Andrew Devendorf, PhD

I passed the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP)!

This means I’m 95% of the way toward practicing as an independent psychologist.

Soon, I will launch my new practice & start taking clients…more info to come.

For now, here’s new headshot :)

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Exclusive: US veterans agency orders scientists not to publish in journals without clearance Move that seeks political control of doctors’ and scientists’ published research fits a pattern of censorship by the Trump administration, veterans advocates say

This is censorship of science & academic freedom.

And it is terrifying…

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

What Does “End the Stigma” Even Mean? Many advocates want to reduce stigma. But is it effective to say "end the stigma?"

We all want to end mental health stigma, but what does “stigma” even mean?

In my latest piece, I get honest about my concerns for 3-word phrases that lack depth and specificity.

“We cannot “end the stigma” if we do not know what “stigma” is.”

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deep...

There is a path for us to beat this attack on science:

- Beat the reconciliation bill in Congress, which locks in many of the illegal DOGE actions.
- Get NIH grants employees back to work.
- Beat the rescission effort in Congress this summer.
- In 2026, fight to restore the NIH/NSF budget.

🧪1/

Today I lost an NIH grant training clinicians to do research about intimate partner violence with perinatal women.

More women are murdered in the perinatal period than die of obstetric complications.

I didn't just lose a grant. We lost an entire cohort of people building careers to prevent that.

I really appreciate when a Reviewer engages with a submitted article & devotes their expertise to this unpaid service…and…

…a 1700 word review is *a lot* to respond to…

My reframe is that it’s better to have a more engaged review than someone who barely read the paper

Last week, I presented a poster at the Suicide Research Symposium on the VA’s high-risk flag system.

The procedure is aimed to help providers identify Veterans who are at a high risk of suicide.

Our team did a quality improvement study to learn providers’ views on the process.

Check it out!

A spate of suicides drew this alumna back to UC Berkeley to confront mental health issues in academia - Berkeley News Encouraged by Wendy Ingram, a 2014 Berkeley Ph.D. recipient, eminent faculty members shared their experiences with depression and anxiety to help bring these struggles into the open.

Our research on academic mental health was featured again — this time by University of California, Berkeley!

This story blends the personal with the science to highlight how Dragonfly Mental Health is at the forefront of reducing stigma in graduate departments.

news.berkeley.edu/2025/04/21/a...

Full study here, message me for a copy!

psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...

A mental-health crisis plagues PhDs — these evidence-led initiatives offer help Communities of researchers worldwide are taking on the toxic research cultures that drive poor psychological health among academics.

Really honored to see our research study featured in Nature Magazine.

We assessed the Dragonfly Mental Health program, which aims to increase MH awareness & reduce stigma in academics.

95% of attendees felt the program reduced stigma.

Check it out!

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This is a damaging move for US science — cutting 50% of National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowships.

These grants are used to attract, train & support some of the best young scientists.

Cutting this funding is a terrible investment.

www.science.org/content/arti...

When research funding is being cut, it’s crazy that journals still expect academics to review articles for free.

When scientists lose their jobs, what is the incentive to keep reviewing papers?

I proudly attended the Stand Up for Science rally.

The most compelling speech came from a pediatric cancer doctor…

He noted that, for many cancers, NIH-funded science has improved survival outcomes for child patients from 15% to 80%.

Science saves lives.

We must save science ✊

😔

The Trump administration kills nearly all USAID programs The Trump administration is terminating thousands of foreign assistance grants and awards, according to a court filing. The move effectively guts the six-decade-old agency.

We'll post more on this in the future, but for now just sharing the devastating news that >90% of USAID contracts have been cut, including those for HIV medications, food kitchens, etc.

People WILL die as a result.

www.npr.org/sections/goa...

Maybe I’ll put in a submission as a post bacc if this VA thing doesn’t work out…😅

The Trump Administration’s cuts to VA staff & research budget is threatening my and others’ research, where I hope to develop a suicide intervention for Veterans.

I also do not feel safe at my job, despite being a psychologist.

Don’t you believe Veterans—our heroes—deserve the best health care?

I’ll say confidently that today’s email debacle wasted millions of dollars in tax payer money d/t lost labor.

Workers were confused, stressed, & refreshing emails constantly.

Calculate the time spent on this task x the # of federal employees x their hourly pay…

100s of millions, gone 💰

Appreciate it, and agree

Hate to hear you can relate. It definitely leaves a scar ❤️

How long will the survey be up?

Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order The Trump administration is exploiting a loophole to keep a funding freeze in place, leaving researchers in limbo.

Almost all grant-review meetings under Trump 2.0 remain suspended at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), preventing the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research from spending much of its US$47 billion annual budget.


https://go.nature.com/4gM6oW4

Surviving the Impossible: Reflections on Suicide Loss Personal Perspective: I lost my brother to suicide and thought I would never recover. Eight years later, I have identified strategies that have helped me overcome this nightmare.

It’s been 8 years since I lost my brother, Matt, to suicide.

This anniversary, I was compelled to share some reflections on my grief journey.

I hope these reflections can spread awareness & remind people they are not alone.

www.psychologytoday.com/za/blog/deep...

We are hearing that there is a meeting of all NIH IC directors happening now. We are also hearing, from several sources, rumors about director and assistant director level removals coming soon.

The impact of this wld be enormous.
IC directors have all grantmaking authority for each institute. 🧪

NIH and Its Agencies Are Being Smothered In recent days I have been inundated by reports out of HHS...

In its totality what's happening at HHS & NIH is a Musk/Trump effort to shutdown almost all cancer cure research in the US. No more new cures. Cancer's brand is really in the dumps. It polls terribly. This is a political argument that is straightforward to make. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/nih-a...

My motivation for writing academic papers is at a low point.

Publications are currency for research jobs…

But with hiring freezes & severe budget cuts to VA/NIH/NSF/university systems…I’m questioning their value atm.

To other early career psychologists/scientists, my thoughts are with you.

At OPM, Musk’s staffers won’t leave—they work around the clock and have even installed sofa beds in the office. Our access to data systems has been restricted, raising serious concerns about cybersecurity and a complete lack of oversight. We are keeping our heads down and documenting everything.

Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Full Access to Treasury’s Payments System

In preview of my Monday morning piece, I'm going to say a little bit about why this is so concerning. This is not some "economy" thing. Its first & foremost the possibility that our legal order is modified so the law of the land is defined by Elon Musk at Treasury

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/u...

Organize. Organize. Organize. In your neighborhood. In your city or town. Your state. But do not sit on the sidelines now. 10/