Sarah Richardson

The Maternal Imprint Leading gender and science scholar Sarah S. Richardson charts the untold history of the idea that a woman's health and behavior during pregnancy can have long-term effects on her descendants' health a...

For deep dive into these issues, see my book The Maternal Imprint:

'Long history of blaming mothers': Trump's Tylenol warning echoes past misconceptions Medical scholars say, efforts to find a singular cause for autism has historically led to scrutinizing parents and fueling stigma about autism

I'm quoted along w/ Martine Lappé and Marga Viceda in this piece: " We live in an era of intensive pressure around parenting and expectations that one will do whatever possible to optimize outcome. And there's very little tolerance for the idea that there are many things not under our control."

I engage in scholarly debate as well as address public audiences and speak to media about my work, but I do not engage with inflammatory personal attacks and threats.

The goal of my work is to build conversations across fields and disciplines about how to conduct rigorous and ethical research on sex-related biological variation.

Sex is an important biological developmental process, a vital concept for scientific research, and also a polysemic, plural, and contextual concept.

There are many plain language resources and open access materials on my website and the GenderSci Lab site that thoroughly explain and answer common questions about my position on sex.

As a historian and philosopher of science, I study how scientists across fields and over time use the concept of sex.

They seem to have reading comprehension issues and are distorting my words and the piece as part of their rage machine. Already getting trickles of hate in my email inbox. It's been round after round of this. I guess I've gotten under their skin! Too bad Twitter is such a partisan bubble now.

Friends tell me that now Steven Pinker, Michael Shermer and crowd are on Twitter still dragging me for the 2-page book review essay I wrote for the Lancet this summer. A few comments below.

Reminder! Submission deadline: Dec. 1

Gametic Politics Workshop Call for papers for social science and humanities scholars studying eggs, sperm, and gender/sex in the 21st century

Call for Papers! 🚨

Gametic Politics: Eggs, Sperm, and Gender/Sex in the 21st Century

A Workshop for Early-Career Researchers organized by Rene Almeling (@ralmeling.bsky.social) and Sarah Richardson (@profrichardson.bsky.social)

April 16-17, 2026; Yale University, New Haven, CT

Gender under attack The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health lucidly highlighted how attacks on the concept of gender, and on gender equality and women's rights more broadly, are not new. As Sarah Hawkes and her...

🔗 Access the new article here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

"Defending research and clinical practice in gender-related areas must be a priority in the face of perilous new attacks on science and academic freedom" - "Gender Under Attack," by GenderSci Lab director Sarah Richardson (@profrichardson.bsky.social) , in today's Lancet.

GenderSci Lab director Sarah Richardson (@profrichardson.bsky.social) has a new paper out, extending her work on "sex contextualism"!

A GenderSci Lab Blog Q&A about the paper is linked below in the comments.

🔗 Access the new paper here: journals.publishing.umich.edu/ptpbio/artic...

Riddles of Sex Difference Science: Q&A with Sarah Richardson — GenderSci Lab In a new open access article recently published in the journal Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology , GenderSci Lab Director Sarah Richardson extends and develops her framework of “sex con...

Q&A about my new paper, extending my work on "sex contextualism." Analyzing a debate over whether estrous cycle needs to be accounted for in sex difference research designs, the paper shows how scientists make contextual judgments about what counts as "sex itself" in laboratory rodent research.

New sex contextualism article out in PTPBio! "Sex and the Riddle of Variability" - check it out.

Richardson (2025) @profrichardson.bsky.social: "The debate over measuring variability in preclinical science shows that operationalizing “sex as a biological variable”... requires... contextual judgements at multiple decision points".

@ptpbio.bsky.social #psyscisky #neurosky 🧪
tinyurl.com/3vvah3x7

Resharing with the update that the GenderSci Lab's NSF grant was terminated last week, leaving us with a $500K shortfall. I am seeking both small donors and partners w/ capacity to provide serious bridge funding for our work while Harvard fights for the future of US higher ed and science.

Today I am launching a direct fundraising effort for the Harvard GenderSci Lab, which I founded in 2018. In the current political and funding climate, private contributions are essential to sustaining our vital work. Please share to help us spread the word!

Today I am launching a direct fundraising effort for the Harvard GenderSci Lab, which I founded in 2018. In the current political and funding climate, private contributions are essential to sustaining our vital work. Please share to help us spread the word!

White text on teal background: "Investment feminism: 1. Highlights how financialization may intensify a feminist politics that prioritizes individualization and self-optimization (a concept known as neoliberal feminism) 2. Identifies the articulation of financial investment as a power lever for social changes 3. Predicts increased technologization and datafication at the intersection between capitalism and feminism." Citation: Marsella et al., "Investment Feminism and Women's Health." Signs. GenderSci Lab logo in the bottom right corner.

New work out! Thread at the link.

Sex Based Medicine: Helpful or Harmful?

Join The Moynihan Center on Thursday, March 13 from 2:00 to 3:30PM EDT for a panel featuring Catherine Clune-Taylor, Anais Hausvater, Sarah Richardson (@profrichardson.bsky.social), and Angela Saini.

Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/sex-based-...

They could, but the question is, will the NIH allow these budget line items? And, of course, this will reduce the amount available for research.

The amount of the cut in indirect costs will vary depending on the institution's negotiated rate. So for an institution that has 30% now, their cut will be 50%. For my institution which has 69%, it's close to 80%! Indirect costs are a large, but not the sole, source of a university's budget.

The full chart is in this article: Research Universities Are Poised to Lose Billions Under Trump’s Sudden Cut www-chronicle-com/article/rese...

It can also be found here: ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf2531...

Fallout for local economies that have been built up by these research and medical centers will be intense.

Top researchers will leave the US; top students will not come to the US; research and promising research careers will be abandoned.

This is not playing a game of what-if and it is not paranoia. Musk is cutting the budgets of research universities by 80% on Monday.

In the realm of university hospitals, basic medical and community services provided by these hospitals is backstopped by these overhead/indirect costs. These hospitals will not be able to keep the lights on.