Special Features

Morgridge Communications periodically takes a deep dive into topics of special importance to the mission of the Morgridge Institute. These online projects combine many voices and multimedia content to tell a compelling story about our science.

Longform

Resilience: How COVID-19 challenged the scientific world

Resilience: How COVID-19 challenged the scientific world

In late 2019, a novel coronavirus began spreading across the globe. The pandemic still isn’t over, but it hasn’t stopped scientific progress. We spoke with scientists at the Morgridge Institute for Research and the University of Wisconsin–Madison who shared stories of promise, resilience, and lessons learned to come together, overcome challenges and work for the public good.

Immortal: An oral history of stem cell discovery

Immortal: An oral history of stem cell discovery

In November 1998, the journal Science published James Thomson’s groundbreaking work on embryonic stem cells. There has been 20 years of progress since the initial discovery spawned a new field of research, and tremendous potential exists for the future. We reached out to the people who lived it, and they shared the experiences in their own words. This is their story.

Model organisms: Peculiar creatures, big discoveries

Model organisms: Peculiar creatures, big discoveries

From axolotls to zebrafish, this story explores some of science’s classic models, others more unusual, but all with potential for increasing our understanding of biology to improve human health.

Rising Sparks: Early Career Stars

Rising Sparks is a monthly profile series exploring the personal inspirations and professional goals of early-career scientists at the Morgridge Institute.

Rising Sparks: Marcela Tabima, regenerative biology

Rising Sparks: Marcela Tabima, regenerative biology

Marcela Tabima has focused her fascination with human biology on two major research efforts in the Discovery Building — engineering synthetic arteries for surgery and finding new ways to treat inherited retinal diseases.

Rising Sparks: Katherine Overmyer, Metabolism

Rising Sparks: Katherine Overmyer, Metabolism

Katie Overmyer collaborates with metabolism researchers to push the boundaries of mass spectrometry technology and uncover answers to important biological questions.

Rising Sparks: Joe Li, Biomedical Imaging

Rising Sparks: Joe Li, Biomedical Imaging

"You can always learn more": An unquenchable thirst for discovery guides Joe Li’s pursuit of cutting-edge light-sheet microscopy.

Rising Sparks: Odette Herrand, Regenerative Biology

Rising Sparks: Odette Herrand, Regenerative Biology

Odette Herrand is drawn to the inherent creativity involved in answering complex scientific questions, which they use to study fertility in the fruit fly.

Rising Sparks: Peter Ducos, Structural Biology

Rising Sparks: Peter Ducos, Structural Biology

Peter Ducos leans on his military training to solve complex problems and collaborate with other scientists by exploring molecular structures in exquisite detail.

Rising Sparks: Kim Huggler, Metabolism

Rising Sparks: Kim Huggler, Metabolism

Kim Huggler believes science is fundamentally about creativity, and leverages an innovative cell culture media to reveal biological processes that conventional techniques cannot.

Rising Sparks: Ed Evans, Biomedical Imaging

Rising Sparks: Ed Evans, Biomedical Imaging

Ed Evans sees every challenge as an opportunity to grow, and uses his passion for problem-solving to develop new imaging tools that will help other scientists.