UWM Biologist Wins One of Two Shaw Scientist Awards

Ava J. Udvadia

MILWAUKEE — A biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has been awarded one of two Shaw Scientist Awards given by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation for her research into how the central nervous system becomes interconnected during early development and how it regenerates in fish. Supported by the James D. and Dorothy Shaw Fund, the award is usually given annually to researchers in the fields of biochemistry, biological science and cancer research at both UWM and UW-Madison.

Assistant Professor Ava J. Udvadia, who has a joint appointment in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Great Lakes WATER Institute, was chosen from eight finalists by a panel of scientists from major research institutions throughout the U.S.

UW-Madison Assistant Professor Aseem Z. Ansari, in the Department of Biochemistry and the Genome Center of Wisconsin, is the other recipient. The award provides $200,000 in unrestricted funds for each scientist.

Udvadia and her research team are doing work that could eventually help develop new therapies to treat diseases that affect the central nervous system (CNS). Using zebrafish as models, she studies how neurons form connections in the developing CNS in vertebrates, and how damage to such connections can be repaired.

Unlike mammals, fish and frogs are able to regenerate parts of their CNS after injury. The ultimate goal of Udvadia’s studies is to understand, on the molecular level, the difference between neurons that can regenerate and function again and those that cannot. Her aim is to apply that knowledge toward developing treatments that will stimulate functional regeneration in the human CNS.

In humans and animals, the CNS develops in utero, she says. By observing zebrafish embryos, which are transparent, she can employ fluorescent markers to help her find the “path” that CNS development is taking and “see” changes that may result from exposure to toxins. It may not change the appearance of the embryo, but contaminants could nevertheless be affecting the wiring of the CNS.

The Shaw Scientist Awards were created in 1982 and have provided more than $9 million to fund the work of 50 Shaw scientists.

The award was not given by the foundation last year. Instead, UWM funded the award for one year only to a UWM researcher.

Other researchers from UWM who have been named Shaw Scientists in the last decade:

• Anthony Azenabor – 2003
• Michael Carvan – 2002
• Chaoyang Zeng – 2000
• Michael Reddy – 1999
• Mark McBride – 1995