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Team seeks to add advanced microlenses to technology
Most of us peer through lenses every day, but the “microlenses” devised by engineering professors Hongrui Jiang and Dave Beebe aren’t nearly so ordinary. Made of liquid and designed to be self-adjusting, these tiny lenses are a breed apart from their counterparts in eyeglasses and cameras.
Professor plants seeds of forgiveness in Belfast, Milwaukee
Bob Enright, a professor of educational psychology and his wife, Jeanette Knutson Enright, have been leading initiatives in Northern Ireland and Milwaukee to develop, introduce and assess a comprehensive curriculum for introducing children to the idea of forgiveness.
Virginia Tech Tragedy and Campus Safety
A letter to the Campus Community from Dean of Students Lori Berquam about the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech and questions of safety and security on the UW–Madison campus.
Fishing for new anti-inflammatory, cancer drugs
Though cell movement and migration in the body play a central role in mediating injury and disease, including inflammatory responses and cancer metastasis, drugs designed to stifle cells’ nomadic tendencies are scarce. A new interdisciplinary research project funded by the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant program seeks to develop a novel drug-discovery process that may start to fill this gap.
Researchers seek early detection for hard-to-diagnose disease
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by infertility due to anovulation, abnormal secretion of androgens and other hormones, and insulin resistance. PCOS is the most common female endocrine disorder, affecting 4-7 percent of women in their reproductive years — the syndrome accounts for 75 percent of all anovulations. PCOS has staggering adverse physiological, psychological and financial consequences for women’s reproductive health.
Scaling up stem cells: Project aims to churn out cells in quantity, quality
For scientists, one of the charms of human embryonic stem cells is their ability to divide and replicate — as far as we know — forever in the culture dish. That defining trait, the ability to constantly make new cells, suggests it might be possible to generate a limitless supply for therapy, research and industrial applications such as high-throughput drug screens.
In quest for less risky drugs, scientists listen to neurons
Since the 1950s, doctors have been ordering medications such as Ritalin to ease symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and prescriptions now number in the millions. Still, though highly effective, so-called “psychostimulant” drugs are not without risks, leaving many seeking safer alternatives, especially for children.
Study focuses on closing school achievement gap
Despite decades of interventions and billions of dollars spent, a large gap in school achievement stubbornly persists between underprivileged children and their more advantaged peers. With funding from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant program, UW–Madison scientists will now bring their collective expertise to bear on one important, but overlooked, cause of this troubling problem.
Breaching a gateway to the cell, drug discovery
With support from the Discovery Seed Grant Program, Wisconsin scientists are poised to bring a novel approach to finding new medicines by deploying the atomic force microscope — the foremost tool of the nanotechnologist — to screen agents as they dock with critical cell receptors.
Men’s track wins seventh straight Big Ten title
It was a record-breaking day for the second-ranked Wisconsin men’s track and field team. The Badgers won their seventh straight Big Ten Conference indoor championship with 120 points, tying a league record for consecutive indoor titles. Wisconsin tied a mark held by Michigan from 1934-40.
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant winners named
The research program of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin–Madison gets underway today (Feb. 21), as officials announce the results of a campus-wide competition for the institutes' Discovery Seed Grants.
Men’s basketball ranked top in the country
The Wisconsin men’s basketball team (26-2, 12-1 Big Ten) earned its first-ever No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press Poll released Monday. The Badgers lead the nation in both wins and winning percentage. Ohio State remains No. 2 followed by Florida and UCLA.
Kathleen Horning: Helping communities make choices on challenged books
School librarians have an inherently behind-the-scenes profession, but what happens when they are thrust into a very public controversy over a challenged book?
Governor’s budget proposal to include domestic partner benefits
For many years, the University of Wisconsin–Madison has actively pursued the ability to offer domestic partner health insurance benefits to its faculty and staff. The campus community is one step closer to that goal, with the announcement that Gov. Jim Doyle would include benefits in the state budget proposal for the 2007-09 biennium. Doyle’s plan would authorize and fund benefits for domestic partners of all state employees, including those of UW System.
For seriously ill patients, a UW center helps navigate an emotional journey
In the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, the UW Center for Patient partnerships uses the resources of the university to spread hope and give guidance to seriously patients all over the state. The center combines the knowledge of the health care, legal and social work staff and students with the determination of patients to create a synergy that can improve health care in Wisconsin.