iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

SO honored to share I’m a 2026 NIH Outstanding Scholars in Neuroscience #OSNAP awardee! 🧠✨ It’s surreal to receive this as a grad student! Eternally grateful to my incredible thesis advisor @cahill-lab.bsky.social & mentor @crodriguezmdphd.bsky.social — your unconditional support is why I’m here! 🙏🏾

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

This was truly one of my favorite A Chat with Uma episodes I’ve ever released!✨ I'm so grateful for how @theborislab.bsky.social shared not only his work, but his own story, with such honesty, generosity, + depth 🙌🏾🙏🏾 📖 Read below for full show notes + timestamps, and listen at the link above! ☝🏾

Podcast episode description text reads:
“On episode 51 of A Chat with Uma, I sit down with Dr. Boris Heifets, MD, PhD—associate professor at Stanford, anesthesiologist, neuroscientist, & one of the most extraordinary scientists & clinicians who is truly revolutionizing mental health! He pushes the boundaries of how we approach consciousness, mental health, & pharmacology—asking questions most people are too afraid to traverse: Do we need to be awake for drugs to heal the brain? What exactly are ketamine, MDMA, & psilocybin doing when they flip a circuit? Could anesthesiology itself hold keys to psychiatry’s future?
And yet what makes Boris remarkable isn’t only the science—it’s who he is. Over two hours, he shares not just his cutting-edge research but his story: moving from Moscow to the U.S., struggling with belonging, discovering MDMA & LSD in college, & how those experiences of connection still shape his lab’s vision today. We explore MDMA for OCD & autism, the limits of “magic bullet” thinking, why context & lifestyle matter more than a single intervention, & how anesthesiology lets him practice applied neuroscience in real time. If you want to understand where psychiatry is heading & hear from one of field’s foremost minds, this is an episode you cannot miss.”
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Subheading: “Topics Discussed (+ Timestamps):”
A list of timestamps and segment titles follows:

(00:00:00) Introduction & welcome to Dr. Boris Heifets, MD, PhD!

(00:08:44) How Boris & I first met, & why I've admired him since!

(00:11:00) Who Boris is beyond titles: curiosity, sci-fi imagination, & breaking boundaries

(00:16:00) Childhood across Moscow, Denver, St. Louis, Philly → disconnection & search for belonging

(00:17:30) College discoveries: MDMA & LSD → the shock of true connection

(00:19:30) MDMA for autism spectrum: Alicia Danforth’s trial & showing connection for the first time

(00:22:00) Psychedelics as tools, not cures → lifestyle & comorbidities vs. one-day interventions

(00:27:00) How reductionistic models fail to capture what psychedelics actually do

(00:31:00) Anesthesiology + psychiatry + neuroscience → how Boris integrates it all
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A continued list of timestamps and segment topics:

(00:36:40) Applied neuroscience: giving drugs, flipping brain states in real time

(00:43:00) Why mental health was always his focus & the bottlenecks of human communication

(01:00:00) Translational bridge: MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin across mice & humans

(01:12:00) What anesthesiology teaches psychiatry about states, context, & timing

(01:25:00) Team science vs. lone-genius myth → collaboration, controversy, courage

(01:36:00) What makes psychedelic medicine powerful: bending life trajectories, not instant cures

(01:45:00) How to measure outcomes when the drug is just the beginning

(01:55:00) Risks, hype, & how to ground the field in reality without losing hope

(02:10:00) Closing reflections: radical curiosity, gratitude, & staying human in the science
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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

🤯TRIPPING IN YOUR SLEEP: Psychedelics, The Placebo Effect, & How Human Connection Heals the Brain with Dr. Boris Heifets @theborislab.bsky.social💭 Ep. 51 of A Chat with Uma out now! 🌟 This ep is truly a dream come true (no pun intended)-a MUST listen! 🙌🏾 Tune in📲 creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...

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

2) I’m honored to be selected as a mentee for the @acnporg.bsky.social Near-Peer Mentorship Program! 🎉 I’m deeply grateful to everyone in our field who has supported me as a scientist with lived experience! I wouldn’t be here without your belief in me & you challenging the stigma! 🙏🏾 #ACNP2026

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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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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

We also discuss disordered eating, working full time through undergrad, the cost of doing science while poor, navigating academia with chronic illness, and the unspoken labor of advocating for equity from within elite institutions. Read through all topics covered below!👇🏾 6/

• Introduction & welcome to Dr. Ya’el Courtney
• State intervention, bouncing between homes, & the decision to stay alive
• Shoplifting for food & clothes; straight-A validation at school
• Anorexia → bulimia → binge eating: control in chaos
• Self-harm as dopamine; reading the DSM & misdiagnosing herself a “psychopath”
• Forged transcripts, expulsions, confession, & landing at Kent State
• Working 40 h/week while carrying a full course load & unpaid lab hours
• Strep + mono, months of cognitive fog, & a commitment to protect sleep
• Summer REUs, research productivity, & graduating debt-free
• Seven grad school offers—strategy, letters, & the essay that changed everything
• Choosing a PhD mentor who defended boundaries & a 50-hour work cap
• PhD findings: choroid plexus secretory “balloons,” 5-HT2C signaling, & prenatal drug risk
• LSD, psilocybin, & why pregnant or breastfeeding people should avoid them (for now)
• COVID’s silver lining: new funding for post-viral brain research
• Stanford postdoc: unraveling immune-triggered neurodegeneration in long COVID & Lyme
• Making science accessible: “Let the Data Speak”
• Closing reflections: turning survival skills into a blueprint for the next generation

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

🎓 FROM FOSTER CARE TO HARVARD NEUROSCIENTIST: The Choice to Live, Maternal #Psychedelics, & Post-Viral Chronic Illnesses with Dr. Ya’el Courtney @scienceyael.bsky.social ☄️ Ep. 46 of A Chat with Uma is out everywhere now! Truly a MUST listen🌟👏🏾 🎙️Tune in here 👉🏾 creators.spotify.com/pod/show/uma... 1/

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

My podcast, A Chat with Uma, has listeners in… 49 countries?! 🤯🌏 I can’t wrap my head around how far & wide our community lives. I lived in isolation & shame for SO long from severe #MentalIllness & unimaginably painful circumstances—where my truth was deeply uncomfortable+intolerable to most. 1/

A podcast analytics screenshot for A Chat with Uma showing the geographic location of listeners under the “Audience” tab. The view is set to “All platforms.” The top five countries are listed with their respective percentages: United States (77.1%), Canada (6%), United Kingdom (4.2%), Australia (2.6%), and Sweden (1.6%). At the bottom, there’s a red-circled link labeled “Show all (49),” indicating the podcast has listeners in 49 countries.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

In Part 2, @mayaschumer.bsky.social walks us through her PhD & postdoc research on #BipolarDisorder, including: 🧠 The largest bipolar fMRI meta-analysis ever published at the time 🧠 3 independent risk-cohort replications 🧠 Analyzing first-episode mania datasets Full show notes below ⬇️ #SciComm

episode 41 of A Chat with Uma, we pick up right where we left off with Dr. Maya Schumer-a psychiatric neuroscientist who studies bipolar disorder, the very illness she lives with. In Part 2, Maya walks us through her PhD and Postdoc research thus far: the largest functional-MRI meta-analysis ever published at the time, 3 independent risk-cohort replications, and analyzing first-episode mania datasets. We dig into the honest reality of doing cutting-edge science while your brain is the very object of study-managing chronic suicidality, navigating disclosure, unlearning internalized (& reinforced) stigma, and redefining resilience beyond survival.
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 mentored by Dr. Mary Phillips, 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.

Topics Discussed (+ Timestamps):
(00:00:00) Welcome back to Maya! Quick recap of Part 1 & why you need it for context! LISTEN HERE
(00:09:20) How Maya survived a PhD while in hell: mentors, support, and scope-control
(00:11:00) fMR| 101-bold signals, task vs. resting state, and default-mode rumination
(00:14:58) The heterogeneity problem: why three decades of bipolar imaging rarely replicate
(00:17:30) Building a 205-study meta-analysis & finding new network players in the neurobiology of bipolar disorder
(00:24:46) The shocking shortage of mania/mixed-state scans-and why it matters for biomarkers
(00:26:56) Young-adult risk cohorts & the 169-item Mood
Spectrum Self-Report
(00:29:54) Replicating mania- vs. depression-specific connectivity across three datasets
(00:33:00) Maya's postdoc research: first-episode mania, mixed states, & siblings at risk

(00:41:36) Discovering a stigma-smashing research environment at McLean
(00:44:24) From patient to Pl: lining up K-award goals while battling urgency & perfectionism
(00:59:00) Compliance vs. acceptance: managing stability without pathologizing every human feeling
(01:05:50) Internalized ableism, masking mania, & the myth of
"functional" bipolar
(01:14:06) Time lost to our illnesses, managing the standards of academia, & recalibrating worth
(01:20:00) When the work keeps you alive but the workload can kill you
(01:38:00) How our illnesses are simultaneously sensationalized AND stigmatized
(01:44:50) Final reflections: will to live, redefining resilience, & building a new future for our field

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

🧠 MAPPING THE BIPOLAR BRAIN: Emerging Biomarkers, New Brain Regions, & Lived Experience in Research w/ Dr. @mayaschumer.bsky.social (pt. 2) ☯️ Ep. 41 of A Chat with Uma is out now! Listen here👉🏾 creators.spotify.com/pod/show/uma... #BipolarDisorder #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #Neuroscience #SciComm

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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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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

I’m ecstatic to share that I’ve joined the One Mind Lived Experience Council! 🧠🎗️ This position affords me the privilege to TRULY harness my intersectional experiences as a mental health neuroscience researcher, advocate, science communicator, & most importantly, survivor w/ lived experience! 1/

“I’m ecstatic to share that I’m starting a new position as a One Mind Lived Experience Council (OMLEC) Member at One Mind!
I am incredibly honored, grateful, and thrilled to join the One Mind Lived Experience Council, a pioneering initiative bringing together a group of exceptional individuals who have successfully navigated severe mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder—and now, obsessive-compulsive disorder! These members are not only leaders in their professional fields but also champions of mental health advocacy, bringing a wealth of personal and professional insights to support One Mind Accelerator startups, One Mind At Work members, and the Rising Star Awards research programs, as well as advocating to representatives and policymakers.

The primary goal of the One Mind Lived Experience Council is to provide invaluable lived experience-based insights and professional expertise to help One Mind initiatives thrive. By leveraging their unique perspectives and extensive networks, council members guide them in developing products, services, workplaces, research programs, and policies that genuinely address the needs of those living with mental health conditions. They also help startups access key leaders in advocacy and science, as well as broader lived experience communities, ensuring that innovations, workplaces, research programs, and policies are both impactful and inclusive.

I am beyond honored to join such an impactful, interdisciplinary, and inspirational team of individuals at One Mind who embody all of the values that inspire my work in the mental health field. I’m grateful for the opportunity to raise further awareness for and develop critical resources for mental illness at large, and especially for globally underrepresented and underserved conditions like OCD. In my view, lived experience representation means little if it’s siloed away from all the systems it’s meant to inform—lived experience perspectives must be actively integrated into all disciplines that support the mental health field, and One Mind is pioneering this effort.

It’s a privilege to have the opportunity within OMLEC to TRULY harness my intersectional experiences as a mental health neuroscience researcher, advocate, science communicator, & most importantly, survivor with lived experience. I’m endlessly grateful to the OMLEC & One Mind for giving me this opportunity & welcoming me with open arms. I cannot wait for everything to come! 🙏🏽

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

All I could think about at yesterday’s #StandUpForScience2025 march was… the fact that I should not be here, alive, today. There are so many biological illnesses that should have killed me. 1/

Uma, a smiling woman stands in front of the Wisconsin State Capitol holding a handmade sign that reads:
“MENTAL ILLNESS. CANCER SURVIVOR. SCIENCE IS WHY I AM ALIVE TODAY”
She is wearing a black coat and standing among other attendees at a rally. Above her, a large printed sign with a blue Statue of Liberty and bold red and white text promotes the “Stand Up for Science 2025” rally. Other people in the background are holding signs and engaging in the event.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

🎙️Ep. 28 of A Chat with Uma — 🚀 I’M BACK! Where I’ve Been, & Where We’re Going From Here ☀️ ⚡️Full episode available EVERYWHERE now! Subscribe, rate, review, & share the podcast to support me + the show 🫶🏾 Tune in 👉🏾 creators.spotify.com/pod/show/uma... #MentalHealthMatters #Recovery #RealOCD #SciComm

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

🎙️ More info about A Chat With Uma, my #mentalhealth #SciComm & #advocacy podcast, & its next season shared below!👇🏾 And if YOU would like to be a guest on the show to share your research, lived experience, advocacy project, or other expertise with a global+wide-ranging audience—please reach out! 🤩🙌🏾

umarchatterjee W Drumroll... The next season of @AChatWithUma launches in ONE week!!! %
• On @AChatWithUma, we explore our true human experiences in their fullest forms. I harness my uniquely intersecting roles as a mental health neuroscientist AND lived experience advocate to bridge the gap between research & lived experience.
The podcast brings together the world's leading mental health researchers, clinicians, experts, & lived experience advocates to create a space of inclusive + accessible science communication, growth, empowerment, curiosity, vulnerability, and shared humanity!
Threaded with my own unfiltered, raw, &
honest journey through mental illness recovery, healing, & life lessons, because... I'm always walking the walk, right alongside you. ❤️

I cannot thank you all for supporting @AChatWithUma since the very beginning. Because of you, the podcast has already reached THOUSANDS of humans in 42 countries around the WORLD! You're the reason that l've been able to bring on the guests of my dreams & share conversations straight from their hearts AND share solos straight from the heart. And I've been absolutely shocked by how much the podcast has blown up during its break... all because of YOU.

THANK YOU for co-creating this space of honesty, curiosity, growth, & acceptance with me. And thank you for letting me show up exactly as I am, in MY fullest form, past the boundaries & constraints of what my "roles" are "supposed" to allow.

Because of you, we are opening a new chapter of @AChatWithUma together with the most incredible guests, conversations, topics-on ALL things mental health, neuroscience, psychology, p$ych3d3l!c$, advocacy, lived experience, recovery... we're going there x 10000!
The next season launches in 1 WEEK on Monday
February 10th! Until then, catch up with all previous episodes - link in bio, available on all podcast platforms!
What do YOU want to hear next on @AChatWithUma?
Leave all your requests below-topics, guests,
questions, AMA, let's goooo!

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

🌟Season 2 of my podcast, A Chat With Uma, launches NEXT WEEK! 🚀🧠 Here, I harness my uniquely intersecting roles as both a #mentalhealth neuroscientist AND advocate to bridge the gap between research & lived experience 🌈 #SciComm 🎙️Subscribe & catch up here 👉🏾 creators.spotify.com/pod/show/uma...

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

So excited to share that I’m earning a PhD minor in Life Sciences Communication alongside my Neuroscience PhD! Grateful to receive formal #SciComm training to expand my existing initiatives & support of my mission to bridge the gap between #MentalHealth research & lived experience communities! 🧠🎙️🌏🎗️

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
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Life Sciences Communication
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Home / Academic Programs / Ph.D. Minor
Ph.D. Minor
The Ph.D. minor in Life Sciences Communication allows students enrolled in Ph.D. programs from the biological and physical sciences, as well as interested students from other social science and humanities departments, to supplement their existing Ph.D. course work with a transcriptable minor in Life Sciences Communication.
A Ph.D. minor in Life Sciences Communication is particularly valuable for graduate students in the natural and physical sciences who are interested in the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies, or who want to build an intellectual foundation for a future career in policy or various mission agencies (e.g., American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) policy fellowships) dealing with public understanding and communication of science. Many students from these fields routinely take classes in our department, and a Ph.D. minor allows them to get formal recognition for their doctoral-level work in this area.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

I’m grateful to begin 2025 as President at OCD Wisconsin! I’m honored to hold this position after serving as a board member (10/23-6/24) & Vice President (6/24-12/24)! Excited for everything to come in the next year + beyond alongside our phenomenal board members 💚🎗️ Learn more 👉🏾 ocdwisconsin.org

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

👑 Honored to be in Reinvented Magazine’s 2025 #PrincessesWithPowertools calendar!✨ Every purchase helps provide free calendars to schools, libraries, & youth organizations, breaking barriers & showing young girls that they belong in STEM!👩🏾‍🔬 Grab your copy 📆 www.reinventedmagazine.com/princesses-w...

A vibrant image of Uma R. Chatterjee smiling in a lab setting. Uma wears a mint green hoodie, purple gloves, and a red hair scarf, with colorful butterfly clips in her hair. She holds a pipette in one hand and a test tube in the other, surrounded by scientific equipment. The background features a whimsical illustration of a racetrack and racecar, symbolizing Vanellope von Schweetz. Overlay text reads “Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS” and “Neuroscientist and Mental Health Advocate.”

Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS is an award-winning neuroscientist, science communicator, & mental health advocate. Uma earned her M.S. in Neuroscience from the UTexas-Dallas, & is currently a Neuroscience Ph.D. student & NIH TL1 Predoctoral Fellow studying the neurobiology of OCD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Uma’s neurobiology research, MHPS practice, & advocacy are all informed by her lived experience with lifelong mental illness (OCD, PTSD, depression, anxiety, bulimia), cancer, chronic illnesses, and disabilities.

While science often sees Uma’s lived experiences as a glitch, her embracing lived experience is truly her superpower that drives her science. Her work as a scientist stands for the active inclusion and representation of fellow scientists with illnesses and disabilities in research. Her survivorship serves as the bedrock of her advocacy, carried out through her work as a globally-invited public speaker, science communicator, and podcast host of ‘A Chat with Uma.

Full calendar image from Reinvented Magazine, announcing the 2025 Princesses with Powertools calendar. It features multiple participants dressed as iconic princesses with STEM tools, including Uma in her lab attire as Vanellope von Schweetz in the top row, center. The central tile reads “Princesses with Powertools 2025” in bold, colorful text.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

AMAZING #ACNP2024 talk by Dr. Jiyeong Kim on “Large Language Models Outperform Mental & Medical Health Care Professionals in Identifying #OCD”! 👏🏾🧠 Fully packed out room for @crodriguezmdphd.bsky.social’s session, “Harnessing Generative AI for Advancing Mental Health Diagnosis & Care” 🤩🙌🏾

Jiyeong at podium with slide in background. Carolyn at table next to podium.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Landed in Phoenix last night 🌵 and immediately ran into the one & only @connorhaggarty.bsky.social at the airport! 🎉 What a great way to start off #ACNP2024 ☺️

Connor and Uma sitting in an Uber, smiling!

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Finally en route to #ACNP2024! ✈️🌵See everyone tomorrow in Phoenix for Day 1, cannot wait!!! 🤗🧠 @acnporg.bsky.social

Uma smiling brightly and giving a thumbs-up gesture while seated on an airplane. She is wearing a black puffer jacket and a black shirt. The image has a retro Polaroid-style filter with light flares and a “Polaroid SLR680” label at the bottom.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Hi #ACNP2024 🤗 I’m Uma—2nd yr Neuro PhD student in Mike Cahill’s lab @ UW-Madison! I study the pathophysiology of #OCD & #psychedelics 🧠 I’m passionate about bridging the gap between mental health research＋lived experience via scicomm＋advocacy!🎗️ Can’t wait to learn from＋meet y’all @ my 2nd ACNP! 🤩

Uma, a smiling individual wearing a white lab coat and blue gloves - posing in a science laboratory, holding up a peace sign. The background features shelves stocked with lab supplies, a pink plush elephant for OCD awareness, and a string of Uma’s photos displayed with clothespins on her lab bench.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

After 2 months, 100s of hrs, 10s of drafts, & 19,586 total words… Mike (my advisor) & I submitted our 1st @hhmi.bsky.social #GilliamFellows app! 🥹🥂🙌🏾 I’m eternally grateful to Mike & @crodriguezmdphd.bsky.social for their unwavering support of not just my application—but of me as my full self! 🙏🏾 1/

Mike and Uma smiling, holding a Pepsi and coffee in a cheers position.

Screenshot of email notification saying, “HHMI Gilliam Fellows Program 11m ago
HHMI: Confirmation of Receipt of App...
Dear Uma Chatterjee, Thank you for submitting your application for the HHMI
2025 Gilliam Fellows Competition. Thank you, The Gilliam Team”

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Celebrating our panel — “Why is research so powerful when it is designed in partnership with lived experience experts?” — @ Orchard OCD’s ‘24 Research Conference for Patients & Families in London! 🧠 w/ @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social @tamingolivia.bsky.social @ocdaction.bsky.social & Dr. Josie Millar! 1/

ORCHARD OCD Conference FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES
Advancing Global OCD Research
30TH NOVEMBER 2024
WHY IS RESEARCH SO POWERFUL WHEN IT IS DESIGNED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE EXPERTS?

3 panelists in person with 2 panelists virtually

/ Uma R. Chatterjee
Studio
Tobias Hauser
FIND FILTER
UND
ORCHARD
Advancing Global
OCD Research
Blended Intervention to prevent OCD relapse
ORCH/
ill Studio
PANEL DISCUSSION WITH: LEIGH WALLBANK, CATHERINE BENFIELD, UMA R. CHATTERJEE M.S. MHPS, JOSIE MILLAR PH.D, AND TOBIAS HAUSER PH.D

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

@disabledinstem.bsky.social crewneck & t-shirt = BEST gift I could’ve gotten for myself during holiday sales! 🥰 Cannot wait to proudly rep #DisabledInSTEM merch literally EVERYWHERE now - conferences, talks (especially!), class, lab! 🤩 Run, don’t walk — and grab yours with a discount ASAP!👇🏾🫶🏾

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Post a picture of yourself from a different era! Me: 2017, I’m a singer/songwriter headlining my 2nd sold-out show at the House of Blues Dallas… what a time! 😵‍💫

Uma in front of a microphone singing at the House of Blues. Javier, the guitarist, in the background. House of blues drumset in back.

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Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS @umarchatterjee.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

I’m honored to present my #OCD + #psychedelic research AND share my #DisabledInSTEM journey for ALBA Network’s ‘Breaking Down The Ivory Tower’ series for #InternationalDayOfPersonsWithDisabilities! 🧠🎗️ Please join me & Dr. Dionna Williams next week & share this! 👉🏾 www.alba.network/ivorytowerse...

ALBA NETWORK, a division of FENS
ALBA WEBINAR SERIES
Breaking down the ivory tower
The power of self-awareness: advocating for accessible neuroscience research
3 December 2024 - 10:00 EST / 16:00 CET
Dr. Dionna Williams
Emory University, US
Uma R. Chatterjee
University of Wisconsin-Madison, US
#InternationalDayofPersonswithDisabilities

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