, including 1,500 people in Wisconsin.

UW Health states that most individuals on the waitlist need a kidney, but more than 13 people die each day while waiting for a transplant, according to Michael Anderson, executive director of UW Organ and Tissue Donation.

Student-run EMS at UW-Madison? Fire, police leaders not sold yet

The Cap Times

Genevieve Simmons grimaced the more Mitch Reuter tightened a tourniquet around her arm.

“Definitely don’t have a pulse,” Simmons chuckled as Reuter checked her wrist.

Reuter was demonstrating how to use a tourniquet as he led a Stop the Bleed training last month at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Students filled a classroom in Birge Hall to learn how to pack a wound and apply pressure in a medical emergency.

The Dogma of Meat

The New York Times

We live in a heyday of meat. Americans ate $45 billion of beef in 2025, up more than 10 percent from the previous year, according to Beef Research, an industry marketing group. Ground beef is driving sales — McDonald’s recently released its new half-pounder, the Big Arch — but steak sales remain robust. In a February interview at CattleCon, the beef industry conference, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that his favorite beef cut was strip steak. He eats beef every day — “usually twice a day,” he said, to applause.

Wisconsin’s 28 Most Influential Native American Leaders for 2026, Part 2

Madison 365

Dr. Lauren W. Yowelunh McLester-Davis is a Research Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and on the advisory council for the Native American Center for Health Professions.

Dr. Jeneile Luebke is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at UW-Madison and an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Her research focuses on gender-based violence in the lives of Indigenous women, using community-engaged and Indigenous-specific research methodologies.

Tara Tindall, an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, is the Native American teacher leader for the Madison Metropolitan School District, where she oversees the Native American Education Program and the federal Title VI program serving Native students from pre-K through 12th grade.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from UW-Stevens Point and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from UW-Madison.

UW Health resident creates adaptive crayons for children with disabilities

Channel 3000

A physical medicine and rehabilitation resident at UW Health is reimagining crayons by creating adaptive crayons for people with developmental disabilities, stemming from her past experiences.

Amber McKenna was in her first residency program back in 2022 at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport when she came up with the idea to use molds to melt wax and make fun-shaped crayons. Her friend suggested she take them to work and hand them out to kids at the hospital where she was doing a pediatrics residency.

Teens are sleeping less. Why schools should be worried

EducationWeek

Researchers from several prominent universities examined the self-reported sleep habits of nearly 130,000 teens. They found that the number of teens getting insufficient sleep, defined as seven hours or less a night, rose from 69% in 2007 to 78% in 2023, the most recent year for which data was available.

“We know that sleep plays a really critical role in adolescent brain development,” said Tanner Bommersbach, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the authors of the study. “So when large numbers of teens aren’t getting enough sleep, it really raises concerns about the downstream effects that that could be having on their mental health, on their academic performance, on their engagement and risk behaviors.”

Shorewood woman invited strangers to her backyard sauna. The response overwhelmed her

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The importance of relationships cannot be overstated, said Robert McGrath, a University of Wisconsin-Madison psychologist who gives public talks on how to live with vitality and resilience. He pointed to one of the longest-running studies on well-being, where Harvard University scientists followed the same group of men since 1938. The study revealed a simple yet profound conclusion: Good relationships lead to health and happiness.

Share experiences with others, even if it’s a solitary activity, McGrath recommended. He teaches a meditation class, for example, which is not exactly made for sparking conversation. But he sees strangers connect before and after class.

“Any form of connection is going to boost one’s mood,” he said. “Make that effort. Get out and connect.”

Exact Sciences gives UW-Madison foundation $2.5 million for early cancer detection research

Wisconsin State Journal

Madison-based biotech leader Exact Sciences has gifted UW-Madison’s foundation $2.5 million to improve early cancer detection discoveries through research.

The Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association’s new grant will establish the James Dahlberg Fund for Cancer Detection and Clinical Integration, named after UW-Madison professor emeritus James Dahlberg, to support university researchers and clinical trials at UW Health focused on detecting and preventing cancer.

The tiny, hidden world of mighty bacteria

Wisconsin Public Radio

They’re tiny organisms, invisible to the human eye, and they’re inside you right now. This isn’t a description of a sci-fi monster but it is one of bacteria — single-celled organisms that can cause illness and death but might also help us to sleep better or find the motivation to exercise.

In short, we depend on bacteria, said Timothy Paustian, a professor in the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“They’re really important for your health. You have a whole group of organisms that live inside you,” Paustian said.

Spaceflight supercharges viruses’ ability to infect bacteria

Scientific American

Once the viruses adapted to microgravity by subtly shape-shifting, though, they became even more effective bacteria killers. “A simple microgravity experiment exposes these mutations that have much higher efficacy against pathogens,” says senior study author Srivatsan Raman, a chemical and biological engineer at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Is Dr. Fred Mohs Wisconsin’s ‘least known famous native’?

The Cap Times

A roadside sign that welcomes drivers to Burlington notes that the Wisconsin city was the boyhood home of Tony Romo, a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current television commentator.

There is no mention of Frederic Edward Mohs, born there in 1910, the visionary physician who invented a skin-cancer procedure bearing his name that has benefited millions.

UW researchers shine light on indigenous-led research

The Badger Herald

After taking community and tribal input, the Manoomin Team aimed to address mixed concerns regarding the state of the restored wild rice — some members of the community feared the rice because of the water it was living in, while others thought that if manoomin was present and growing, it must be healthy, according to Ojibway.

The Hua Lab at UW, led by associate professor within the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology Jessica Hua, has been a key partner in testing samples for heavy metals and PFAS.

“What we know so far … is that wild rice plants, the way that they grow, the way they make seed, is pretty protective of people’s health,” Erickson said. “I think we feel pretty good about people eating rice in the estuary and we can share that with people.”

AI chatbots recommend calorie-starved diets for teens, study warns

Gizmodo

“Adolescence is one of the big time periods of growth, next to infants,” said Taiya Bach, a member of the teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Nutritional Sciences told Gizmodo. “They need way more calories than a grown adult does.”

“Even if you are overweight, you still have that growth piece because a bunch of your calories are still going towards hormones and development and bone growth,” Bach said.

Wisconsin Union’s inaugural chef-in-residence brings more vegan, vegetarian options to campus

The Daily Cardinal

Chef Lauren Montelbano has worked as Wisconsin Union’s first chef-in-residence since last April, expanding vegetarian and vegan options across Union restaurants and collaborating with Union chefs to develop recipes and culinary programs for the Madison community.

Over the past year, she designed dishes for the catering menus, Grab ‘N’ Go areas and the Rathskeller and hosted a cooking demo and class through WUD Cuisine to teach more about vegan food preparation.

“I had the opportunity to collaborate and learn from the highly skilled and talented chefs that have made the Union their home,” Montelbano said. “Their attention to detail, passion for teaching and ability to manage multiple high volume businesses at once was inspiring to witness and be a small part of.”

UW scientists genetically editing Badger hemp lines with USDA approval

WKOW - Channel 27

Scientists at the Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center are pioneering the future of hemp farming. Researchers at UW-Madison have received deregulation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 3 gene-edited hemp lines, allowing field cultivation without special permits.

Senior research scientist Mike Petersen explained they use a tool called CRISPR to gently edit the plant’s DNA, giving it traits like no THC or resistance to disease. Back in November 2025, the first line approved was Badger G, high in CBG, and known to reduce inflammation and other pharmaceutical benefits.

Prescribing improv to improve patient-doctor relationships

Wisconsin Public Radio

Amy Zelenski, associate professor and director of Education Innovation and Scholarship at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, teaches an elective class in improvisational theater.

She recently visited WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show” to discuss the relationship between improv and improving health care.

“I started my career working with medical residents, and I realized that they could say the words, but they were struggling with the connection piece,” Zelenski recalled.

Bird flu outbreaks hit Wisconsin egg producer again, millions of hens impacted

Wisconsin State Farmer

Ron Kean, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s poultry specialist, told Wisconsin Public Radio that poultry producers are also growing frustrated by a lack of solutions in this new era of avian flu response.

“There’s going to have to be more work on vaccination, which is a big international political issue,” he said. “That I think is one of the big frustrations for the poultry industry.”

Wisconsin family navigates loss of gender-affirming care at UW Health

Wisconsin Public Radio

In December, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to bar hospitals from providing “sex-rejecting” services for youth under 18.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that children may experience “irreversible damage” when exposed to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical operations at a young age — for example, infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density and other irreversible physiological effects.

As a result, UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin halted what the health organization calls gender-affirming care in January.  If hospitals didn’t abide by federal rules, they would lose funding for Medicare and Medicaid.

Teen boys are using ChatGPT as their wingman. What could go wrong?

Vox

Some young people are using chatbots “to test out being flirty or being romantic or being a little bit sexy and seeing how the chatbot responds to that,” Megan Moreno, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies technology and adolescent health, told me.

That kind of experimentation may be more common among boys, who generally engage in more risky behavior online than girls, Moreno said.

UW requires students to report vaccination records

The Badger Herald

As of Thursday, Feb. 12, a new University of Wisconsin policy requires its students to share their vaccination status amidst the recent measles outbreak.

Despite some confusion, according to Jake Baggott, Associate Vice Chancellor & Executive Director of University Health Services, students are not required to be vaccinated but rather obligated to share their status for specific vaccinations, such as Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR), Varicella (Chicken Pox), Hepatitis B and more, according to the UHS Vaccination Records website.

Eight student staff, 2,500 mouths to feed: The Open Seat Food Pantry’s campaign for help

The Badger Herald

The Open Seat food pantry, located in the UW Student Activity Center, provides food and hygiene products to students experiencing food insecurity. Open to all UW–Madison students without income verification, the pantry aims to remove barriers to basic needs so students can focus on academics instead of worrying about their next meal.

Now, the eight part-time student employees who operate the pantry are calling on Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor to fund a full-time, permanent staff position dedicated solely to pantry operations. Student organizers say the current model — in which students manage every aspect of a large-scale food distribution program — is no longer sustainable.

25th Bowlin’ for Colons raises money for cancer research

WMTV - Channel 15

The 25th Bowlin’ for Colons event was held Sunday, with participants raising money for colon cancer research at the UW Carbone Cancer Center.

Bowlers laced up their shoes at one of nine south central Wisconsin bowling alleys for the fundraiser. Colon cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer.

‘This study provides a smoking gun’: UW experts provide evidence of digital voter suppression on social media

The Badger Herald

A study led by a University of Wisconsin researcher shows the first empirical documentation of digital voter suppression on social media and foreign election interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The study was published Jan. 26 in the official journal of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Badger Challenge to host gala ball supporting cancer research at UW-Madison

WKOW - Channel 27

The Badger Challenge is launching a new event to raise funds for cancer research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The 2026 Badger Challenge Ball will bring together survivors, supporters, researchers, and community partners for a formal dinner, reception, and auction at The Edgewater. Set against the lakefront backdrop, the evening aims to celebrate hope while directly supporting life-changing cancer research.

UW Health emergency department gets own address

NBC 15

The BerbeeWalsh Emergency Department at University Hospital will now have its own dedicated address, UW Health announced on Thursday.

The emergency department’s new address is 1565 Highland Ave., in Madison.

UW Health explained the emergency department had shared the previous same address as the hospital’s main entrance.

The new address allows for patients and families to get to the department quicker.

Hypermobile EDS afflicts thousands in Wisconsin

The Cap Times

Rudin has incorporated lectures about EDS into the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s medical school curriculum, hoping to expand awareness in academia. He’s also given lectures to various clinical departments to “sensitize” them to the condition and helped create an addition to UW Health’s electronic records that can help assess, diagnose and begin treatment for people with EDS.

UW nutritional experts weigh in on new dietary guidelines

The Badger Herald

The preparation of this year’s guidelines deviated from the past years’ processes, according to associate professor in the University of Wisconsin Department of Food Science Brad Bolling.

“There was a new scientific review process that didn’t follow the established public accountability and measures that typically the dietary guidelines goes through,” Bolling said.

The revised guidelines are lacking review and thought, retired senior clinical nutritionist of UW Hospital and Clinics Donna Weihofen said. The adaptation of the guidelines into effect is scary, given the existing controversy behind them, according to Weihofen.

The layout and suggestions presented in the new guidelines also confuse Weihofen. The graphic is completely flipped, and the placement of whole grains, an important source of fiber, on the bottom is a confusing choice, according to Weihofen.

“Fiber is really an important part of our diet … so to put that at the bottom of the pyramid doesn’t seem to make nutritional sense,” Weihofen said.

How safe is UW drinking water?

The Badger Herald

The Madison Water Utility oversees the 21 wells that service the City of Madison, including the University of Wisconsin campus, according to Grande. They closely monitor a wide variety of regulated contaminants, like volatile organic compounds, pesticides, inorganic compounds, bacterial contaminations and PFAS, according to Grande.

UW-Madison now will mandate that students disclose their vaccination status

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison students now will be required to report their vaccination status to the university, campus officials said Thursday.

The mandate comes after UW-Madison announced earlier this month that a student living in an off-campus apartment tested positive for measles. University and Dane County officials said at least 4,000 people were exposed.

UW-Madison to require students share vaccination status for measles

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

UW-Madison has announced it will now require students to share their vaccination status for multiple diseases, including measles.

The policy change comes after a measles case in a UW-Madison student, which was reported in early February. The student visited several locations on and off campus while contagious, and university officials had to notify about 4,000 people who may have been exposed.

Scientific studies calculate climate change as health danger, while Trump calls it a ‘scam’

Associated Press

“Health risks are increasing because human-cause climate change is already upon us. Take the 2021 heat dome for example, that killed (more than) 600 people in the Northwest,’’ said Dr. Jonathan Patz, a physician who directs the Center for Health, Energy and Environmental Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The new climate attribution studies show that event was made 150-fold more likely due to climate change.”

I went into phone-free silence. Something disturbing happened.

The Washington Post

“We are often so externally focused that we don’t recognize what is going on in our minds, and when we begin to pay attention to that, it’s genuinely exhausting for most people,” Richard Davidson, a University of Wisconsin psychologist who studies meditation. It also can make us more anxious, at least at first.

Local efforts promote aging-friendly communities and social connection

Wisconsin Public Radio

Sara Richie, who works to promote aging-friendly communities as the Life Span program manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, said it’s important for communities to be inclusive and healthy places for older residents.

“(The community groups) are ensuring that people have an opportunity to lead fulfilling and connected lives and have access to the things that they need to age in place,” Richie said. “They provide an opportunity to celebrate the strengths and contributions of older adults, and have an infrastructure that supports them, and the services to meet their needs as well.”

Measles cases spread on college campuses

Inside Higher Ed

A student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also tested positive for measles last week; an update from the university on Friday confirmed that the student was no longer contagious and provided a list of times and places, both on and off campus, “where they may have inadvertently exposed others to measles.” The university called for exposed unvaccinated students to quarantine for three weeks in accordance with local public health guidance.

For years, schools couldn’t offer whole milk. Will they now?

MarketPlace

“For schools that were looking for ways to provide cheap and nutritious meals for school children, one of the easiest ways to do that was just to provide milk, even before they were able to provide meals,” explained Andrew Ruis, research scientist in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the book “Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States.”

How 2 alums made house call health care visits popular at UW-Madison

Wisconsin State Journal

hile house calls may seem to belong in the past, they’re trending upward at UW-Madison.

Wisconsin-based company Pivotal Health, which UW-Madison alumni Sal Braico and Pete Johnson launched, has, since 2021, brought nurse practitioners to patients’ living rooms — or dorms — to provide primary and urgent health care.