Category: WAI News

Globally, Alzheimer’s disease impacts women at a much higher rate than men. In the United States, two-thirds of the 6.2 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease are women. Understanding these gender and sex differences – and ultimately preventing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia – is at the root of the pioneering work of Jessica Caldwell, PhD, a new faculty member in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Alzheimer’s disease programs.

In an interview on Telemundo Wisconsin, Maria Mora Pinzon, MD, MS, a physician and the implementation science leader at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute, shed light on the alarming disparities in dementia diagnosis and care affecting Latino communities. She described research which has found that although Latinos are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, they are the least likely to be informed of their diagnosis.

That’s a wrap on our 2025 WRAP Info Sessions events. Thank you to the hundreds of participants who joined us in person for a Info Session event held in September and October in five locations in Wisconsin.

A team of researchers from the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute joined nearly 19,000 global experts at the 2025 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), held July 27-July 31  in Toronto, Canada. 

UW–Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health is adding Henrik Zetterberg, a Swedish scientist who studies biomarkers, and Hartmuth Kolb, a German-born chemist and expert in imaging technology, to its faculty.

Researchers in Madison are partnering with a Milwaukee-based Latino community center to create a new, culturally competent, elective course for medical students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as an elective.

Nathaniel Chin, MD, medical director of the WRAP study, appeared on numerous Wisconsin news outlets to discuss the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease. The accuracy of the blood test was validated using data samples from the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) and the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP).

In a crucial advancement for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted clearance for an Alzheimer’s disease blood test on May 16, 2025. The test is an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) assay capable of detecting amyloid — a key protein involved in Alzheimer’s disease — in blood. Data samples used to evaluate the validity of the test are from research conducted at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.