Sherry Pagoto, PhD

Harvard has slashed PhD admissions drastically in response to the funding crisis.

Science PhD admissions are down >75%! www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

My Best Friend Of 35 Years Died. I Didn't Expect Him To Leave Me A New Best Friend: His Wife. "Robyn and I were both left without the man who steadied us — she as his wife, me as his best friend."

I'm feeling grateful the Huff Post published this essay I wrote about the year that followed my lifelong best friend's passing from an aggressive lymphoma. 🙏

www.huffpost.com/entry/death-...

How to live a good life in difficult times: Yuval Noah Harari, Rory Stewart and Maria Ressa in conversation From superintelligent AI to the climate and democracy, three leading thinkers discuss how to navigate the future

"Homo sapiens is by far the most intelligent species on the planet, and it simultaneously is the most deluded species. We are now creating a superintelligence, and there is every reason to think that it will be super deluded."

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

‘Fear and hopelessness’: study finds one in four professors consider leaving US south Survey by American Association of Professors shows nearly quarter of respondents are switching due to states’s politics

Survey by the American Association of Professors shows nearly 1 in 4 professors in the US South are considering leaving their state due to the political climate.

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

And let me put it this way, as a psychologist, I have never met someone with ASD who didn’t have a family member (usually dad but not always) who had it too or had similar behaviors even if never diagnosed.

Actually it’s largely genetic. Check this out: bsky.app/profile/drsh...

Heritability of autism spectrum disorders: a meta‐analysis of twin studies The etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been recently debated due to emerging findings on the importance of shared environmental influences. However, two recent twin studies do not support ...

Meta-analysis of twin studies reveals autism is largely genetic. This was published 10 years ago, and yet here we are.

"We demonstrate that ASD is due to strong genetic effects. The meta‐analytic heritability estimates were substantial: 64–91%."

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Autism was only diagnosed in the 80's and 90's if it was severe, but then we got better at capturing less severe versions. So it seems like more people have autism but actually it is that we are catching more cases. A diagnosis is also necessary to qualify for services.

Autism experts question HHS statements on Tylenol, leucovorin Concerns include the administration’s reliance on weak, correlational evidence rather than established research…

The Coalition of Autism Scientists have entered the chat:

“The data cited do not support the claim that Tylenol causes autism and leucovorin is a cure, and only stoke fear and falsely suggest hope where there is no simple answer.”

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/aut...

Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children’s Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability This nationwide cohort study with sibling control analysis examines the association of acetaminophen use during pregnancy with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, and intellectual disability.

Study in @jama.com reveals no link between Tylenol and autism:

"Acetaminophen use during pregnancy was not associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability in sibling control analyses."

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Obesity Is Killing American Men

Glad to see the NYT covering the undertreatment of obesity in men. This is a longstanding issue.

We are currently recruiting for a clinical trial of a digital weight loss program. Sign up here if interested: uchredcap.uchc.edu/redcap/surve...

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/w...

BREAKING: CDC's ACIP just voted 8-3 to change vaccine recomendation and stop recommending MMRV to children as their first dose.

California’s $23 Billion Plan to Restore Federal Cuts to Scientific Research

California proposes $23B plan to fund scientific research at its universities.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/u...

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English A new form of capitalism: The Influencer Culture | Al Jazeera Untangles

I was excited to be part of this @aljazeera.com documentary on the harms of social media influencer culture.

It is in a 4-part docuseries on social media. Worth a watch!

Also great viewing for teens to help them avoid going down the social media rabbit hole.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl3K...

A Conversation With The Three CDC Leaders Who Resigned In Protest & MAHA Supporters Podcast Episode · Why Should I Trust You? · 09/04/2025 · 1h 59m

In this podcast episode, three CDC leaders who resigned sit down for a discussion with MAHA supporters.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health

Here you go: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

It definitely does! 😊

Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health

This morning 9 former CDC Directors, whose tenures date back to 1977, published this warning in the NYT:

RFK Jr is a danger to public health.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

So sorry you lost your best friend. 💔 It’s a grief we don’t hear much about but it is so very real.

Thank you 😊 So true. A hundred million things.

🤕😊

🤗

🥰

🥺

I have a headache.

Normally this is the kind of thing I’d text my best friend, but he died last year. He was the rare person who wouldn’t see that as annoying but instead would respond: 😞🤕

This is all to say you’re really gonna miss the person you can text about a headache.

What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Get Right About Love What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce can teach us about relationships.

Congrats to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce! 😍💍

As a psychologist, I have been impressed by their mutual respect for each other's careers.

Check out my piece on how these two have written the playbook for balancing love and careers: www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shri...

I'd like to see if this increases or decreases the volume of email. Hoping for the latter. 😄

‘Impossible to rebuild’: NIH scientists say Trump cuts will imperil life-saving research Researchers say scientific community is in state of whiplash and accuse president of trying to ‘destroy’ vital work

"Forty years ago more than 60% of children diagnosed with cancer would have died within five years of diagnosis. Today there is a 90% survival rate." - @labonnelab.bsky.social

This is why we cannot take our foot off the gas of cancer research funding.

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

This Habit Can Improve Your Love Life and Your Heart Health The type of relationships that protect our hearts has one key ingredient: Co-regulation. Partners who co-regulate know how to effectively reduce each other’s stress.

When we talk about healthy lifestyle we usually mean diet and exercise, but that is too narrow. Healthy relationships matter too.

In my latest @psychologytoday.com piece, I discuss a healthy habit that can improve your relationship AND your heart health.

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shri...

Yes but cancer is definitely a chemo deficiency 😑