Research News Roundup: Stories About Research at UW–Madison
Brain scans begin for nationwide Alzheimer’s disease study:
The study, called Clarity in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Research Through Imaging, or CLARiTI.
The study involves 37 National Institutes of Health-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers across the United States. Researchers will gather data correlated with presence, absence or changes in characteristic disease biomarkers in people who have dementia or are at risk of developing it.
The study is also intended to allow a better understanding of mixed dementia, which is a situation in which more than one neurological disease contributes to dementia, according to Sterling Johnson, study leader and professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
UW–Madison Launches Pharmacy-Focused Regional Center to Combat the Opioid Crisis:
With an influx of federal aid, two School of Pharmacy professors will empower Wisconsin pharmacies with new tools to prevent opioid deaths
Every year, more than 80,000 people in the United States die from opioid overdoses. Nearly 1,500 of them are in Wisconsin — more than four deaths each day.
“Losing these lives isn’t acceptable in a healthy society,” says Cody Wenthur, an associate professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy’s Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research Division. “We don’t have the luxury to do nothing.”
Wenthur and Jay Ford, associate professor in the School’s Social and Administrative Sciences Division, are fighting to bring those numbers down. The two are leading the launch of the Wisconsin Opioid Overdose Response Center, or WOORC. The regional center, to be based at the School of Pharmacy, will combat the opioid crisis with a special focus on fentanyl, which accounts for over 75% of annual opioid overdose deaths. In March, the U.S. Senate approved a $2 million appropriations request as part of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations package to fund the launch of the center.
A New Approach to Building 3-D Molecules for Better Drugs:
A new report in the journal Science from researchers in the UW–Madison Department of Chemistry represents a significant advancement in making the types of molecules needed in drug development. Molecules with a more 3D shape are known to be better for drug development than flatter molecules, but accessing these types of molecules has historically been more challenging. The work in this manuscript sets the stage for fixing this long-standing problem.
The breakthrough reported in this manuscript illustrates the interplay of teaching and scholarship at UW–Madison. Faculty member Dan Weix, a global leader in the invention of new chemical reactions, was struck by the potential of decarbonylation to address the central challenge in creating more 3D molecules while revisiting classical studies as part of teaching an advanced course to undergraduate and graduate students.
Realizing this idea took a team of researchers with varied training and the facilities available at UW–Madison: postdoctoral organometallic chemist Zhidao Huang, computational chemist Michelle Akana (PhD, ‘23), and X-ray crystallography by Kyana Sanders (PhD, ’24).
UW Health Cystic Fibrosis Center continues cutting-edge research and transformative treatments for patients:
This article is part two of a two-part series on cystic fibrosis research and care at the University of Wisconsin. Part one featured the Wisconsin Cystic Fibrosis Neonatal Screening Project at its 40-year anniversary and its continuing research benefits.
Scientists use oxygen to pull valuable chemicals from organic waste:
University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have developed a new process that could help make plant-based plastics and other alternatives to fossil fuels more economically viable.
Led by chemistry professor Shannon Stahl and chemical engineering professor Thatcher Root, a team of researchers with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center used oxygen to break down a tough form of plant fiber called lignin into chemicals that resemble the building blocks of many plastics and textiles currently made from petroleum.
Stahl said the findings, detailed in the journal Joule, represent an important step in the fight to slow climate change.
Assistant Professor Stav Atir’s Research Featured in Harvard Business Review:
New research by Stav Atir on how true and self-perceived experts make knowledge judgments was featured in Harvard Business Review (HBR). In an article titled “Competent Leaders Know the Limits of Their Expertise,” Atir, an assistant professor of management and human resources at the Wisconsin School of Business, and her co-author, David Dunning, professor at the University of Michigan, explored the connections between expertise and overestimation of one’s own competence.
The article highlights new research published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Atir and her co-investigators looked at the phenomenon of overclaiming—asserting knowledge of nonexistent terms. In the studies, respondents rated their knowledge of several financial terms, unaware three were completely made up.
Ask an Expert: Can Tax Cuts or Incentives Have Unintended Consequences for Small Businesses?:
John Surdyk is director of the Initiative for Studies in Transformational Entrepreneurship (INSITE), which advances entrepreneurship research, curriculum development, and programming at UW–Madison. He also leads the StartUp Learning Community and supports the Arts Business Competition, the Clinton Foundation Global Initiative, and the 100 Hour Challenge. Surdyk teaches introductory entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and community consulting with arts and cultural organizations at the Wisconsin School of Business.
WSB’s Lu Han Shares Research Expertise: ‘Working in the Real Estate Market Is a Way for Me to Contribute’:
The real estate professor’s new study estimates the value of urban trees and highlights their cooling effect on cities impacted by climate change.
Two doctoral students in the School of Education’s Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education have received nationally-competitive grants to support their dissertation research on advocacy training for youth with autism and the reentry experiences of African Americans with disabilities after incarceration.
Sara Park and Marcus Weathers were selected by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) as recipients of 2024 Merit Switzer Research Fellowships for Doctoral Dissertation Research. The funding will help support Park and Weathers for one year as they conduct their research.
Building a better way to measure and understand social support systems for transgender and nonbinary individuals is at the heart of a new research project co-led by a School of Education faculty member.
Stephanie Budge, a professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology, and Elliot Tebbe, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing, received a $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for the five-year project. The research will aim to create a brand new tool for measuring social support for transgender and nonbinary individuals and put that tool into practice to shed light on how social support relates to coping, distress, and well-being.
Two new research projects helmed by a School of Education faculty member aim to promote understanding of equity-based change initiatives in higher education.
Aireale J. Rodgers, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, is leading or helping lead the efforts, both of which recently received external grant funding. One study will help geosciences departments across higher education institutions promote awareness and change related to the field’s racialized foundations. The second project will examine the efficacy of faculty cluster hiring to promote racial and ethnic diversity across higher education faculty.
The first project, funded by the National Science Foundation, will examine the racialized foundations of the study of geosciences and create resources for geosciences departments as they attempt to reckon with that foundation and change how they facilitate teaching and learning.