Three current and former lab members presented work at the 2023 Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington D.C.! From left to right: Sonali Naik, former undergraduate research assistant, presented on postural stability. Her project found that autistic children demonstrate distinct neural contributions related to postural stability when they stand with their eyes closed. Monica Duran, …
With the Waisman Center turning 50 years old this year, a Scientific Symposium was held that featured researchers from inside and outside of the Waisman community. Our very own Dr. Brittany Travers gave a talk about her and Dr. Olivia Surgent’s work on the brainstem and grip strength in autistic individuals. We’re always so proud …
Earlier this month we said farewell to our beloved Dr. Olivia Surgent, who received her PhD this past December. Olivia will be working as a T32 Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California – Davis MIND Institute with Dr. Christine Wu Nordahl. Her research will focus on the interrelationships between sensory features, anxiety, and the …
This fall, we are welcoming a new MD-PhD student to our lab, Monica Duran! Originally from Puerto Rico, she moved to Madison, WI in 2020 for the start of the MD-PhD program at UW. She’s completed 3 years of medical school and is now starting her PhD in the Neuroscience Training Program (NTP) and the …
After 8 months of learning at the University of Málaga and traveling, Brittany is back! Brittany taught classes at the university and learned all about new ways to measure movement of the body. While she will miss Malaga and the amazing people she met, she is so happy to be back, and we are so …
Last week our very own Emily Skaletski was one of two winners of the best student poster at the Occupational Therapy Summit of Scholars conference! The event was held in Columbus, Ohio where she presented her poster titled, “Relations between Quality of Life and Autism Features, Motor Skills, and Daily Living Skills in Autistic Children.” …
This week our post-doctoral fellow Dr. Olivia Surgent, PhD candidate Emily Skaletski, and PI Dr. Brittany Travers met up in Stockholm, Sweden. They visited the Nobel prize museum, saw the Royal Palace, and generally took in some beautiful views and bites when they were not in conference sessions for the annual International Society for Autism …
Dr. Olivia Surgent presented her poster this week at the annual meeting for the International Society for Autism Research in Stockholm, Sweden! Her presentation highlighted the unique sensorimotor pathways for grip strength in the brain that are associated with specific features of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This work was also featured in her dissertation …
Our Undergraduate Research Scholar (URS) students had their presentations last week at Union South! Susan Lei, Lauren Salmi, Madelyn Scheid, and Roselyn Pacheco presented our Brainy Movement Study for Kids to the program and other URS students for their end of semester project. They did a wonderful job communicating our work, and we …
As a part of Dr. Travers’ Fulbright scholarship work in Malaga, Spain, she has the opportunity to travel and share our research with others. Last week she had the privilege of visiting Carrilet, a co-op, employee-owned, strengths-based school for autistic individuals in Barcelona, started in 1974. She gave her first (and second) scientific …
