UW In The News

How to use eye makeup safely during coronavirus

In addition to possibly contracting the virus from contaminated fingers or brushes, a makeup user also risks exposure to the coronavirus from the products themselves, especially if those products are shared with others or are used outside of the home, said Sarah M. Nehls, an ophthalmologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “The makeup could be potentially contaminated,” she said. “[The coronavirus] has been found on the ocular surface. This is why conjunctivitis [pinkeye] can be an initial symptom of infection.”

Coronavirus’s Spread Broadens Across U.S.

“We just didn’t have that endurance to see that to the point where cases are now sporadic,” said Ajay Sethi, an associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison focused on epidemiology and infectious diseases.

The ‘unwise, disruptive policy’ of shutting out international students

The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that all of the roughly 1 million international students currently enrolled in the U.S. must attend at least one in-person class this fall or be denied visas. We hear student reaction, and Jeffrey Brown talks to Rebecca Blank of University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Masks mandatory inside all UW campus buildings this fall

In 1918, the University of Wisconsin’s expertise and the ‘Wisconsin Idea’ proved crucial in fighting a pandemic

As colleges and universities announce plans to invite students back to campus this fall, American higher education is, according to the New York Times, “about to embark on a highly uncertain experiment.”

UW-Madison announces initiatives to address racial inequities on campus

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank addressed racial inequities on campus in a blog post Wednesday.She shared a number of additional commitments the university is making to ensure success of all students. She also said these commitments will require financial support, which may mean cutting other programs.

Which mask is best? UW engineering professor studies how droplets escape from face coverings

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineer Scott Sanders usually spends his time figuring out how gases and particles behave in combustion engines.

But Sanders has turned his expertise to determining how a different type of particle, one that has sickened millions around the world, moves from human mouths covered with masks.

‘Desperation Science’ Slows the Hunt for Coronavirus Drugs

Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin lawyer and bioethicist, recalled the clamor in the 1990s to get insurers to cover bone marrow transplants for breast cancer until a solid study showed they “simply made people more miserable and sicker” without improving survival.

Coronavirus forces scientists to change while searching for vaccine

Pilar Ossorio, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, worries there is so much pressure to produce positive results that conditions are ripe for cutting corners. She noted that in an emergency when people are suffering, there can be resistance to having control groups that don’t get an experimental treatment in a study.

UW professor’s research shows which masks best contain COVID droplets

In a cool video posted online this week, UW–Madison mechanical engineering professor Scott Sanders uses a mannequin to illustrate how droplets escape or stay contained inside a variety of masks now being worn.

How can I get my child to wear a mask? If I’m sick with COVID, how long do I need to quarantine? Experts answer your questions

Quoted: “A mask that is not covering the nose will not stop a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 from contaminating the air in front of them when they exhale. Similarly, a mask covering only the mouth will fail to prevent an uninfected person from inhaling contaminated air. Since it does not take a lot of virus particles to cause infection, a partially worn mask may not be effective enough. This reminds me of when I see people wearing a bicycle helmet without buckling the strap or wearing it so loosely that it doesn’t cover the front of their head. The intention might be there, but there is a higher risk of head injury following an accident if the helmet is unable to do what it is designed to do.”

— Ajay Sethi, PhD, MHS, associate professor, Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Some masks better than others in preventing COVID-19, UW video shows

Six months of coronavirus: the mysteries scientists are still racing to solve

With government and industry pumping billions into vaccine development, testing and manufacturing, a vaccine could be available in record time, say scientists — it just might not be completely effective. “We might have vaccines in the clinic that are useful in people within 12 or 18 months,” Dave O’Connor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, told Nature in May. “But we’re going to need to improve on them.”

Hospital ratings often depend more on nice rooms than on health care

In a 2014 study of 155 physicians by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health, close to half said that pressure to please patients led to inappropriate care including unnecessary tests and procedures, hospital admissions, and opioid or antibiotic prescriptions.

Are High Water Levels a Result of Climate Change?

While many people are scrambling to combat flooding and damage to infrastructure, climate scientists are working to find out what has been causing the latest rise in lake levels. According to Jack Williams, a UW-Madison geography professor and climate-change expert, it’s the billion-dollar question.“We can’t yet definitively say,” Williams said. “What we know is that we are seeing increasing temperatures and variability of rainfall, which are both known to be caused by climate change.”

21 Lessons From America’s Worst Moments

TIME asked 21 historians, including Professor of Community and Environmental Sociology Nan Estad, to weigh in with their picks for “worst moments” that hold a lesson—and what they think those experiences can teach us.

Laura Albert: Coronavirus reopening risks – Here’s a plan to make us safer

“Opening the economy is not the problem,” writes Laura Albert, Industrial and Systems Engineering professor. “Opening the economy without a plan to control the risk is the problem.”

Cloud of confusion – Conflicting covid-19 messages add to struggle to contain virus

Health scares always spawn scurrilous stories. But with covid-19, “there’s lots of opportunity for misinformation,” said Dhavan Shah, a professor of mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Court reinstates Wisconsin voting restrictions in victory for Republicans

The decision could lead to severe efforts to change electoral rules for political gain, said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Anger Management for an Angry Time

If you decide to use your anger, choose something you can control. “Anger is a very energizing emotion—think of it as the opposite of procrastination,” says Evan Polman, an associate professor in the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Remember that anger can give you courage. Use it to ask for a raise, get involved in a cause you care about or get up the nerve to have that difficult conversation you’ve been putting off.

How Slavery Persisted in New England Until the 19th Century

“Most of the general public in the U.S. has no understanding of the very long history of slavery in the northern colonies and the northern states,” says Christy Clark-Pujara, a professor of history and Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island.

Why we should explore Venus before Mars

Not so fast. The Pioneer probe sent to Venus in 1978 detected traces of methane in that CO2-filled atmosphere. Methane is a rare chemical to produce without life acting as some kind of intermediary. “People tried to explain it away and they couldn’t,” says Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a former chair of NASA’s Venus Exploration Analysis Group.

Know Your Madisonian: UW-Madison health director leads COVID-19 response behind the scenes

From 47 Primaries, 4 Warning Signs About the 2020 Vote

“We were fortunate that the pandemic hit during the primaries rather than the general election,” said Barry C. Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It provided a sort of training ground for states to turn the corner on voting by mail.”

Biden’s low-key strategy vexes Trump, but in-person campaigning beckons

“I don’t see how that’s sustainable through the fall election,” professor Barry Burden, director of the Election Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told AFP.”

There will come a point where Biden will need to be a physical presence on the campaign trail, if only to reassure voters he is a real person, in good health and ready to serve.”

Across the U.S., families are having tough talks about racism

“Absent these kinds of conversations, the status quo wins,” said Patricia Devine, psychology professor and director of the Prejudice Lab at University of Wisconsin-Madison. “And the status quo is being revealed to us to be unacceptable in terms of costing people their lives only because of the color of their skin. That can’t stand.

The chicken first crossed the road in Southeast Asia, ‘landmark’ gene study finds

But Jonathan Kenoyer, an archaeologist and Indus expert at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, remains skeptical that the chicken arose in Southeast Asia. “They need to get ancient DNA” to back up their claims, he says, because genomes of modern birds may provide limited clues to early events in chicken evolution.

Coronavirus Is a Crisis. Might It Also Narrow Inequality?

Scholars are brimming with ideas to construct a more generous safety net on a permanent basis, bolstering everything from Medicaid to child care support. Timothy Smeeding, a professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, suggests that the federal government pick up the entire tab for Medicaid, which it now shares with the states.

UW-Madison Medical School Dean Predicts Ups And Downs With COVID Vaccines, Cures

UW-Madison announced on Wednesday it was one of 32 sites for a clinical trial testing an existing drug called ruxolitinib as a way to prevent a COVID-19 complication where a patient’s immune system kicks into deadly overdrive. Hospitals in Milwaukee and Madison are also investigating convalescent plasma from recovered patients to treat those with active infections.

UW joins drug trial aimed at preventing major COVID-19 killer: Haywire immune response

The majority of people who die from COVID-19 are killed by a dangerous immune system overreaction called a cytokine storm, but researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and dozens of other sites around the world are now testing a potential weapon against it.