The Latest

  • Gut brain axis graphic

Inaugural Microbiome Symposium Showcased Interdisciplinary Work Enabled by Campus Germ-Free Mouse Facility

UW–Madison’s new Gnotobiotic Shared Resource (GSR) is expanding opportunities for researchers to study the microbiome in germ-free and gnotobiotic mouse models. The centralized facility was established with a $1 million gift from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) through the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research’s Microbiome Initiative. The GSR was recently highlighted at the WID-hosted UW–Madison Microbiome Symposium, where this year’s “Gut-Brain Axis” theme reflected the work of many researchers using the facility to study how the gut microbiome may influence neurological function. “The GSR is an amazing gift to the campus,” says Wisconsin Institute for Discovery director and GSR user Jo Handelsman. “Relatively few campuses have gnotobiotic facilities for general use. Usually they are located in one research group which must coordinate their own training, personnel, and maintenance of colonies. The UW–Madison GSR makes possible new avenues of microbiome investigation for our researchers.”

  • Scientists stand on a podium outside wearing casual clothes at dusk

Explore what makes us human at the 16th Annual Wisconsin Science Festival

The 16th annual Wisconsin Science Festival will explore the science of Us — who we are, what it means to be human, and what humans are capable of — all across the state from Oct 15-25. “The Wisconsin Science Festival is a celebration of curiosity in action, inviting people of all ages and from every corner of our state to explore, ask questions and discover something new,” says Samantha Mulrooney, director of the Wisconsin Science Festival at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. “It’s also a chance to shine a light on the incredible innovative and creative minds who make Wisconsin such a special place.”

Making Sense of Microbiome’s Many Layers

In a recently published mini review in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, Margaret Thairu and Kris Sankaran, and co-author Kaiyan Ma, statistics department alumna, examine the statistical and machine learning challenges that arise when researchers combine multiple types of biological data collected over time to make better use of complex microbiome data.

  • Two well dressed indigenous people stand by a podium on a dark stage with a ho-chunk language poem on a screen

Building Community Through Indigenous Languages

The Indigenous Language Table begins its fifth year at WID on Sept. 9, continuing to create a space for Indigenous language speakers and learners to connect, practice and strengthen their languages together. Last April, members of the table brought that work to a sold-out audience at Madison’s Playhouse Theater before former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo took the stage. In place of a land acknowledgment, participants shared original poems written and spoken entirely in Ho-Chunk about Teejop, or “four lakes,” the Ho-Chunk name for Madison. English translations appeared on a screen behind them, allowing the audience to hear the language as it has been spoken in this place for thousands of years.