Top ten research stories for 2025
The numbers are in — the end-of-year web analytics, that is — and they show robust interest in research at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health! In 2025, articles about new discoveries and one-on-one interviews with researchers were among the most-viewed stories of the year.
UW–Madison to lead nation in boron neutron capture therapy for cancer
The University of Wisconsin–Madison and TAE Life Sciences, a biotechnology company specializing in targeted radiation therapy for cancer care, have signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, announcing the intention to launch the first accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) center in the United States.
Gene analysis helps optimize prostate cancer radiation dose
New results from two randomized clinical trials showed that analyzing a gene expression signature in tumors may help doctors customize radiation treatments for prostate cancer patients, improving outcomes while avoiding unnecessary side effects.
FDA fast-tracks therapy for radiation-induced dry mouth
A therapy under development at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health to treat a common side effect of radiation therapy recently got a boost from the Food and Drug Administration.
Mixed dose radiation enhances immune response to cancer
A new study in mice shows that delivering different doses of radiation to a tumor revs up the immune system and allows it to detect not only the treated tumor but distant tumors that were not irradiated. When mixed dose radiation is followed with immunotherapy drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors, it makes the drugs more effective at killing cancer cells throughout the body than when radiation was delivered at a single dose level.
Zachary Morris named chair of human oncology
Dr. Zachary Morris, a leading expert on innovative approaches to cancer therapy, will be the next chair of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Human Oncology effective June 2.
UW study details how HPV may promote head and neck cancer
Cancer researchers have long known that the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) is a leading cause of head and neck cancer and now a study from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health sheds light on how HPV turns healthy cells into cancer.
The future of cell therapy: Novel study tests treatment for radiation-induced dry mouth
For certain side effects of complex and lifesaving medical procedures, care teams can be left with limited and risky treatment options, but a program at UW Health is changing that using patients’ own cells as “living therapeutics.”
Jamey Weichert, Zachary Morris leading a team to develop new way to help immune system fight back against cancer
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are breaking new ground to make cancer cells more susceptible to attack by the body’s own immune system.
First-in-humans clinical trial to treat children with relapsed neuroblastoma opens at American Family Children’s Hospital
A first-in-humans clinical trial for children with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma has opened at American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH) and is being conducted by researchers at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Neuroblastoma is one of the most common solid tumors in children. Patients who are classified as “high-risk” (about 40 percent of those diagnosed) have less than a 50 percent survival rate.
UW–Madison inventors aim to replace old-style breast-surgery marker
Three University of Wisconsin–Madison innovators have invented a better way for surgeons to locate tumors during lumpectomies for breast cancer.
Darcie Moore, Zachary Morris receive 2019 Shaw Scientist Awards
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health assistant professor of neuroscience Darcie Moore, PhD, and assistant professor of human oncology Zachary Morris, MD, PhD, are recipients of 2019 Shaw Scientist Awards from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.