Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS

Ecstatic to share my @ologies.bsky.social episode on #OCD! 🎉

SO grateful to (my fav human!) @alieward.bsky.social for having me on! This was such a rewarding + healing experience for me, fully sharing as a researcher INFORMED by my lived experience 🥺🫶🏾

TUNE IN 👉🏾 www.alieward.com/ologies/ocdb... 1/🧵

Thank you so much for your kind message & for sharing this @nora.zone! 🥺❤️ I’m so glad that the episode was supportive, & I’m sending you so much love + care as you navigate next steps. Please always remember that you’re not alone & there is so much hope! Thank you for listening! 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

@umarchatterjee.bsky.social hey thank you so much for the podcast. i haven't been formally diagnosed yet but everything you said matches my experience and i am going to look into getting treatment

This is such a massive WIN for the #OCDCommunity + #OCDAwareness. Whether you’re already diagnosed, you don’t have OCD but learned new things, or you’re one of the countless folks sharing that they felt truly seen for the first time—I PROMISE you’re not alone & we got you. ❤️ @ologies.bsky.social 5/🧵

The power of platforming *real* OCD on @ologies.bsky.social—one of the biggest podcasts in the WORLD—is profound for such a misunderstood & stigmatized condition. These episodes are MASTERFUL (as always) & will save MILLIONS of lives. To have the honor of being part of this is indescribable. 🥹 4/🧵

I can’t thank @alieward.bsky.social enough for covering #OCD (with not one, but TWO eps!) on @ologies.bsky.social with SUCH depth, (healthy😉) diligence, compassion, & care. And Alie, thank you for YOUR bravery + vulnerability in sharing your own lived experience w/ us. You are SO seen & loved. ❤️ 3/🧵

We cover SO much on @ologies.bsky.social, including: My story, POCD+taboo+harm themes, mental compulsions, #OCD neurobiology, genetics, evidence-based treatments, emerging psychedelic research (+ my lived experience), neuromodulation, the devastating consequences of stigma & misinformation, +! 🧠 2/🧵

Ecstatic to share my @ologies.bsky.social episode on #OCD! 🎉

SO grateful to (my fav human!) @alieward.bsky.social for having me on! This was such a rewarding + healing experience for me, fully sharing as a researcher INFORMED by my lived experience 🥺🫶🏾

TUNE IN 👉🏾 www.alieward.com/ologies/ocdb... 1/🧵

YouTube video by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Desk: The Future of Animal Models in Research | NIH’s Dr. Nicole Kleinstreuer

A discussion of the use of animals in research.

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

1/n

(Warning: Rant coming)

OCD Awareness🤝The NUMBER 1 science podcast in the WORLD! 🎉

@ologies.bsky.social w/ @alieward.bsky.social is covering #OCD with not one but TWO episodes this week! Pt. 1, with the legendary Dr. Wayne Goodman, out TODAY—part 2, with yours truly (!!!), comes next later this week! 🥹🫶🏾

Listen to pt. 1👇🏾

Seeing @ologies.bsky.social smack dab in the center of TIME’s hundred greatest podcasts is such a beautiful feeling. @alieward.bsky.social is a genius and I’m so grateful for my time working on the show, she makes the world a better place and inspires me every day: time.com/collections/...

This means the world to me, Stephanie! 🥹🫶🏾 @alieward.bsky.social made it one of the best, most heartwarming & empowering conversations I’ve ever had, especially at the intersection of science & lived experience—it’s a HUGE hug to us all living at (often isolating) line❤️ Sending much love & gratitude!

OCD Awareness🤝The NUMBER 1 science podcast in the WORLD! 🎉

@ologies.bsky.social w/ @alieward.bsky.social is covering #OCD with not one but TWO episodes this week! Pt. 1, with the legendary Dr. Wayne Goodman, out TODAY—part 2, with yours truly (!!!), comes next later this week! 🥹🫶🏾

Listen to pt. 1👇🏾

And lastly, can't wait for the bonus episode with OCD advocate and fellow scientist @umarchatterjee.bsky.social, who I appreciate so much for being a voice at the intersection of science and lived experience!

Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD) with Dr. Wayne Goodman — alie ward Ruminations and reassurances. Checking and counting. Suffering and stigmas. It’s OCD, babes! OCD is now considered one of the most common psychiatric conditions, afflicting 2% to 3% of the general pop...

One of my fave science pods @ologies.bsky.social has a new episode on OCD, a topic obviously very near & dear to my heart. I'm so used to its host making me care deeply about topics I know zero about, so I'm thrilled to listen when I do know a thing...or even 2 😄

www.alieward.com/ologies/ocdn...

Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD) with Dr. Wayne Goodman — alie ward Ruminations and reassurances. Checking and counting. Suffering and stigmas. It’s OCD, babes! OCD is now considered one of the most common psychiatric conditions, afflicting 2% to 3% of the general pop...

WE HAVE OCD. A whole episode w/ ICON Dr. Wayne Goodman.

Ruminations. Rituals. Checking. Suffering. Stigmas. Hope.

Plus: origins, comorbidities, intrusive thoughts, deep brain stimulation, genetics, medications, finding a doc + the best therapy for it, ERP.

www.alieward.com/ologies/ocdn...

Nature: US senators poised to reject Trump’s proposed massive science cuts Committee gives first hint that policymakers might preserve, rather than slash, funding for US National Science Foundation and other agencies.

DO NOT GIVE UP!

Our advocacy is working.

A key Senate committee has indicated that it will reject Trump’s proposed cuts to science agencies including NASA and the NSF.

Keep speaking up and calling your electeds 🗣️🗣️🗣️

@scienceyael.bsky.social’s story is a testament to the power of showing up anyway—of choosing truth, carving out possibility where none existed, & building a future no one handed you. Her courage & brilliance make this one of the most profound episodes of A Chat with Uma—Make sure to tune in! 👏🏾❤️ 7/

• 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

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/

Now a Jane Coffin Childs postdoc at Stanford, @scienceyael.bsky.social studies how infections like Epstein–Barr, COVID, & Lyme trigger long-term neurological disease. We talk science, survival, solidarity, & making academia accessible for those without a safety net. #LongCOVID #ChronicLyme 5/

@scienceyael.bsky.social’s love of science brought her to @harvard.edu, where she earned her PhD in neuroscience. In the Lehtinen Lab, she discovered how serotonin-sensing cells in the fetal brain guide development—and how #psychedelics can derail that process in pregnancy. 4/

At 15, @scienceyael.bsky.social fled a violent fundamentalist household. She battled #eatingdisorders, self-harm, & poverty—working night shifts while teaching herself high school. She forged a transcript to escape, later confessed, earned a GED, & won a full scholarship to Kent State. 3/

In Ep. 46 of A Chat with Uma, I talk to Dr. Ya’el Courtney @scienceyael.bsky.social—a neuroscientist whose life traverses extreme circumstances that most only read about. From surviving an abusive home to couch-surfing through high school, her path to neurosci. is nothing short of extraordinary. 2/

Podcast cover for “A Chat with Uma.” On the left side is Dr. Ya’el Courtney, a smiling woman with long brown hair, a striped blue button-down shirt, and small hoop earrings. The background is a gradient of rainbow tones. On the right is the podcast branding, featuring a rainbow-colored brain and leaf logo above the title. The text reads: ⸻ Full Transcription of Text on the Image: A Chat with Uma By Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS From Foster Care to Harvard Neuroscientist: The Choice to Live, Maternal Psychedelics, & Post-Viral Chronic Illnesses with Dr. Ya’el Courtney [Icons for Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and RSS Feed appear at the bottom.]

🎓 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/

Since the US politics have decided to target DEI spaces, I’ve seen a huge drop of engagement in #DisabledInSTEM

Disabled, disability and accessibility are part of the list of banned words for grants too really really highlights that these identities are being specifically targeted to be silenced.

And this is the beginning of SO much more! And I couldn’t do it without you. ☀️🫶🏾❤️

🔗 Find A Chat with Uma podcast here 👉🏾 creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/... OR search on all podcast platforms! 🎙️🧠🧬

#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #MentalHealthMatters #SciComm #RealOCD #Psychiatry #Neuroscience #SMI 5/

To every single beautiful human who has tuned in & every brilliant guest who has generously shared themselves on A Chat with Uma—thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here & being you. 🙏🏾🫶🏾

Trust me when I say that we are only scratching the surface right now… 4/

Never could I ever imagine that I would have a community of so many friends who would understand & accept me so fully; and more importantly, who extend that love, empathy, curiosity, & radical acceptance far beyond to themselves & everyone around them. This is the greatest gift 🥺 3/

Where my lived experience was too much & unacceptable.

I started my podcast to liberate myself & finally share my truth on my own terms—unvarnished, uncensored, brutally honest. And to share the truths of others & understand our minds & #MentalHealth through science, #SciComm,& lived experience. 2/

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.

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/