Advances in human health, medicine and medical devices are made possible through UW-Madison’s concentration of facilities, programs and research.




Schools and Colleges

The School of Medicine and Public Health, which has a well-articulated research focus developing new knowledge and translating it into solutions for improving human health, both at the bench and in a clinical setting.

The School of Pharmacy, which includes in its mission the commitment to create, transmit and apply new knowledge based on cutting-edge research in the pharmaceutical, social and clinical sciences, and which includes the new Lenor Zeeh Pharmaceutical Experiment Station that provides early-stage formulation, medicinal chemistry and related drug-discovery support to researchers and industry.

The School of Veterinary Medicine, one of the top 10 in the nation and especially noted for its research, where groundbreaking work in stem cell science is edging toward treatments for multiple sclerosis and other diseases.

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, with a distinguished history of research and advances in the biosciences, including leading researchers in biochemistry, genetics, and food and animal sciences.

The College of Engineering, home to a number of departments operating at the interface between engineering and the biosciences, including the Biomedical Engineering Center, an interdepartmental research center that combines the talents of researchers in engineering and medical disciplines working for the advancement and enhancement of health care.

Research Centers and Facilities

Wisconsin Stem Cell Research Program
1122 Biotechnology Center, 425 Henry Mall
The program includes more than 30 faculty members with research programs involving embryonic or adult stem cells. These research groups are physically spread across campus and housed in a variety of organizational units. One of those scientists is James Thomson, UW stem cell pioneer, who was recently included in a poster published by the journal Science listing top milestones in science.

WiCell Research Institute
614 Walnut St., 13th Floor
The WiCell Research Institute provides human embryonic stem cells for research purposes to scientists all over the world and engages in basic research on stem cells and their application in prevalent cell-based diseases. WiCell doesn’t require rights to any discoveries. NIH recently awarded WiCell a four-year, $16.1 million grant to form the country's only National Stem Cell Bank.

Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics
433 Babcock Drive
Supported by the National Institutes of Health’s General Medical Sciences’ Protein Structure Initiative (PSI). PSI is a federal, university and industry effort aimed at dramatically reducing the costs and lessening the time it takes to determine a three-dimensional protein structure. The long-range goal of PSI is to make the three-dimensional atomic-level structures of most proteins easily obtainable from knowledge of their corresponding DNA sequences.

W. M. Keck Laboratory for Biological Imaging
1300 University Ave., Room 172
The laboratory offers imaging services on two laser scanning fluorescent microscopes: a Bio-Rad MRC-1024 confocal microscope and a Bio-Rad Radiance 2100 MP Rainbow confocal/multiphoton microscope.

Institute for Molecular Virology
413 R.M. Bock Laboratories, 1525 Linden Drive
This research institute is administered by the Graduate School. Most faculty are members of an interdisciplinary postdoctoral training program in virology.

General Clinical Research Center
D6/6, 600 Highland Ave.
This is a clinical research center within the UW Hospital and Clinics that is funded by the National Institutes of Health. The center’s mission is to offer an optimal setting for medical investigators to conduct safe, controlled, state-of-the-art research.

UW Comprehensive Cancer Center
K5/601, 600 Highland Ave.
UW Comprehensive Cancer Center members total more than 250 faculty from 51 departments and nine schools. They have access to many shared services and laboratories that offer cost-efficient, state-of-the-art technology for researchers.

Office of Clinical Trials
H6/122-1615, 600 Highland Ave.
The Office of Clinical Trials at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is an opportunity center for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Established in 1989, the office serves as a single contact point for private industry seeking to conduct clinical research with one of the nation’s premier medical and research centers. Since the office’s beginnings, it has coordinated administrative aspects of clinical investigations for thousands of studies.

Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute
7818 Big Sky Drive, Suite 215
The institute represents a unique partnership that has been developed to address a growing need to improve the quality of care and the availability of supportive services provided to affected persons and their families. The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute is the only state-supported organization dedicated entirely to advancing knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease through education, research and service

Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior
1500 Highland Ave.
The Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to affective and cognitive neuroscience research with brain

Waisman Clinical BioManufacturing Facility
1500 Highland Ave.
This is a state-of-the-art cleanroom facility that is equipped with the experienced staff and specialized equipment necessary for producing experimental human biotherapeutics. Located at the Waisman Center, the facility provides services to UW-Madison investigators and their external collaborators in advancing cutting-edge experimental therapeutics from basic research to testing in human clinical trials.

Institute on Aging
2245 MSC, 1300 University Ave.
Funded through a grant from the National Institute on Aging, the institute’s main goal is to train individuals from a variety of disciplines and diverse backgrounds to conduct biology of aging research.

Wisconsin National Primate Research Center
1220 Capitol Court
The center is one of eight National Institutes of Health-supported national primate research centers and is the only one in the Midwest. More than 250 center scientists, through competitive grants, conduct research in primate biology with relevance to human and animal health.

Center for Neuroscience
The research programs of the more than 170 neuroscientists on the UW-Madison campus are advancing understanding of the nervous system across levels ranging from molecular mechanisms to human behavior, and include major contemporary thematic areas, such as learning and memory, development, stem cells, sensory and motor systems, sleep and consciousness, cognition and affect, appetitive behaviors, plasticity and neurobiology of disease.

The Synchrotron Radiation Center
3731 Schneider Drive, Stoughton, WI
This National Science Foundation-funded national research laboratory uses an electron storage ring (nicknamed Aladdin) to produce the light that is used to conduct a diverse range of experiments.

Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics
545 Science Drive
This center is an interdisciplinary research center founded to develop and commercialize technologies, products and processes to meet the needs of NASA for space-based research and the needs of industry for terrestrial-based applications. Efforts have shifted from traditional plant life science research to biotech research. Active projects include the development of biosensor and plant-based antidotes targeting major biothreats such as ricin, botulinum and Staphylococcus; functional foods and nutraceuticals focusing on bone health, enhanced immunity and micronutrition intervention.

Lenor Zeeh Pharmaceutical Experiment Station
777 Highland Ave.
The station provides fundamental research in various aspects of drug development, including the sciences of drug discovery, drug action and drug delivery. It also provides early-stage drug-discovery support services to UW-Madison-based “startups” located in the University Research Park and to the Madison-area pharmaceutical community.

Rheology Research Center
1513 University Ave.
Rheology, the study of the flow and deformation of matter, is an old discipline undergoing a renaissance. In its widest sense, it includes classical fluid mechanics and elasticity that treat the flow of Newtonian liquids, such as water, and small deformations of hard solids, such as wood and steel. In practice, the word “rheology” normally refers to the flow and deformation of “nonclassical” materials such as rubber, molten plastics, polymer solutions, slurries and pastes, electrorheological fluids, blood, muscle, composites, soils and paints. These materials can exhibit varied and striking rheological properties that classical fluid mechanics and elasticity cannot describe. The current value of all open rheological research projects exceeds $4 million. These funds support 35 graduate and postdoctoral students and their rheology research projects.

UW Biotechnology Center
425 Henry Mall
The Biotechnology Center is Wisconsin’s catalyst to advance biotechnology research, education and industry for the benefit of society and the environment. It provides a variety of services to university scientists, ranging from DNA sequencing to peptide synthesis.

Genome Center of Wisconsin
425 Henry Mall
The research center exists within the Biotechnology Center. The Genome Center’s 30 faculty members represent more than 17 departments and six schools within UW-Madison. The center fosters integrative and highly collaborative research that bridges multiple diverse disciplines.

Digital Media Center at Biotech
425 Henry Mall
The center provides resources to assist the entire campus community in integrating multimedia technology into teaching and research.

Microbial Sciences Building
UW-Madison’s three core microbiology departments — bacteriology, food microbiology and toxicology, and medical microbiology and immunology — have joined to create an international center of excellence in the microbial sciences. The Microbial Sciences Building, a 330,000-square-foot, $120.5 million complex, houses the three departments.

Unique Educational Opportunities

Master of Science in Biotechnology
This innovative program provides the scientific, legal and business foundation necessary for advancement and success in the biotechnology field.

Program in Neuroscience and Public Policy
7225 Medical Sciences Center, 1300 University Ave.
A joint initiative of the Neuroscience Training Program and the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, the program offers students the opportunity to earn a Ph.D. degree in neuroscience and a master of public affairs degree, typically in five years.

Tech-transfer Resources

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
614 Walnut St., 13th Floor
Since its founding in 1925, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) has served the UW- Madison scientific community by patenting the discoveries of UW-Madison researchers and licensing these technologies to leading companies in Wisconsin, the United States and worldwide. In this way, WARF also facilitates the use of UW-Madison research for the maximum benefit of society. WARF distributes the income from commercial licenses to the UW-Madison, the inventors and their departments. Each year, WARF contributes more than $45 million to fund additional UW-Madison research. In 2005, WARF was the recipient of the National Medal of Technology, which is the nation’s highest award for technological achievement.

Fluno Center for Executive Education
601 University Ave.
The Fluno Center connects the university’s vast resources to the professional community. Every year, thousands of professionals from industry, government and nonprofit organizations participate in continuing education programs taught by the university’s faculty.

Initiative for Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship
School of Business, 2020J Grainger Hall, 975 University Ave.
The initiative facilitates, creates and transmits fundamental research related to technology entrepreneurship. It includes new-venture creation, new-venture financing, strategic management of technology, legal and regulatory influences on innovation and venture creation, and related policy issues.

New Business Startup Initiative
Office of Corporate Relations, 455 Science Drive, Suite 230
In collaboration with other entrepreneurial services on campus, this program provides multidimensional support for faculty, staff and students who want to start companies based on their work at UW-Madison.

Small Business Development Center
975 University Ave.
Partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the UW-Madison Small Business Development Center is a leader in offering seminars and other programs specially designed for researchers interested in taking their ideas to market. Through its Technology Business Development Institute, the center offers seminars and counseling for those interested in starting a technology business.

University Research Park
510 Charmany Drive, Suite 250
University Research Park’s mission is to encourage partnerships between businesses and university researchers. Located three miles west of UW-Madison, the park is the home of 110 companies employing more than 5,300 people.

New research facilities under development at UW-Madison

Interdisciplinary Research Complex
Adjacent to UW Hospital and Clinics
The building will be designed to encourage unique gatherings of scientists from different disciplines to address urgent health problems of common concern. Cancer research laboratories will be the anchor of the the complex’s first tower. Neuroscience and cardiovascular research also will be featured in phase one, as will work on stem cells and regenerative medicine. In addition, molecular medicine will be a major emphasis of the research taking place in the building.

Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery
The institutes will occupy the 1200 and 1300 blocks of University Avenue, serving as massive interdisciplinary research center that combines biology, bioinformatics, computer science, engineering, nanotechnology and other fields in one setting.

Articles and Reports

Deep into Bio
Bioscience is blossoming around the globe and at UW-Madison. In two areas, however — research into human embryonic stem cells and materials science — the depth of UW-Madison’s expertise in bioscience is in a class all by itself.

The Biotech Express
How an innovative, interdisciplinary program at UW-Madison is preparing people for success in the still-evolving new world of the biotech industry.

Bioscience Boulevard
From the Fluno Center in the east to the Biotechnology Center in the central campus to the Clinical Sciences Center in the west, it really is all here.

From Molecules to Manufacturing
Profiles of UW-Madison expertise in the biosciences and the business of transferring the results of research into the marketplace by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).

A Conversation with Gabriela Cezar: A Scientist Who Grew Up in Brazil Brings International Connections to UW-Madison’s Stem Cell Work
Published by WisBusiness.com
Madison biotech officials are hoping that Cezar’s industry contacts in this country and abroad — as well as her business savvy — can help attract investors’ capital for local start-up companies or perhaps even lure a major drug firm here.