University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Five Strategic Focus Areas

New model measures the community health impact of bicycling and walking

Everyone knows walking and bicycling is good for the health of a community, but how good? And how can city planners measure those impacts to champion bicycle and walking infrastructure? At the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute, Samuel Younkin, lead researcher for the Initiative for Health-Oriented Transportation (HOT), and colleagues created a new model …

UniverCity Year program to partner with six communities in 2022

Now in its seventh year, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s UniverCity Year program is working with six communities stretching from the neighboring City of Stoughton to Polk County in northwest Wisconsin. UniverCity Year (UCY) is the hallmark program of UniverCity Alliance–an initiative that connects local governments across Wisconsin with resources at the university. Through the three-year UCY …

Gregg Mitman’s new book highlights land use, racial injustice, and America’s shared history with Liberia

Nearly 6,000 miles separates the United States and the West African country of Liberia, but their histories are forever intertwined. In fact, Nelson Institute affiliate Gregg Mitman, who also serves as the Vilas Research and William Coleman Professor of History of Science, Medical History, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that to …

Current anti-COVID pills work well against omicron, but antibody drugs are less effective

The drugs behind the new pills to treat COVID-19 remain very effective against the omicron variant of the virus in lab tests, according to a new study. However, lab tests also showed that the available antibody therapies — typically given intravenously in hospitals — are substantially less effective against omicron than against earlier variants of …

Omicron causes less severe illness in animal models than previous variants

A new study confirms that, compared to earlier versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the omicron variant causes less severe disease in mice and hamsters, which are reliable models for understanding COVID-19. The findings, previously available as a preprint and published following peer review today (Jan. 21) in the journal Nature, align with preliminary data from …

New paper shows: ‘A win on climate is a win for health’

From ramping up clean electricity to eliminating food waste. From designing cities for walking and biking to preserving ecosystems. Projects that lead to a low-carbon society and limit climate change will have more and greater benefits for health than previously realized. Those are findings from a new commentary in the International Journal of Environmental Research …