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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD

@profdasgupta.bsky.social

750 followers 220 following 240 posts

Author of 📚 Where Biology Ends & Bias Begins: Lessons on Belonging from our DNA 🧬 @UCPress Genetics Ed, BUMedical, PastPres APHMG, FulbrightPrgr 🇪🇬 shoumitadasgupta.com

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Feb 27

Thank you to all who have already engaged with my 📖, Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins: Lessons on Belonging from Our DNA. Your kindness & support give life, and have uplifted my book to a #1 New Release in Genetics (and other groups). I'm happy to share that the audiobook is also now available!

Screenshot of a sales page for the book Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins. The sales page includes information on the title as well as its #1 ranking as a new release in genetics.

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 5d

🧪 I was going to say that I’m happy to share my latest, but I’d much rather be without the reasons to write it: The Trump administration’s approach to autism is tangled up with ableism, eugenics, and pronatalism www.statnews.com/2025/10/03/a... via @statnews.com

The Trump administration’s approach to autism is tangled up with ableism, eugenics, and pronatalism

“The current political establishment and their supporters have consistently pathologized difference,” particularly when it comes to autism, a professor of medicine writes.

www.statnews.com

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 8d

Oh no! Good luck! I've lost a laptop over a far smaller water bottle leak. I hope you don't experience the same!

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 15d

This is great! I hope there will be a chance to discuss the ableist framework that is the foundation on which these executive actions are built.

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 16d

These Patients Got the Cure, Then It Went Away: When gene therapies and genome editing for rare disease are pulled for economic reasons. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/h...

These Patients Got the Cure. Then It Went Away.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD

ACOG @acog.org · 16d

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 16d

Ugh, even repeating that gain of function line...!

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 17d

“At a time when diversity initiatives are being weaponized, the unraveling of this [F31D] program represents another barrier that continues to keep people like us from having a seat at the table.“ www.statnews.com/2025/09/05/n...

I’m one of the Ph.D. students caught up in the cancelation of ‘diversity’ grants. I’m heartbroken

www.statnews.com

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 21d

🇺🇸's 🩺 Shortage Is Getting Worse. Abortion Bans Are to Blame “Doctors don’t want to work where their judgment is constantly questioned & they face ruinous consequences—including losing their license & being sentenced to prison—just for trying to do right by their patients.” apple.news/ASpdyl1GPSuC...

America's Doctor Shortage Is Getting Worse. Abortion Bans Are to Blame. — TIME

Why America's future doctors are avoiding abortion-ban states.

apple.news

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 27d

Two signed copies of Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins: Lessons on Belonging from Our DNA 🧬 on the shelves of Harvard Bookstore for anyone who is interested! 📚

Woman with floral scarf and striped shirt pointing at a book on a bookshelf

Reposted by Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD

Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · Jul 22

Wow, we're in amazing company there! What a great book haul! WHERE BIOLOGY ENDS AND BIAS BEGINS looks super interesting!

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Reposted by Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD

Connie C Dr. 鄒瑞兒 @labvixen.bsky.social · Jul 22

Just picked these up from @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social ! Can’t wait to dig in.

🔸Everything for Everyone, @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social @genderhorizon.com;
🔸 You Must Take Part in Revolution, @badiucao.bsky.social @melissakchan.bsky.social

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · 28d

Fantastic! Let us know if they add your Story Collider to the podcast!

Reposted by Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 29d

Here is a word cloud of the words that were missing from the noncompetitive renewal awards but had been present in the parent award.

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A word cloud with dominant words "equity", "disparity", "diverse", and similar words.

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Sep 4

This conversation is essential for scientists. To extend the conversation beyond academic halls, I hope these resources will be useful because clearly there still remain significant misconceptions about our shared humanity among the public. undark.org/2025/02/20/o... www.ucpress.edu/books/where-...

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Sep 1

We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health. On this Labor Day, read the words of 9 former CDC Directors praising the service of the CDC civil servants and calling on all of us to protect the health of the nation. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

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

www.nytimes.com

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 26

HHS terminates NIH program aimed at diversifying biomedical workforce www.statnews.com/2025/08/25/n...

HHS terminates NIH program aimed at diversifying biomedical workforce

HHS is terminating a National Institutes of Health grant program that supports students from marginalized backgrounds in the biomedical sciences.

www.statnews.com

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 23

In which scientists must engage in advocacy to protect science itself. www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Scientists Are Caught in a Political Trap

Fighting back against the Trump administration means they start to look more like activists.

www.theatlantic.com

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 14

Giving Bengalis a bad rep! Good to clarify.

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 14

"The ability to tell the truth, especially when it does not suit any particularly partisan aims, is an essential prerequisite for a free society. Scientists can leverage their substantial social standing and trustworthiness to preserve this vital ingredient." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Scientists’ role in defending democracy

The United States’ democratic leadership, commitment to freedom of expression, and investment in the pursuit of knowledge have long enabled its preeminence in science and technology. Yet today we are ...

www.science.org

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 14

The rationalization of these embryo selection approaches are both scientifically flawed (hello, genetic essentialism) and morally problematic (bias, income inequality, and more). For a deeper dive, please consider my chapter on "What Genetics Doesn't Fully Explain." www.ucpress.edu/books/where-...

Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins by Shoumita Dasgupta - Paper

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

www.ucpress.edu

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 14

“I think they have a perception that they are smart & they are accomplished, & they deserve to be where they are because they have 'good genes.' Now they have a tool where they think that they can do the same thing in their kids as well...” @sashagusevposts.bsky.social www.wsj.com/us-news/sili...

Inside Silicon Valley’s Growing Obsession With Having Smarter Babies

Tech execs are paying tens of thousands to find brilliant dates or select high-IQ embryos. “They want to raise high-performing children.”

www.wsj.com

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 12

“The choice before us is fundamental: Do we believe that knowledge should serve the common good? If so, we cannot treat this assault on science and research as someone else’s problem.” 🙌🏾 -Alondra Nelson, former head of OSTP thehill.com/opinion/whit...

thehill.com

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Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 9

In addition to politicizing 🧪 review of grants by inserting appointees, they’ve included language to justify their intent to redistribute $ to red states. “All else being equal, preference for discretionary awards should be given to institutions with ⬇️ IDC rates.” www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal

www.whitehouse.gov

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 7

A look at the chaos behind the scenes at the NIH - even if funds are unfrozen, the agency's ability to award grants is still compromised in many ways. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

How Many Times Can Science Funding Be Canceled?

Whether or not Congress cuts NIH’s budget, the Trump administration has devastated its ability to operate.

www.theatlantic.com

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD @profdasgupta.bsky.social · Aug 7

Fantastic and well deserved! Congrats!