iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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ACNP @acnporg.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Please join us in Congratulating the 2026 ACNP Travel Award Class! 👏🤩 Click Here ➡️ tinyurl.com/5bzaz8va for more information on Travel Awards. 📝

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Maya Schumer! @mayaschumer.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Can the Keto Diet Really Improve Mental Health? www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/w... Great to see this @nytimes.com piece out—where I shared my experience of using a keto diet to stabilize my bipolar disorder. I agreed to try keto at the worst time in my life—peak suicidal—& it not only saved my life…

nytimes.com

Can the Keto Diet Really Improve Mental Health?

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Maya Schumer! @mayaschumer.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

I have one of those truly treatment-resistant and volatile cases of bipolar 1 disorder that finally, after 11+ years, stabilized because of a #KetogenicDiet. Remission seemed like a myth or, at best, a cruelly-unattainable state/goal. At my lowest and most suicidal…1/5

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DrGlitterbear @drglitterbear.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Happy to see this conversation happening. As someone who withdrew from their 1st attempt at PhD due to mental health, way back in the mid-90's, it was very difficult to overcome that obstacle when applying to PhD programs again. I was always seen as a risk...even after completing a masters degree.

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Thank you for sharing your story. The panelists of this study group also authored a perspective on this topic. We hope this call to action continues to help decrease the stigma and systemic barriers that researchers w/ lived experience face. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

nature.com

Breaking barriers: centering researchers with lived experience in psychiatric neuroscience - NPP—Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Researchers who live with serious mental illness or substance use disorders bring unique insight to psychiatric neuroscience, yet they remain underrepresented in the field. This paper calls for recogn...

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Thank you for this glowing endorsement! We agree and are very appreciative of the panelists for their thoughtful suggestions for improving the culture and removing barriers that researchers with lived experience face.

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Melissa Herman @melissaherman.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

So grateful that have heard these impactful researchers offer their perspectives at #ACNP2026 . These are some of the unique voices that NIH should be supporting

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Sofiya Hupalo @sofiyahupalo.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Diversity supplements weren’t just for folks from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds. Eligibility extended to first gen college students and researchers with disabilities, among others Cancelling these supplements limits opportunities for the next generation of scientists, as explained here

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Lizzie Manning @drlizziemanning.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

I was just watching this online last night (I was registered online) and it was such a good session. Anyone who hasn't watched it yet and had access to the recordings should make sure they watch it while they still have access (before Feb 16 ) Thanks to the speakers for sharing their experiences

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Recapping the #ACNP2026 study group, “Centering Lived Experience in Psychiatric Neuroscience Research” We asked the panelists, what could NIH leadership do to be more supportive of trainees with non-traditional career paths, which is common among researchers with lived experience of mental illness?

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Susanne Ahmari @ahmarilab.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

From tat to shoes, @mayaschumer.bsky.social is blooming in her new postdoc in the Bipolar Research Program at @mcleanhospital.bsky.social 🌹🌹🌹 Here’s to using your platform(s) 👡to make change for researchers w/ lived experience! #ACNP2026 #FashionsOfACNP @acnporg.bsky.social @onemindorg.bsky.social

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Britton Barbee @brittonrae.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

still talking about this study group - one for the books 📚 🫶🏻

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Sofiya Hupalo @sofiyahupalo.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

What a powerful conversation about what it’s like to navigate life and a research career with lived experience of mental illness. I’m deeply grateful for the speakers being willing to share their experiences and how we can all be more supportive of our colleagues #ACNP206 @acnporg.bsky.social

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Amy M. Jimenez, PhD @amyjimenez.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Thank you @acnporg.bsky.social and the incredibly impressive panel for the excellent, important session on sex and gender in neuropsychopharmacology research. #acnp2026

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Susanne Ahmari @ahmarilab.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

@deffinger.bsky.social at Lived Experience Panel @acnporg.bsky.social #ACNP2026: We should be going from consultation to co-production in the integration of lived experience in research 🧠🧪

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Susanne Ahmari @ahmarilab.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Important message from Nev Jones to sr people in the field: Don’t treat young emerging researchers w/ lived experience as a checkbox. Asking them for a grant letter solely because of lived experience puts them in a difficult-to-impossible bind due to power dynamics @acnporg.bsky.social #ACNP2026

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Susanne Ahmari @ahmarilab.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Ok seriously, if you’re not at the Lived Experience study group, you need to be. What an amazing panel-these researchers with lived experience have incredible insights to share about the benefits of integrating lived experience into research. Maya Schumer:it’s additive, not adversarial #ACNP2026

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Stop by our journal table and grab a paper copy of our recent Perspective discussing barriers faced by researchers with lived experience. www.nature.com/articles/s44... Thanks @mayaschumer.bsky.social & colleagues for writing this important article 🤩

Dr. Maya Schumer posing with her DPN Perspective article.

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

If you're attending #ACNP2026 and would like to learn more & discuss this important topic with the authors, come to this study group👇👇 on Tues morning (1/13) at 9 AM! See you there 😄

Screenshot of study group at upcoming ACNP 2026 annual meeting

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Our first Deep Dive of 2026 covers a Perspective calling for recognizing & removing barriers faced by researchers with lived experience of mental illness or SUDs who work in our field. By @umarchatterjee.bsky.social @mayaschumer.bsky.social @deffinger.bsky.social & colleagues youtu.be/y5fymczeNFc

youtu.be

The central role of lived experience in mental health research

YouTube video by NPP - Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN)

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

A powerful DPN Perspective from @umarchatterjee.bsky.social, @mayaschumer.bsky.social, @deffinger.bsky.social, @viscidula.bsky.social, Noel Vest, Michael Cahill, Brandon Staglin, & @ericjnestler.bsky.social. DPN is grateful for the authors' dedication to writing this!

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NPP-Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience (DPN) @dpn-journal.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Researchers with lived experience of mental illness/SUDs bring vital insight to our field, yet remain underrepresented and face barriers to participation & leadership This Perspective calls for removing such barriers & proposes reforms to build inclusive environments www.nature.com/articles/s44...

nature.com

Breaking barriers: centering researchers with lived experience in psychiatric neuroscience - NPP—Digital Psychiatry and Neuroscience

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Owen Muir, M.D., DFAACAP, FCTMSS @owenmuir.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

A eulogy for my friend Nolan Williams. open.substack.com/pub/thefront...

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Maya Schumer! @mayaschumer.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

@acnporg.bsky.social brought @umarchatterjee.bsky.social @deffinger.bsky.social & me together last year: After finding each other on X-as we are all public/open about our lived experience -we met+discussed the ideas for this Study Group! Looking forward to doing this work together@ #ACNP2026💥🧠❤️

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Scott Thompson, PhD @sthom003.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

So important to recognize the value and recognize the importance of lived experiences! Thank you to all the panelists for your courage and generosity!

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

THRILLED to share @acnporg.bsky.social news x2! 1) Our study group “Centering Lived Experience in Psychiatric Neuroscience Research” @ericjnestler.bsky.social @mayaschumer.bsky.social @deffinger.bsky.social @viscidula.bsky.social @noelvest.bsky.social @cahill-lab.bsky.social=ACCEPTED! 🤩 #ACNP2026

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Maya Schumer! @mayaschumer.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

I recently—for the first time—spoke openly & honestly about my 11+year journey w/ #BipolarDisorder +chronic su!cidality on my friend @UmaRChatterjee podcast @AChatWithUma. Grateful to Uma for creating the opportunity for me to speak truth to stigma. Check out Part 1! (part 2 coming this week!)

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

If you’ve ever struggled with chronic s#icidality, felt the weight of stigma in academia, or questioned what makes life worth holding onto—this episode is for you. @mayaschumer.bsky.social’s powerful story is one of survival, honesty, & the power of turning pain into purpose. ❤️🙌🏾👏🏾 #BipolarDisorder

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

In Pt. 1, @mayaschumer.bsky.social shares her full experience across 3 decades: ☯️ Growing up w/ a father with Bipolar 1 ☯️Her own journey from Bipolar 2 → 1 ☯️ Hospitalizations ☯️ Lithium ☯️ Chronic s#icidality ☯️ #MetabolicPsychiatry ☯️ IV k3tam!ne ☯️ TMS ☯️ Redefining “stability” Read full topics below ⬇️

(00:14:00) Artist → neuroscientist plot-twist
(00:17:46) Creativity, bipolar, & the Kaye Redfield Jamison spark
(00:20:26) How & why we met on X/Twitter, defying the norms of academia, & building a movement together (00:26:30) Ableism in research spaces & how we fight back (00:31:34) Childhood in bipolar's shadow: therapy at three &
"casserole syndrome"
(00:38:42) Stigma lessons, dignity, & mourning a living ghost (00:43:02) College crash: color-coding moods → diagnosis at
20
(00:46:30) Types | & Il, mixed states, spectrum-& living every corner of it
(00:53:00) Compliance # acceptance: owning the illness vs. just taking meds
(01:05:52) Losing sleep, losing friendships, & the 24/7 second job of self-monitoring
(01:17:46) Seasonal mood whiplash & March-mania defenses
(01:22:54) Keto, & lithium 2.0
(01:34:12) Daily IV ketamine, accelerated TMS, & pluralism
(01:44:30) A brutally honest convo about chronic suicidality
(01:52:00) Redefining stability, building lived-experience science

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

On Ep. 40 of A Chat with Uma, I talk to Dr. @mayaschumer.bsky.social —a psychiatric neuroscientist who studies & lives with #bipolardisorder. Maya earned her PhD in neurosci at Pitt Med & is now a postdoc at @mcleanhospital.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social modeling the dynamic nature of BD. 1/

On episode 40 of A Chat with Uma, I sit down with my o friend Dr. Maya Schumer-a psychiatric neuroscientist who studies bipolar disorder, the very illness she lives with. She shares her full experience across 3 decades: growing up with a father with bipolar 1 disorder, how her own bipolar 2 diagnosis morphed into bipolar 1, several hospitalizations, her relationship with lithium, chronic suicidality, metabolic psychiatry, IV ketamine, TMS, & redefining "stability." If you've ever struggled with chronic suicidality, felt the weight of stigma in academia, or questioned what makes life worth holding onto-this conversation is for you. Maya's story is one of survival, honesty, & the power of turning pain into purpose.
Dr. Maya Schumer is a psychiatric neuroscientist & postdoctoral researcher who studies—& has lived experience with-Bipolar Disorder.

Maya received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2023, where she used task-based functional neuroimaging & coordinate-based meta-analysis to identify reproducible & replicable neural network markers of bipolar disorder risk. Currently, Maya is a postdoctoral fellow at McLean Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
Mentored by Dr. Dost Öngür, Maya examines resting-state functional connectivity patterns & neural network dynamics across different stages & mood states in bipolar disorder, with an overall goal to model its dynamic nature.

Maya's passion for research is informed by her own lived experience. In her role as a researcher with lived experience, she aims to address & dismantle the stigma surrounding serious mental illnesses (SMIs), make academia & research environments more inclusive & accommodating for those with disabilities; & advocate for meaningful co-production between individuals with lived experience & scientists.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

🧠 WHY IS MY BRAIN TRYING TO K!LL ME?: Living With Bipolar 1 Disorder & Chronic S#icidality with Dr. @mayaschumer.bsky.social (pt. 1) ☯️ Ep. 40 of A Chat with Uma out now! Listen here 👉🏾 creators.spotify.com/pod/show/uma... #BipolarDisorder #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #Neuroscience #LivedExperience 1/

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