University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Department News

Gaglia Lab and Colleagues Reveal How Key Protein Might Help Influenza A Infect its Hosts

June 22, 2023 By Will Cushman Influenza A is one of two influenza viruses that fuel costly annual flu seasons and is a near constant threat to humans and many other animals. It’s also responsible for occasional pandemics that, like the one in 1918, leave millions dead and wreak havoc on health systems and wider …

MMI Researchers Image Adaptive Immune Systems at Work in Fish

June 15, 2023 By Will Cushman A new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison offers a first-of-its-kind visual of a non-mammal species’ adaptive immune system in action. The advance holds potential implications for a range of scientific aims, from improving wildlife vaccines to better understanding fundamental disease processes and possibly the evolution of …

Mark Mandel Honored with Vilas Mid-Career Investigator Award!

Extraordinary members of the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty have been honored during the last year with awards supported by the estate of professor, U.S. Senator and UW Regent William F. Vilas (1840-1908). Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorships Thirteen professors were named to Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorships, an award recognizing distinguished scholarship as well as standout efforts …

SMPH Chats with Vanessa Sperandio for Women’s History Month

Vanessa Sperandio, PhD, comes from a family of academicians in Brazil. Being surrounded by sociologists, philosophers, historians, and business administrators fostered an initial love of classics, Egyptology, and archeology. Then her high school biology teacher introduced her to the biological sciences, and the rest is history. Today she is chair of the school’s Department of …

Bruce Klein Receives National Science Foundation and Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Grant

New funding to protect bats from fungal epidemic hinges on UW–Madison discoveries March 22, 2023 | By Will Cushman University of Wisconsin–Madison pediatrician Bruce Klein is trying to save bats. At first blush, as a physician scientist who is head of pediatric infectious disease at the American Family Children’s Hospital, Klein’s involvement in a continent-wide effort to …

Congratulations to Dr. Laura Knoll on Being Elected to ASM

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Laura Knoll from the department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on being elected to the American Academy of Microbiology! Over the last 50 years, over 2,600 distinguished scientists have been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology (Academy). The Academy is the honorific leadership …

Dept. of MMI to Bring 4 Faculty Candidates to Campus

During the month of February, the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology will be hosting 4 facultycandidates. Each candidate will give a seminar to the Department to showcase their research. Seminars will take place in 1520 MSB from Noon – 1:30 PM. FEB 6  “Clostridioides difficile Subverts Nutritional Immunity through Formation of Iron Storage Organelles”Dr. …

Dr. Vanessa Sperandio Featured in Science Direct

Gut colonization by Proteobacteria alters host metabolism and modulates cocaine neurobehavioral responses Gut-microbiota membership is associated with diverse neuropsychological outcomes, including substance use disorders (SUDs). Here, we use mice colonized with Citrobacter rodentium or the human γ-Proteobacteria commensal Escherichia coli HS as a model to examine the mechanistic interactions between gut microbes and host responses …

Dr. Laura Knoll Receives ACMCIP William Trager Award!

Congratulations to Dr. Laura Knoll on receiving the American Committee of Molecular, Cellular and Immunoparasitology (ACMCIP) William Trager Award for Basic Parasitology! The American Committee of Molecular, Cellular and Immunoparasitology (ACMCIP) is organized under the auspices of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) and has the following objectives: The William Trager Award, established by …

Bruce Klein Granted Second NIH MERIT Award

Text taken from Dept. of Pediatrics In 1984, a new infectious disease fellow at the University of Wisconsin Medical School (as it was then called), Bruce Klein, MD, made his first visit to Eagle River, Wisconsin, leading a team of scientists called in to investigate a mysterious respiratory disease that had sickened dozens of Wisconsin …

In Memoriam: Cason King (1989-2022)

“Dr. Cason King, passed away suddenly on August 11th, 2022. The family has released an obituary for Cason (see here). I want to further highlight his scientific legacy in our group and emphasize the giant hole his loss has left in our lives, both inside and outside the lab. Cason received his Bachelor of Medical …

Vanessa Sperandio Featured on “Foodie Pharmacology” Podcast

Foodie Pharmacology is a science podcast built for the food curious, the flavor connoisseurs, chefs, science geeks, plant lovers and adventurous taste experimenters out in the world! Join American ethnobotanist Dr. Cassandra Quave on this adventure through history, medicine, cuisine and molecules as we explore the amazing pharmacology of our foods. New science is emerging …