Should We Alter the Human Genome? Let Democracy Decide
WID’s Krishanu Saha and colleagues J. Benjamin Hurlbut and Sheila Jasanoff write in Scientific American about germ line editing and the need for more scientific and moral clarity.
WID News
Top headlines, campus news, and announcements featuring the work and opinions of the WID community.
Handelsman Talks Soil on Podcast & WUWM
WID Director Jo Handelsman shared a conversation on Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda and on WUWM about soil and microbes.
Handelsman Among Brava Magazine’s “STEM Superstars”
WID director Jo Handelsman was among four women profiled by Brava Magazine as STEM Superstars at UW–Madison.
Madison365: Connecting Science with Street Art
Science to Street Art is an initiative that aims to visually inspire STEM education and careers by creating science civic art through graffiti and hip-hop art forms.
NSF Grant Takes Scientific Approach to Public Engagement with Science
A grant from the National Science Foundation will help a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison discover the factors that contribute to successful public engagement with science endeavors. In particular, the team is interested in learning what motivations and experiences mold the profiles of scientists who engage successfully with the public.
Next Gen Scientists Assemble in Madison to Bring Science to the Policy Table
The National Science Policy Symposium will take place at the Discovery Building and in Union South at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Friday and Saturday, November 1 and 2.
WSJ: ‘Who Owns Science?’ Wisconsin Science Festival Panel Explores Culture, Representation
university faculty and students, politicians and indigenous advocates discussed representation and inclusion in science at the panel moderated by Rabiah Mayas, associate director of Northwestern University’s Science in Society research center.
Channel 3000: Science-Themed Murals to be Painted around Madison for Science to Street Art Project
The murals, which will feature molecular structures, big data and precision medicine, the diversity of scientists, and more are intended to spark an interest in science.
WID Partners with City of Madison to Bring Science Art to City Streets
WID is connecting UW scientists with artists to create science-themed murals across the city of Madison.
Science Festival Panels Examine Science and Society
Panels on Oct. 17 and 18 during the Wisconsin Science Festival will examine representation and inclusion in science and science in entertainment and the arts. Both afternoon panels will take place in the Discovery Building.
What is the Emerging Tech Hub at WID?
Hyperinnovation profiles a recent networking event devoted to development of WID’s nascent Emerging Technologies Hub.
Fall ‘Crossroads’ Topics Include Trade Policy Models, Climate Change and More
The fall Crossroads of Ideas series kicks off in the Discovery Building on Tuesday, September 24 at 7:00 pm. WID researchers will be featured throughout the fall series.
Wisconsin Institute for Discovery Hires Derrick L. Smith as Development Director
Smith, who also currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Urban League of Greater Madison and as a member of the Agrace Hospice Foundation Board, is responsible for all aspects of the institute’s development efforts including strategic planning, donor relations and stewardship of major gifts.
New Faculty Bring New Possibilities to WID, UW
Claudia Solís-Lemus and Daniel Pimentel-Alarcón are experts in statistics and machine learning, augmenting WID’s data science expertise.
Electronic Records Pin Broad Set of Health Risks on Genetic Premutation
WID graduate student Arezoo Movaghar was a collaborator in a study that employed machine learning to mine decades of electronic health records of nearly 20,000 individuals.
Cap Times Q&A: Institute for Discovery Director Jo Handelsman Takes Scientific Collaboration to a New Level
“When I came we started thinking about how you generate interdisciplinary work. We took an experimental approach to figuring out whether there are deliberate things that we can do that will encourage truly broad collaborations across disciplines.”
Award-winning Grad Student Research Could Benefit Industry
Three members of Lih-Sheng (Tom) Turng’s research group at WID won top awards for their exceptional research papers in March.
WID Researchers Collaborate on UW2020 Projects
Researchers at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery are co-Principal Investigators and co-Investigators on four UW2020: WARF Discovery Initiative projects.
WID Affiliate Victor Zavala Earns Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Zavala was nominated for contributions to the computational strategies applied to advanced control of power systems, and for service to the educational community as an enthusiastic professor and mentor. Three other UW researchers also received the award.
Wisconsin School of Business’s Jon Eckhardt Named Discovery Fellow at WID
Eckhardt is also the Executive Director of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship and the Robert Pricer Chair in Enterprise Development. His research includes the use of information in entrepreneurship, firm formation, venture finance, and initial public offerings.
Meet Tiny Earth Director Sarah Miller
Sarah Miller was named the executive director of Tiny Earth this spring. We sat down with her to learn about her background and the future of Tiny Earth.
Know Your Madisonian: Illumination is Goal of Discovery Hub Director Ginger Contreras
Ginger Ann Contreras, executive director of the Illuminating Discovery Hub at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at UW-Madison, is working to help create science-themed murals in Madison and promote accurate and diverse portrayals of scientists in entertainment.
WID Director Jo Handelsman Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Her election—alongside 200 other newly-elected members—recognizes her contributions to science.
Seminar on Astrobiology Aims to Inspire a Look into the Bounds of Life
A new group centered at WID hopes to coordinate the dozens of labs that are addressing some aspect of astrobiology and inspire others to join the work. A public lecture series this spring is part of the effort.
WID Biologist Takes Top Prize in Bioethics Cartoon Contest
Rush Dhillon, a comparative biologist working with the John Denu Lab at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, took the top prize in a contest that invites participants to make a cartoon on any ethical issue arising in or from biomedical research.