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So far ppointer has created 254 blog entries.

5AM Hinųksgu Silé Shigley

2026-02-11T11:14:48-06:00

Your Content Goes Here What are you often doing at that hour? *Hinųksgu working on WAZI I'm starting up the coffee pot and thinking, "It's time to check in on Radio WAZI."  Radio WAZI is a continuous YouTube broadcast of Hoocąk language stories, songs and conversations recorded by fluent speakers of the past and present. The broadcast was inspired by discussions at UW-Madison’s Indigenous Language Table, highlighting the critical need for Hoocąk language learners to have regular access to fluent, spoken Hoocąk. Our oldest recording was made in the 1930s, and the newest several weeks ago. [...]

5AM Hinųksgu Silé Shigley2026-02-11T11:14:48-06:00

4PM Rob Spenceley

2026-02-05T15:28:08-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing?  Our team is currently focused on building a survey which will be used to assess workers' level of comfort when collaborating with robots, cobots, and other advanced technologies. During these times, you can find out team working together to survey the literature, catalogue industrial robots, and analyze data. What’s your favorite thing about this time of day? The INTEGRATE program includes trainers and trainees from several different disciplines. My favorite part about working with this team is how each [...]

4PM Rob Spenceley2026-02-05T15:28:08-06:00

3AM Chung-Yin Lin

2026-02-16T16:24:50-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing? I sometimes stay in the lab very late when I feel like working late. What’s your favorite thing about this time of day? The peaceful and calming atmosphere after midnight. Least favorite? It gets cold in WID overnight due to the AC settings. How can you tell if your work is going well? If I'm having novel ideas, getting exciting results, or getting closer to finishing a manuscript, I'd say my work is going well. What tells you it’s [...]

3AM Chung-Yin Lin2026-02-16T16:24:50-06:00

2PM Ross Schwartz

2026-02-05T14:51:18-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing?  Ross Schwartz I'm in the 4140 lab or at my cubicle desk. I'm autoclaving materials, unpackaging packages, completing administrative tasks, restocking supplies, bleaching cell culture materials, helping with equipment, and/or taking inventories of supplies. What’s your favorite thing about this time of day? The lab is fairly lively with activity. Collectively lab members are getting a lot done at this time of the day. How can you tell if your work is going well? If I'm busy [...]

2PM Ross Schwartz2026-02-05T14:51:18-06:00

2AM Rupa Sridharan

2026-02-05T14:12:12-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing? Rupa Sridharan and one of her successful PhD students I am at home and most likely to be asleep. But sometimes I wake up and have an epiphany on some problem that the lab is stuck at. I sometimes send a teams message to the lab member involved at that time. The lab knows the message is an online record keeping of sorts- like recording a dream before you forget it the next morning, and that I [...]

2AM Rupa Sridharan2026-02-05T14:12:12-06:00

6AM Francesca Long

2026-02-05T16:10:48-06:00

Your Content Goes Here What are you often doing at that hour? I am often on my way into the building or already there getting ready for a special event that helps connect the public with science happening at WID. When working in the John D. Wiley Gallery for Art in Science, I can be found adjusting the legs on the glass bacteriophage sculpture in case any have gone askew overnight, wiping down the display cases, choosing the colors for the pedestal lights, and generally making sure everything on display looks fresh for new eyes to take it [...]

6AM Francesca Long2026-02-05T16:10:48-06:00

12PM Josephine Putnam

2026-02-05T16:11:05-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing?  Josephine Putnam in the lab At this time, I am most likely to be adding isopropanol to tubes of extracted DNA from soil bacteria. Next, I invert the tubes many times to mix them well and precipitate the DNA so that it becomes visible to the naked eye. Seeing threads of DNA become visible out of a clear solution will never cease to amaze me! Extracting DNA from soil bacterial isolates sent to our lab at the [...]

12PM Josephine Putnam2026-02-05T16:11:05-06:00

4AM Bryce Sprecher

2026-05-07T10:29:07-05:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing? (Or, What is going on in your lab at this particular time?) Bryce Sprecher demonstrating VR technology This is a good time to start setting up our data processing for long photogrammetry renders of 3D models, such as visualizing a model of a shipwreck. For shipwrecks up in Lake Superior, they’re like 150 feet below the surface of the water and totally inaccessible. This is one way to show off hidden resources and archaeological and historical events. There [...]

4AM Bryce Sprecher2026-05-07T10:29:07-05:00

2PM Dekun Zhou

2026-02-09T11:11:20-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing? (Or, What is going on in your lab at this particular time?) My lab is thinking about theoretical proofs or doing numerical results to gain ideas. What would you be shocked to find yourself doing at this time? Doing biological/chemical experiments (We are not a group that does this type of work.) What’s your favorite thing about this time of day? Having great ideas generated! How can you tell if your work is going well? If the proof is [...]

2PM Dekun Zhou2026-02-09T11:11:20-06:00

1PM Azka Ahmed

2026-02-05T13:53:19-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing?  May Lab 2nd floor/ Working on experiments or analyzing data at my desk or taking meetings. What’s your favorite thing about this time of day? Core times of the day when I get to interact with my workers, get lunch with them and indulge in science/ enjoy the snacks I've prepared the day before and brought to work Least favorite? It gets busy at the WID How can you tell if your work is going well? I smile and [...]

1PM Azka Ahmed2026-02-05T13:53:19-06:00

7PM Jo Handelsman

2026-02-11T11:26:17-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing? Once a month I’m at an online research meeting with scientists in Singapore. Our group here at WID is collaborating with a group of Singapore scientists to examine the gut microbiomes of people in the two countries. We're interested to see how two very diverse populations with different diets look microbiome- wise. We're starting with a depressed population, and will use an app called Healthy Minds to see whether we can intervene and make people less depressed. Our data from [...]

7PM Jo Handelsman2026-02-11T11:26:17-06:00

1AM The Yin Lab

2026-02-09T10:36:21-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing? Cells, viruses, and molecules don't sleep. The cells in our incubators will be doubling (every 12-24h), the viruses will be infecting the cells (making more viruses), and the molecules will be finding partners to form molecular chains (polymers). As we sleep, the living world inside our lab incubators is wide awake. Cells are dividing, viruses are invading, and infections are spreading. In our lab, we make the invisible visible: this movie shows a rabies-like virus sweeping across a [...]

1AM The Yin Lab2026-02-09T10:36:21-06:00

12AM Nicole Anderson

2026-02-05T13:54:47-06:00

Your Content Goes Here Where are you at this time and what are you most likely to be doing? Running simulations from my computer -- sometimes I do this from my desk in the WID, but often I am at home, sending code remotely to CHTC (the Center for High Throughput Computing). My research involves simulating the progression of chemical reactions to examine how abiotic reaction networks might have displayed evolutionary and ecological characteristics before the origin of life. I need to run many replicates of my simulations to collect data and it would be impossible to do [...]

12AM Nicole Anderson2026-02-05T13:54:47-06:00

How disabling one gene protects mice against Type 1 diabetes

2025-12-17T12:33:45-06:00

In collaboration with the Feyza Lab, Khagani Eynullazada, a grad student from Sushmita Roy’s lab identified gene regulatory networks capturing shared and perturbation-specific stress pathways in Type 1 diabetes using GRN inference tools on scRNA-seq data from in vivo mouse models.

How disabling one gene protects mice against Type 1 diabetes2025-12-17T12:33:45-06:00

Tiny Earth Combating Antibiotic Resistance Featured on NBC15 Madison

2025-12-05T11:01:06-06:00

Students at Northeast Wisconsin Technical Collage (NWTC) are looking for ways to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria as part of an eight-year project with Tiny Earth, a worldwide initiative headquartered at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.

Tiny Earth Combating Antibiotic Resistance Featured on NBC15 Madison2025-12-05T11:01:06-06:00

Ulugbek Kamilov uses machine learning to make biomedical and scientific imaging faster and more adaptable

2026-03-20T14:58:55-05:00

Kamilov, recently invited to join the ranks of Discovery Fellows at WID will share his expertise developing AI and mathematical methods for computational imaging. We look forward to his future collaborations.

Ulugbek Kamilov uses machine learning to make biomedical and scientific imaging faster and more adaptable2026-03-20T14:58:55-05:00

WID Celebrates 15 Years of Discovery at the Annual Symposium

2026-05-20T10:15:07-05:00

On November 3, 2025, WID brought together leaders from its past, present, and future for a powerful and inspiring celebration of the institute’s journey and impact. In addition to a State-of-WID address by current director Jo Handelsman, the event featured keynote remarks from WID alumna and founding faculty Patti Brennan, a panel with the founding five faculty, a retrospective video, and presentations from first-generation hires reflecting on their research and the ways WID shaped their scientific paths. The day concluded with a poster session showcasing the extraordinary research of students, postdoctoral researchers, and scientists across the WID community. Altogether, it [...]

WID Celebrates 15 Years of Discovery at the Annual Symposium2026-05-20T10:15:07-05:00

New faculty profile: Marc Chevrette explores bacterial conversations happening within host-associated microbiomes

2025-11-11T12:58:36-06:00

Marc Chevrette joined the UW–Madison faculty and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery in August 2025 as an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology. His position is part of RISE-EARTH, the sustainability-themed focus area of the university’s Wisconsin RISE Initiative strategic hiring effort to solve grand challenges.

New faculty profile: Marc Chevrette explores bacterial conversations happening within host-associated microbiomes2025-11-11T12:58:36-06:00

Dr. Andrew Hryckowian Receives Vilas Faculty Early-Career Investigator Award

2025-11-11T13:17:24-06:00

This prestigious honor recognizes outstanding early-career faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional research accomplishments and show great promise for continued scholarly excellence. The award will enable WID Discovery Fellow, Dr. Hryckowian to continue advancing this critical research, contributing to a deeper understanding of the microbiome and its role in health and disease.

Dr. Andrew Hryckowian Receives Vilas Faculty Early-Career Investigator Award2025-11-11T13:17:24-06:00

Schloss work on seasonal changes in color preferences noted in Breathe magazine

2025-10-31T10:55:24-05:00

Karen Schoss and colleague Steve Palmer wanted to find out where color preferences come from and discovered that preference is informed by experience. This article appears in Issue 77 of Breathe Magazine.

Schloss work on seasonal changes in color preferences noted in Breathe magazine2025-10-31T10:55:24-05:00

Age in place app gets boost: Kevin Ponto and research team receive $1 million National Science Foundation grant

2025-11-11T14:28:28-06:00

Audrey Rothermel Bascom Professor of Design Studies Kevin Ponto and a team of fellow researchers have received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to continue developing a new tool that uses augmented reality to help older adults and people with disabilities remain safely in their homes.

Age in place app gets boost: Kevin Ponto and research team receive $1 million National Science Foundation grant2025-11-11T14:28:28-06:00

CRISPR with a ‘dimmer’ could elevate precision gene editing

2025-11-11T11:23:18-06:00

“This platform has the potential to ‘dim’ genome editing in a wide variety of contexts,” says WID faculty, Krishanu Saha, “not only inside the body, but outside the body, and also has implications for fundamental studies of how genome editing occurs in cells, in tissues, and in animals.”

CRISPR with a ‘dimmer’ could elevate precision gene editing2025-11-11T11:23:18-06:00

PhD student pushes CRISPR-edited CAR-T cells closer to the clinic

2026-03-11T14:02:34-05:00

Anna Tommasi is a member of the Saha lab, which has worked closely with researchers at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health to advance CAR-T cell therapies that are modified at the genetic level. They aim to start new trials for brain cancers next year.

PhD student pushes CRISPR-edited CAR-T cells closer to the clinic2026-03-11T14:02:34-05:00
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