UW Health’s Dr. Jeff Pothof joined News 3 Now Live at Four Tuesday to answer if beef tallow is actually good for you.
UW Health doctor speaks on reality of beef tallow
Channel 3000
Category: Health
Tom Still: Research funding has produced real human benefits, with the promise of more
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-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 develop symptoms and then identify ways to slow its progression.
“A key problem we are trying to solve is how we can diagnose the disease earlier, before people even develop symptoms,” Johnson said during a campus news conference. “Early diagnosis allows time for individuals and their families to take control of their situation, maintain good quality of life, take steps to protect brain health and learn about treatments.”
‘Farmer’s Ozepmic’: UW researchers work to reduce certain amino acids in soybean, corn plants to create weight loss strategy
The Badger Herald
A three-year grant funded by Wisconsin Partnership Program, a grantmaking program within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, is backing research into how the reduction of certain proteins could be actualized through gene editing of soybean and corn, Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair for Biomedical Research in the Department of Medicine Dudley Lamming said.
Treating rotator cuff injuries, and the use of AI in healthcare
Wisconsin Public Radio
New research proposes changes to how rotator cuff tendinopathy is diagnosed and addressed. Our physical therapists weigh in. Then we talk about the use of AI in healthcare with the chief information and digital health officer at UW Health.
Study: Long-term use of pain relief medications may lower risk of Dementia for some people
Health
“It wasn’t that they were taking higher or lower doses, but that they were taking it, which does speak to this idea of dampening inflammation,” said Nate Chin, MD, medical director for the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
‘Endless series of contradictions’: Girls open up about complicated relationships with social media
Wisconsin Public Radio
Kate Phelps thinks the way society talks about how young girls use the internet is too simplistic. A big part of that, she says, is because culture spends a lot of time scrutinizing pre-teen girls, but we rarely talk to them about their experiences. Phelps, a University of Wisconsin-Madison women and gender studies researcher, wanted to change that.
Her new book, “Digital Girlhoods,” is based on her conversations with 26 different girls between the ages of 10 and 13 — an age group often referred to as “tweens” — about their feelings about social media.
Two healthcare systems merged, then closed the only birthing center for miles.
The Badger Project
Closures are common after mergers, and a particularly sticky problem in more rural communities, which have fewer people and thus make less financial sense for profit-driven organizations, said Peter Carstensen, a professor emeritus in the UW-Madison Law School who focuses on competition policy. When competitors merge, they look for areas to reduce cost.
“It almost always means eliminating some overlapping activities,” he said.
Buzzed into Madison with the UW-Madison School of Nursing
Channel 3000
Celebrating 100 years of excellence at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing! With a growing nursing shortage, Badger nurses are stepping up—pursuing advanced degrees to educate, advocate, and transform healthcare for the future.
Doctors see influx of requests for long-acting reversible contraception
WKOW - Channel 27
Dr. Laura Hanks is an OB-GYN with UW Health and an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin in the department of OB-GYN. She says they have seen an uptick in people requesting both LARC and permanent sterilization since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“We did a study at our hospital to looking at the increase in permanent sterilization rates, and we saw 106% increase in the year following the Dobbs decision,” Hanks says.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield extends in-network coverage of UW Health as negotiations continue
Wisconsin Public Radio
UW Health doctors will continue to be in-network providers for patients with health insurance from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield until July 1.
Study at UW-Madison brings possible placenta treatment closer to clinical trials
The Daily Cardinal
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Florida have discovered a treatment for placentas deficient in the growth hormone IGF-1 that may soon be going toward human clinical trials.
Deaths of 2 prisoners at Taycheedah occurred during uptick in flu cases
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Prisons, hospitals, nursing homes and other “congregate facilities” can accelerate the spread of respiratory illnesses due to overcrowding, said Ajay Sethi, associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“People aren’t always able to control how much space they can have around others, and so that that is one of the ingredients for the spread of a respiratory virus,” Sethi said.
NIH cuts off more research funding, including for vaccine hesitancy. mRNA may be next
NPR
“It appears that there are forces intent on destroying our existing vaccine enterprise,” says Dr. Jonathan Temte, a professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin who studies vaccine hesitancy. “Defunding research on vaccine hesitancy is the latest example of this effort.”
Here & Now’ Highlights: Mariel Barnes
PBS Wisconsin
UW-Madison professor Mariel Barnes conducted research into how and why the “manosphere” took political hold, and described her findings and its impacts on politics.
Cuts to Medicaid would affect wide range of Wisconsin residents, researcher says
Wisconsin Public Radio
Donna Friedsam is a researcher emerita who has been studying health care policy and reform for decades at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Friedsam told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that changes at the federal level could have significant ripple effects at home.
“Many people who are on Medicare, who are low-income, also duly rely on Medicaid to cover things that Medicare does not cover,” Friedsam said. “So, Medicaid is actually quite a wide-ranging program and reaches over a million Wisconsin residents who rely on it.”
COVID-19’s fifth anniversary: 5 areas where life changed in U.S.
Deseret News
As the Journal Sentinel reported, quoting Sedona Chinn, an assistant professor and researcher in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at University of Wisconsin-Madison, folks who were frustrated started doing their own research, but it also “led to more misinformation and more anti-expert bias, making it all the much harder for solid science to break through.”
Don’t overdo it, but light exercise can help with minor illness
CNN
“If you have a mild to moderate illness, you can continue to exercise, but you should do less than you normally do,” said family physician Dr. Bruce Barrett, a professor and vice chair for research in the department of family medicine and community health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “If you normally run 10 miles per week, maybe run 5 if you have a mild cold. Just tamp it down.”
How to fix an overactive bladder
Consumer Reports
Many fruits and vegetables, for example, are a key part of a healthy diet. They’re also high in fiber, which helps prevent constipation, says Chris Manakas, MD, a urologist at UW Health and an assistant professor of urology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
How to protect your pets from bird flu
Popular Science
As of March 6, more than 100 domestic cats have been infected since 2022. Wild cats like lynx and captive tigers have also fallen ill. Considering the tens of millions of pet and stray cats in the U.S., confirmed cases remain exceedingly rare. “Just like in humans, the risk of pets contracting H5N1 is relatively low” outside of farm settings, says Peter Halfmann, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine.
Is ‘Severance’ making your dog freak out?
The Washington Post
Freya Mowat, a veterinary ophthalmologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s school of veterinary medicine, has done research on visual perception for dogs. She said a show displayed on older televisions would appear like “old movie screens” to dogs with individual flickers and a low refresh rate. Modern televisions, though, offer more flow and smooth projection.
UW-Madison young scientists’ careers in upheaval as Trump slows research funding
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Randy Kimple, a professor of human oncology at UW-Madison, has two Ph.D. students in his lab supported by grants, called “supplements,” meant to promote diversity among researchers. The supplements fund not only students of color, but also first-generation college students and those from rural areas or low-income neighborhoods.
Kimple expects to lose that funding — roughly $150,000 — in the summer, given the Trump administration’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Universities of Wisconsin System president talks potential impact of NIH funding cuts
The Badger Herald
Thursday afternoon, University of Wisconsin staff and various members of the scientific community gathered to address concerns of cuts in medical research funding from the National Institutes of Health.
‘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.
US egg prices are expected to rise by more than 40% in 2025. What’s in store for Wisconsin?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
So far, Wisconsin’s bird flu outbreaks have been among turkey flocks, not hens, according to University of Wisconsin-Extension poultry specialist Ron Kean. Still, the state has felt the strain of egg shortages, with some Milwaukee grocery stores even setting egg purchase limits in recent weeks.
“Unfortunately, I don’t see prices improving in the near future,” Kean said. “We still don’t have a handle on stopping bird flu.”
RFK Jr. has targeted antidepressants for kids. How do SSRIs work?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Dr. Marcia Slattery, a physician and professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focuses on anxiety disorders in patients between 5 and 18 years old. She could not speak to any of Kennedy’s claims, but offered her expertise on SSRIs and their role in children’s mental health.
Typically, once a signal is passed between neurons, serotonin is reabsorbed in those cells, a process called “reuptake.” SSRIs block this process of reuptake, which increases serotonin levels in your brain. That enables the brain to continue using serotonin to connect more dots as we go about everyday tasks.
COVID changed how we talk, think and interact. Now, how do we go forward?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It was March 2020 when Dr. Ajay Sethi got a call from his best friend in Maryland. His friend’s father had died from COVID-19, one of the earliest U.S. casualties of the virus.
“Because I’m an epidemiologist and I think about numbers, the emotions behind those numbers, how is it I know someone so early who’s died from COVID-19?” said Sethi, who serves as the faculty director of the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The odds are so unusual, I remember thinking then, it must be big.”
Bad psychedelic trips linked to early death for some, study finds
CNN
Some people fail to find a psychedelic experience beneficial, said Dr. Charles Raison, a professor of psychiatry and human ecology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.
“Maybe one in 20 people report having ongoing difficulties they ascribe to the psychedelic technique,” said Raison, who was not involved in the new research.
As measles outbreaks spread, Wisconsin could be vulnerable
Wisconsin Public Radio
“We need really, really high vaccine coverage in order to protect a community from a measles outbreak,” said Malia Jones, a public health researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It is the most infectious disease on Earth. Nearly everyone who is exposed to measles and has not been vaccinated will get it.”
Psychedelic drug studies face a potent source of bias: the ‘trip’
Science
Charles Raison, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been experimenting with having people sleep through their trips, as a way to understand how much a conscious psychedelic experience matters. Two volunteers received psilocybin while in a deep sleep with a sedative, and 1 week later both “swore they got placebo,” Raison says. He is now developing a larger study in which people with self-reported reduced emotional well-being will be randomized to get psilocybin or placebo while either awake or asleep, to tease out how the trip influences longer term effects on emotional state.
UW Health: Registration opens for Badger Challenge, new location announced
WMTV - Channel 15
The challenge that includes walking, running and biking is held every September to support groundbreaking cancer research and treatment initiatives at the UW Health – Carbone Cancer Center.
Federal investigation of antidepressants could impact student mental health, experts say
Badger Herald
‘They’re taking away what can be the most integral part of somebody’s recovery,’ National Alliance on Mental Illness member says.
Anthem patients could lose access to UW Health if agreement isn’t reached, health system says
Wisconsin State Journal
UW Health’s contract with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Wisconsin will end April 15 if the parties don’t agree to terms before then, potentially leaving patients with Anthem insurance unable to go to UW Health or facing higher bills there, UW Health said Friday.
Wisconsin public health experts worry about next year’s flu shot after FDA cancels advisory meeting
Wisconsin Public Radio
“There’s about a six month process to go from selection of the strains to then start manufacturing the vaccine to then scaling up and distribution,” said Ajay Sethi, a professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So the timing is critical in order to sort of make the deadline of getting the flu shot.”
“We have this independence from government, this independence from industry, and it provides a background of individuals who have a lot of expertise on the topic,” said Dr. Jon Temte, a UW-Madison professor of family medicine.
But he said the committees simply make a recommendation that federal officials can choose whether or not to adopt. He said the FDA commissioner could still make a decision about next year’s flu shot in the coming months.
23 Dem AGs think they’ve cracked the code to fighting Trump
Politico
On February 10, 22 of the states sued over cuts to the National Institutes of Health. It was filed in Massachusetts, but is filled with details on which programs at the University of Wisconsin are being the most impacted.
“Making sure that information is being included and considered as part of these cases is what I see as sort of a key role for us and for other states,“ said Wisconsin’s Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Guardian caps didn’t impact concussion rate in Wisconsin high school football, study finds
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison researchers found that guardian caps had no impact on sports-related concussion rates after evaluating nearly 3,000 high school football players in their study.
Why has Wisconsin public health declined despite millions in funding?
The Capital Times
UW-Madison has funded efforts to prevent farmer suicides, expand access to health services for Black men through barbershops and improve Alzheimer’s disease detection among Latinos. The school has trained medical students to work in rural communities and sought to increase Indigenous representation in medicine. Researchers have studied new ways to treat melanoma and prevent opioid misuse.
China told to drop marriage age to boost birth rate
Newsweek
“Even lowering the legal age of marriage to 18 will do nothing to boost the fertility rate now that people have become accustomed to marrying young and having children later,” said Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who conducts demography research. “China’s age of first marriage in 2020 was 29.4 years for men and 28.0 years for women, and it will continue to be delayed, following along the same path as Taiwan and South Korea.”
NIH funding cuts ‘a travesty to biomedical research,’ says UW research director
Wisconsin Public Radio
An announcement from the National Institutes of Health earlier this month said the agency would slash support for indirect research costs paid to universities, medical centers and other grant recipients.
The change could leave research institutions like the University of Wisconsin-Madison scrambling for millions of dollars from other sources to support labs, students and staff.
Trump administration delays Wisconsin research funds by withholding, canceling review meetings
Wisconsin Public Radio
“This is clearly a loophole which is now used to stall the reviews,” said Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, vice chancellor for research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The impact of the postponement won’t be felt immediately, she said. But if the meetings can’t continue, it will have an impact in coming months.
“At the minimum, a delay. At the most extreme case, maybe funding won’t happen,” Grejner-Brzezinska said. “At the moment, we hope that it is just a delay. And are watching what’s going to happen next.”
Measles vaccination rates have fallen across Wisconsin, data shows
Wisconsin Public Radio
There are several reasons for Wisconsin’s low and declining measles vaccination rates, said Jim Conway, a pediatric infectious disease professor at the University of Wisconsin’s medical school. A “recency phenomenon” is one of them, he said.
“These ‘old-fashioned diseases,’ as one parent said to me a couple weeks ago, just aren’t as concerning,” he said. “Because they’re considered diseases that affected all our parents, but they don’t see them as a current threat.”
Alzheimer’s research at UW-Madison could bear brunt of Trump’s medical research cuts
Wisconsin State Journal
A major cut in federal funding for medical research, announced by the Trump administration this month, would harm efforts at UW-Madison to better treat cancer, diabetes and heart disease, university officials said.
In Wisconsin, relatively few seek permanent gender change
Wisconsin State Journal
UW Health paralegal Andrea Redfield said that of the 505 distinct patients that had one or more visits to the PATH Clinic between June 1, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2024, “271 patients have had an order placed for puberty blockers, estrogen, and/or testosterone” but noted that “an order being placed in our system does not mean the patient picked up their prescription and/or took the medication.”
Improvements to hearing aid tech, access has led to better and cheaper options
Wisconsin Public Radio
Untreated hearing loss can take a toll on the mental health of those hard of hearing, according to Rachel Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Madison clinical associate professor and audiologist.
“Hearing loss is associated with a lot of things, such as social isolation, which can lead to depression and anxiety. It can also affect cognitive ability,” Lee said recently on WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show.”
UW Health, SSM Health staff identify diaper need in postpartum patients
NBC-15
Six months ago, UW Health started conducting a diaper needs assessment survey at postpartum appointments at OB-GYN clinics in Madison.
How to channel anxiety as an emotional intelligence strategy
Forbes
In 2013, Researchers at University of Wisconsin put this idea to the test. They placed people in MRI machines and threatened to shock them at random. There were three groups of participants:
The researchers measured fear activity in each person’s brain. And they found something incredible in the third group. Participants’ brains were much less active. They could literally outsource their fear to their loved ones. That means your brain can offload negativity. Leaning on others in tough times is like taking ice cream scoops of negativity out of your brain. The EQ Strategy: Ask your friends and family for support. Don’t let fear of vulnerability hold you back.
Finnish saunas are having a moment in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Public Radio
Arnold Alanen is a professor emeritus of landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he researched the history of sauna structures. Alanen told “Wisconsin Today” that as a Finnish American, sauna has been a way of life for him from the beginning. He said he was first brought into a sauna as a very young baby, and then he caught on to the ritual when he was about 8 years old, living on his grandparents’ farm in Minnesota.
“The weekly sauna tradition was something that we did on our farm, just without interruption. We would do it every Saturday evening,” he said. “It became such an integral part of my life, as well as of our family.”
‘Heartbreaking to slow down’: UW-Madison researchers warn funding cuts would delay new treatments for cancer, more
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the nation’s top research institutions, are wary of potential cuts to funding under the Trump administration that they warn could slow their work and delay new treatments for cancer and other diseases.
Wisconsin is seeing among its worst flu seasons of the past decade. Here’s why
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“We’re right in the midst of it. There’s no glimmer at this point whatsoever that it’s starting to go down,” said Dr. James Conway, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Global Health Institute.
Lab workers key to California’s bird flu response are poised to strike
The Washington Post
Since last summer, senior managers have hired technicians, and scientists from the University of Wisconsin and Cornell University have completed rotations at the lab, Ontiveros said.
UW School of Medicine teaches firearm safety
The Badger Herald
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health began teaching courses on firearm safety in January 2023. The courses were started and are taught by clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Dr. James Bigham.
After runner’s suicide, University of Wisconsin Athletics increased mental health resources
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The suicide of University of Wisconsin-Madison runner Sarah Shulze put a spotlight on the unique pressures facing student athletes and the level of mental health resources available to them.
The pressure on student-athletes keeps mounting. For one UW-Madison runner, it was too much
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The ribbons first appeared at the 2022 invitational, a few months after UW-Madison runner Sarah Shulze died by suicide at 21. A green ribbon is the symbol for mental health awareness.
One of Sarah’s former roommates, Maddie Mooney, came up with the idea as a way to reinforce the stakes.
‘The drive to the airport is more dangerous than the flight itself’, WI aviation experts say
NBC-15
Behavioral Specialist for UW Health, Dr. Sydney Zettler, explained while probability for plane crashes is low, travel anxiety can be very high.
“There’s two kinds of common thoughts that can drive anxiety, catastrophizing and probability over estimation,” said Zettler. ”This example, is there’s maybe more travel anxiety given recent plane crashes in the United States.”
Would Susan Crawford have to recuse from any abortion case? Why experts say she wouldn’t.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Howard Schweber, a professor emeritus of political science and legal studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted many judges previously worked as criminal prosecutors or defenders.
“It would be absurd to suggest that those judges must recuse themselves from any case involving a crime,” Schweber said.
Capital Cafe open Monday after ‘deep cleaning’ removes potential Typhoid exposure
The Daily Cardinal
UHS and Environment, Health & Safety said they were notified of a typhoid fever case in a campus member who worked at Capital Café, inside of Grainger Hall, while infectious. UHS sent the email to campus members who visited Capital Café on Jan. 29 or 30.
Robert Golden on NIH funding cuts and medical research at UW
PBS Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden discusses impacts of a Trump administration action to shift National Institutes of Health rules for research funds.
Study: Guardian Caps do not reduce concussion risk for Wisconsin high school football players
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wearing a padded cover over a football helmet does not reduce the risk of concussions for high school athletes, according to a new study using data from Wisconsin.
The study was conducted by University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Orthopedics andRehabilitation during the 2023 football season. Its peer-reviewed findings were published on Jan. 28 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
UW researcher warns that federal funding cuts could halt vital work
TMJ4
“We really rely on NIH funding,” Jon Audhya, a professor and associate dean at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health said. “That reduction would have a huge negative impact on the institution. The university really couldn’t fill the gap.”