Sofi Cárdenas, PhD

I'm reviewing abstracts for an upcoming scientific conference, helping the planning team to select which attendees get a chance to present their work.

Some are amazingly good.

Some suggest that the applicant has not ever been taught how to write an abstract.

Here are some basic tips:

🧪

What Pregnant Women Should Know About Vaccines During Pregnancy Pregnant or postpartum and wondering about vaccines? Maternal and fetal medicine provider Anna Euser, MD, PhD walks us through which ones are needed and how they work.

Pregnant or postpartum and wondering about vaccines? Maternal and fetal medicine provider Anna Euser, MD, PhD walks us through which ones are needed and how they work. https://bit.ly/48GO1ja

At #ISDP2025! 🧠 Catch my poster (P2.47) on sleep + cingulum white matter in first-time fathers.
Thanks to Quester for helping me get this poster organized! (www.quester.xn--tech)-sw3b @darbysaxbe.bsky.social

Virtual Office Hours For Psychology PhD Applicants - Registration Form To broaden the pool of applicants in psychology PhD programs across the country, Duke University's Department of Psychology & Neuroscience is holding our 6th Annual Virtual Office Hours Program. All a...

Duke University is holding virtual office hours for students to get feedback on their psychology PhD applications!

Due October 31st!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Our paper is finally out @darbysaxbe.bsky.social @genesisflores.bsky.social! Expectant fathers raised in riskier environments show lower white matter integrity in limbic regions and less effective parenting, even controlling for depressive symptoms. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

a cat wearing a red beret says bonjour ALT: a cat wearing a red beret says bonjour

Moving forward, I am excited to continue building relationships with these leaders and thinking about how the United States can learn from our French colleagues. [4/4]

France rolls out ‘1,000 day’ centres for parents and young children The centres will cover conception to two years old with part of the focus on positive parenting techniques

Their work has led to French legislation focused on supporting children’s first 1000 days, including extended paternity leave. www.connexionfrance.com/practical/fr... [3/4]

Mommy Brain Revisited Mental Health Podcast · Welcome to Mommy Brain Revisited, a podcast where neuroscience meets parenting. Join us as we explore the fascinating world of the parental brain, bridging the gap between grou...

All three researchers represent great leaders in the field of maternal mental health. All three have elevated the field through their clinical, research, and sci-comm contributions. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m... [2/4]

a plane is taking off with the words woo hoo welcome home ALT: a plane is taking off with the words woo hoo welcome home

Just got back from ODYSSEE France. I am grateful to have met with Drs. Sutter (Bordeaux), Apter (Rouen), and Pawluski @drjodipawluski.bsky.social (Rennes). 🧵 [1/4]

Neurodevelopmental Timing Links Stress and Psychopathology This Viewpoint discusses the importance of contextualizing stressful experiences and the neurodevelopmental trajectory to predict the risk of psychopathology.

Timing and plasticity are critical to progress in research on stress and neurodevelopment

@ariellekeller.bsky.social
@jamapediatrics.com
@utdallas.bsky.social
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

My Baby Versus the World: Fathers' Neural Processing of Own‐Infant, Unfamiliar‐Infant, and Romantic Partner Stimuli First-time fathers processed own-infant stimuli in mentalizing, emotion regulation, and reward processing regions, and posterior midline responses tracked with bonding and parental stress. Whole-brai....

🧠Out now in @ohbmofficial.bsky.social ! 🧠

We scanned 32 first-time dads (~8 mos postpartum) while they watched videos of their baby, an unfamiliar baby, their romantic partner, and an unfamiliar woman…1/8

doi.org/10.1002/hbm....

Applying for graduate studies in psychology and neuroscience can be challenging and confusing. Frequently, applicants have some support from mentors at their home institutions, but sometimes applicants are looking for additional reassurance, feedback, or perspectives on the processes.

Thrilled to share that I’ve been awarded the ODYSSEE France grant to pursue scientific collaborations in France! I’ll be connecting with leaders in perinatal mental health—including the amazing @drjodipawluski.bsky.social. Huge thanks to @franceintheus.bsky.social—can’t wait to get started!

Utah Farmers Signed Up for Federally Funded Therapy. Then the Money Stopped. Farmers are dying by suicide at the third-highest rate by vocation in Utah. But after a federal program offering mental health support ran out of money, the state did not continue it.

In 2023, a program connecting Utah farmers and ranchers to free therapy vouchers was so successful, the federal money ran out in four months.

“I want you to know,” the program director recalled one recipient telling him, “that this saved my life.”

With @sltrib.com

Stellar new paper from Tochukwu Nweze
"Developmental trajectories of externalizing and internalizing linked to harsh parenting: The role of ethnicity and socioeconomic status" now out in Development and Psychopathology www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

In the past month 4 trainees in my lab lost: NIH diversity supplement, MARC, & STEP-Up funding. NSF SBE meeting (incl. ECRs) indefinitely postponed. Pipeline cuts disproportionately affect underrepresented scholars. Individual lives & our collective future impacted. #ScienceMatters

I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up.

URGENT: students being told to self-deport because their visas are revoked. For issues as benign as a social media post. I'm disgusted and horrified.

Analysis of Terminated NIH Grants with Word Clouds

First, using the titles of grants not to Columbia...

Gender and DEI predominate

🧵Yesterday, I received notice that my #NIH grant, on the social environment, lifecourse, epigenetics & #birthoutcomes in Black families, was terminated. This grant represented a critical effort to address the ⬆️ rates of maternal & infant mortality in the US, particularly among Black mothers & babies

Excited to share new research in Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience #psynomCABN! Thanks to my bluesky-less co-first author, Maya Jackson, as well as @jgaronb.bsky.social b.bsky.social, @medvanderbilt.bsky.social, @klhumphreys.bsky.social, and the rest of our team! Link: rdcu.be/ed7MM

Successfully passed my dissertation defense ✅ So grateful for the support of my mentors and family! (Ph)Done!

As we watch all mention of diversity actively get scrubbed from the NIH website in real time it's important to know that, we were not taking over anything, we were just trying to exist.
- Only 2% of NIH R01 grants are awarded to Black investigators.
The goal is total erasure/elimination.