— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Dr. Shekar Kurpad, founding director of the Wisconsin Institute of NeuroScience.
The institute, formally launched earlier this month, is a partnership between Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, MCW, Children’s Wisconsin and the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans’ Administration Medical Center.
MCW, Froedtert and Children’s Wisconsin had previously established the Neuroscience Institute in early 2022, which has now been rebranded under the new name.
“It’s a true equal partnership of all these entities to launch the neurosciences into the next level,” he said. “What does that mean? It means more cutting edge research in the neurosciences … an area of medicine where very little is known and there’s a lot to be discovered.”
This work could benefit a wide array of patients, including those with memory and movement disorders, epilepsy, brain tumors, spine problems and more.
Along with efforts to improve clinical care to a national level of recognition, the institute will offer “cutting-edge” clinical trials for new treatments and opportunities for education.
“It’s really important in an evolving discipline like the neurosciences and medicine overall, to train the next generation,” he said. “And trainees, the best and brightest trainees, come to places that have the best research, the best clinical care, so we hope to be a magnet for those individuals.”
Kurpad also discusses ongoing programs connected to WINS, including an effort to improve treatments for treating trauma in first-responders, as well as some broader trends in neuroscience research.
Listen to the podcast.
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— In the latest edition of “Talking Trade,” Mark Rhoda-Reis of DATCP shares insights on the latest agricultural export trends and more.
Rhoda-Reis, director of the agency’s International Agribusiness Center, says Wisconsin ag export activity in 2023 was down from the prior standout year.
“2022 was a record year for the U.S. and for Wisconsin,” he said. “For Wisconsin it was $4.22 billion, largest on record. And whenever you go to those kinds of peaks, oftentimes it’s difficult to maintain that really high level.”
Still, state ag exports hit $3.87 billion last year — the third largest annual total on record, he noted. And Wisconsin’s national ranking for this measure improved from 13th in 2022 to 11th in 2023.
The discussion touches on the state’s production of meats, sauces, cheese and other food products, as well as how global trends have impacted the trade relationship with Mexico, Wisconsin’s second-largest export destination in 2023.
Rhoda-Reis notes U.S. tariffs and the COVID-19 pandemic created major economic difficulties for Mexico, with these challenges hitting the country harder than other parts of the world.
“As we’ve seen, they’ve started climbing back out of that,” he said. “I think some of it too is from that re-shoring that’s happening, a lot of that business that’s coming back from Asia, from China, back into Mexico.”
Watch the full episode here.
“Talking Trade” is available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.
— January home sales in Wisconsin increased 7.4% over the year, marking the first annualized monthly increase since December 2021.
That’s according to the latest Wisconsin Realtors Association report, which shows 3,436 homes were sold in the state last month, compared to 3,200 in January 2023. The increase is a “stark contrast” to the 17.4% decline across all of 2023 compared to the prior year, the group notes.
Mary Jo Bowe, this year’s chair of the WRA Board of Directors, notes sales activity always slows down for the winter months, with January typically seeing the fewest sales every year.
“However, the improvement in listings has resulted in a nice bounce in sales to start the year,” she said in the report.
New listings of existing homes in January increased 10.1% over the year, while total listings rose 2% over the same period, the report shows.
Meanwhile, the median home price was 6% higher over the year, rising to $265,000 from $250,000.
And while inventory levels remain historically low, they rose 19% over the year from 2.1 months to 2.5 months. WRA notes a balanced market would have about six months of supply.
WRA President and CEO Tom Larson says the current seller’s market will likely remain for “the foreseeable future” due to the unmet demand for homes by millennial buyers.
“However, it is encouraging to see new listings increase in each of the last four months,” he said.
See the full report.
— Nearly 2,000 borrowers in Wisconsin are getting about $13.8 million in student loans forgiven, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Education.
The federal agency today announced state-level figures for the nearly 153,000 borrowers getting $1.2 billion in loans forgiven under the Biden Administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education Plan. Eligible recipients will begin seeing their loans forgiven in the coming weeks.
To be eligible, loan holders must be enrolled in the SAVE Plan, have been making at least 10 years of payments and taken out $12,000 or less in student loans for college. For every $1,000 borrowed above that amount, borrowers can get forgiveness after another year of payments, according to a release.
Top headlines from the Health Care Report…
— Planned Parenthood has asked the state Supreme Court to find that the Wisconsin Constitution guarantees a right to abortion.
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TOP STORIES
Wisconsin dairy cows shine as national numbers show decline
Utilities weigh power demand from AI amid clean energy transition
UW-Madison students seek to oust Starbucks from campus
TOPICS
AGRIBUSINESS
– Major agribusiness investments approved in Wisconsin
BIOTECH
– Wisconsin’s biohealth tech hub garners $7.5 million supporting grant
CONSTRUCTION
– Mortenson to break ground on Oregon ballpark soon
ECONOMY
– These Wisconsin families landed on Forbes’ list of the richest families in America
ENVIRONMENT
– Shoring up hope and restoring areas of concern
– Evers signals he won’t sign bill to fight PFAS as legislative session nears end
– Assembly passes ‘forever chemicals’ bill, though Evers is not likely to sign it
HEALTH CARE
– To build better mental health, experts say children need to start during earliest years
LEGAL
– Johnson Controls CEO says changes to sales incentive plan align with company’s overall strategy
MANUFACTURING
– Quad plant closings elsewhere benefit Wisconsin operations, add jobs: CEO
– New brewery opens near historic downtown Waukesha
– Cudahy-based C R Industries acquires Nashotah-based dock manufacturer
MEDIA
– Niagara native’s new novel whisks readers away to Wisconsin’s Northwoods
POLITICS
– Planned Parenthood asks Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule on constitutional right to abortion
– State Constitution guarantees abortion rights, Planned Parenthood says
REAL ESTATE
– How a downtown Milwaukee landlord made space for Enerpac’s headquarters move
RETAIL
– Milwaukee-based Top Note Tonic expands distribution nationally via new partnership
SPORTS
– Milwaukee Bucks to seek exemption to host NBA All-Star game after new rules would exclude city
PRESS RELEASES
See these and other press releases
South Central Wisconsin Dairy Manufacturers: To compete in 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest
UW-Eau Claire: Dr. Louisa Rice named associate vice chancellor for academic affairs