Center Updates
UW vision researchers partner with U.S. Department of Defense to develop stem cell therapy for combat-related eye injuries
The project, led by David Gamm, MD, PhD, director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, will develop a transplantable patch to restore vision to members of the armed forces who have been injured by blasts or lasers.
December 11, 2020
New Visualization Method Gets to the Heart of Parkinson’s Disease
This week, the NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs highlights Dr. Marina Emborg, her WNPRC lab team and their UW–Madison colleagues’ advances in detecting heart disease in Parkinson’s and evaluating new therapies that specifically target nerve disease within the human heart.
December 2020
Celebrating 25 Years of Embryonic Stem Cell Research at UW–Madison
It’s been 25 years since University of Wisconsin–Madison scientist James Thomson became the first in the world to successfully isolate and culture primate embryonic stem cells. He accomplished this breakthrough first with nonhuman primates at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center in 1995, using rhesus monkey cells, then in 1996 with marmoset cells. Thomson then published his world-changing breakthrough on human embryonic stem cell derivation in Science on Nov. 6, 1998.
November 6, 2020
Study points way to possible new treatment for ligament injuries
“EEMs and exosomes each have attractive characteristics as therapeutics,” Dr. Hematti, UW-Madison’s Department of Medicine, noted.” As a cell therapy, EEMs will not proliferate or differentiate to undesirable cell types, which remains a concern for many stem cell therapies. Moreover, EEMs could be generated from a patient’s own monocytes using off-the-shelf exosomes, resulting in a faster and more facile process compared to autologous MSCs. Alternatively, exosome therapy could be a cell free, shelf-stable therapeutic to deliver biologically active components.” “Altogether, we believe our studies’ results support the use of EEMs and/or exosomes to improve ligament healing by modulating inflammation and tissue remodeling,” Dr. Vanderby concluded.
November 3, 2020
Stem cells can repair Parkinson’s-damaged circuits in mouse brains
University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers, led by UW–Madison neuroscientist Su-Chun Zhang, demonstrated a proof-of-concept stem cell treatment in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. They found that neurons derived from stem cells can integrate well into the correct regions of the brain, connect with native neurons and restore motor functions. The findings have been published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
September 24, 2020
Dr. Hematti receives Bonus Acknowledgement from Be The Match
Be the match extended their sincere gratitude for Dr. Hematti’s commitment to patients and donors. Despite the challenges that have been faced over the past several months, this commitment hasn’t faded and, in fact, has shone a light on the dedication and diligence that Dr. Hematti’s and his team have put forth to the common mission of saving lives through cellular therapy. The NMDP/BTM marrow collection program at University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinic serves a critical role in ensuring that patients are continued to be provided with the life-saving cellular therapies they need.
Aug.19, 2020
Click to read more about Dr. Hematti’s team’s work.
Simpler COVID-19 test could provide results in hours from saliva
Scientists from UW–Madison’s AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory have tuned a relatively simple genetic testing process to find evidence of the novel coronavirus in saliva…David Beebe, a UW–Madison pathology professor and Salus, joined the group to design and produce an extraction process that would work outside lab settings and make the RT-LAMP test much more accurate with a small saliva sample.
August 6, 2020
UW Researchers Devise Approach To Treat Rare, Incurable Form of Blindness
A paper chronicling the research, co-led by David Gamm, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences in the School of Medicine and Public Health, was published online July 23 in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The study was also led by Kris Saha, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering and Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, and Bikash Pattnaik, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics.
July 2020
Tiny mineral particles are better vehicles for promising gene therapy
Dr. Bill Murphy and his group have engineered slow-release mRNA delivery therapies that work effectively to promote healing in mice.
July 1, 2020
New tool for assessing heart muscle cells helps unlock their potential
Dr. Wendy Crone and her team have created a new technique for coaxing immature cardiomyocytes to become mature cells with highly organized internal structures.
June 25, 2020
Honors: Jacques Galipeau, MD
Dr. Galipeau has begun his two year term serving as president-elect of the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT)…
June 12, 2020
Meyerand, Zumbrunnen named vice provosts; Cramer to continue in special role
Beth Meyerand, professor of medical physics and biomedical engineering, will become the vice provost for faculty and staff affairs starting July 21st…
June 9, 2020
Faculty receive WARF, Kellett, Romnes awards
Emery H. Bresnick, Gary Felsenfeld Professor of Cell and Regenerative Biology, is director of UW–Madison Blood Research Program and co-director of the Cancer Genetic/Epigenetic Mechanisms Program of the Carbone Cancer Center. His research led to the discovery of new paradigms of blood stem- and progenitor-cell development and function, as well as human disease diagnostic strategies.
May 12, 2020
Newly identified cellular trash removal program helps create new neurons
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience Darcie Moore led work with graduate student Christopher Morrow to discover how a cellular filament helps neural stem cells clear damaged and clumped proteins, an important step in eventually producing new neurons.
Feb. 27, 2020
Marmoset Stem Cells Carrying Parkinson’s Mutation Could Lead To New Model For Studying Disease
Parkinson’s disease researchers, including Dr. Marina Emborg, have used gene-editing tools to introduce the disorder’s most common genetic mutation into marmoset monkey stem cells and to successfully tamp down cellular chemistry that often goes awry in Parkinson’s patients.
Feb. 27, 2020
Stem cells could help cancer patients fight dangerous infections
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a more efficient way to grow the white blood cells that serve as front-line defenders against bacterial infections but are often depleted as a potentially deadly side effect of cancer treatment.
Jan. 22, 2020
Flashing lights may provide vital first test of MS drug success
Measuring changes in the speed of electrical signals along nerves connecting the eyes to the brain may accurately reflect recovery from myelin loss in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to SCRMC faculty member Ian Duncan, and could be used to evaluate new treatments for the disease.
Dec. 16, 2019
