Emily Willingham

Last updated
Emily Jane Willingham
Born1968 (age 5455)
Alma mater University of Texas at Austin
Known for Scientific skepticism, work on endocrine disruptors
Children3
AwardsUT-Austin department of biological sciences professional development award, 1998
Scientific career
Fields Endocrinology, urology
Institutions UCSF, Texas State University, St. Edward's University [1] [2]
Thesis Embryonic exposure to low-dose pesticides : dose response and effects on growth in the hatching red-eared slider turtle  (2001)

Emily Jane Willingham (born 1968) is an American journalist and scientist. Her writing focuses on neuroscience, genetics, psychology, health and medicine, and occasionally on evolution and ecology. [3]

Contents

She is the joint recipient with David Robert Grimes of the 2014 John Maddox Prize, awarded by science charity Sense about Science, for standing up for science in the face of personal attacks. [4]

Education

Willingham received her bachelor's degree in English in 1989 and her PhD in biology in 2001, both from the University of Texas at Austin. She completed a fellowship in pediatric urology at the University of California, San Francisco, from 2004 to 2006, [5] [6] where she studied under Laurence S. Baskin. [1]

Writing

Willingham's work has been published online at Scientific American, Aeon, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Slate, Undark, Knowable, The Scientist, and others and has appeared in print in several local, regional, and national outlets, including in single-issue publications for Centennial Media. [3]

Willingham was a contributor to the Forbes network for several years and ran an informal blog, "A Life Less Ordinary", which she started in 2007 and which published its last post on November 25, 2011. [7] At Forbes.com, Willingham focused on what she described as "the science they're selling you," which included the disproven link between vaccines and autism, [8] as well as the Seralini affair. [9] She has also written multiple articles for Slate.com about GMOs, childbirth, astronaut DNA, and autism, including about what the motivation might have been for Adam Lanza to carry out the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. Her view is that his alleged Asperger's syndrome was not a contributing factor, but that untreated schizophrenia was a more likely cause of his actions. [10] In addition, she has contributed to Discover , where she has argued that the autism epidemic may, in fact, just be the result of diagnostic substitution and increased awareness of the condition. [11] She was called "one of the sharpest science writers in the blogosphere" by Steve Silberman. [12]

In 2016, Willingham, along with co-author Tara Haelle, published The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resources for Your Child's First 4 Years, which examines the science around several parenting-related controversies and common parenting concerns. [13]

In 2020, Emily Willingham published her next book titled Phallacy. The book is a deep dive into penises in the animal kingdom within which she creates a new word for penis, intromittum, a more general description for all organs that relay sex cells between sexual mates of all species. [14]

In 2021, she published another book, The Tailored Brain, that speaks on and debunks myths about diets, supplements, and brain training techniques said to improve brain function. [15]

Research

Willingham has published 44 scientific papers, and, according to Google Scholar, her h-index is 22. [16] With regard to her research, Willingham has said that talking about it "has always carried a frisson of the risque." Her research has also led her to what she describes as cool things, including ultrasound and surgery on a spotted hyena and plastic casting of the inside of the mammalian penis. [3] Willingham's PhD research involved sex determination and the effects of pesticides and other environmental compounds on sex determination and development in the red-eared slider. [17] She also has published on the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as atrazine.

Personal life

Willingham stated in 2012 that she identified as having Asperger syndrome, which her son has been diagnosed with, but did not intend to pursue a formal diagnosis. [18]

Selected publications

Scientific papers

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asperger syndrome</span> Former neurodevelopmental diagnosis

Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. The syndrome is no longer recognized as a diagnosis in itself, having been merged with other conditions into autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was considered to differ from other diagnoses that were merged into ASD by relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Grandin</span> American animal behavior scientist, author, and autism activist (born 1947)

Mary Temple Grandin is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior, and is also an autism spokesperson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypospadias</span> Medical condition

Hypospadias is a common variation in fetal development of the penis in which the urethra does not open from its usual location in the head of the penis. It is the second-most common birth abnormality of the male reproductive system, affecting about one of every 250 males at birth. Roughly 90% of cases are the less serious distal hypospadias, in which the urethral opening is on or near the head of the penis (glans). The remainder have proximal hypospadias, in which the meatus is all the way back on the shaft of the penis, near or within the scrotum. Shiny tissue that typically forms the urethra instead extends from the meatus to the tip of the glans; this tissue is called the urethral plate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex medical interventions</span> Performed to modify atypical or ambiguous genitalia

Intersex medical interventions, also known as intersex genital mutilations (IGM), are surgical, hormonal and other medical interventions performed to modify atypical or ambiguous genitalia and other sex characteristics, primarily for the purposes of making a person's appearance more typical and to reduce the likelihood of future problems. The history of intersex surgery has been characterized by controversy due to reports that surgery can compromise sexual function and sensation, and create lifelong health issues. Timing, evidence, necessity and indications for surgeries in infancy, adolescence or adult age have been controversial, associated with issues of consent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Baron-Cohen</span> British psychologist and author

Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College. In 1985, Baron-Cohen formulated the mindblindness theory of autism, the evidence for which he collated and published in 1995. In 1997, he formulated the foetal sex steroid theory of autism, the key test of which was published in 2015.

Generation Rescue is a nonprofit organization that advocates the scientifically disproven view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors, particularly vaccines. The organization was established in 2005 by Lisa and J.B. Handley. Today, Generation Rescue is known as a platform for Jenny McCarthy's autism related anti-vaccine advocacy.

Gerald Newport (1948–2023), better known as Jerry Newport, and Mary Newport, née Mary Meinel, also known as Mary Meinel-Newport, were authors, advocates, and public speakers who had been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and whose lives became the basis for the 2005 film Mozart and the Whale. Their written works include self-help books related to autism and Asperger's, as well as their 2007 memoir Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger's Love Story.

The empathising–systemising (E–S) theory is a theory on the psychological basis of autism and male–female neurological differences originally put forward by English clinical psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen. It classifies individuals based on abilities in empathic thinking (E) and systematic thinking (S). It measures skills using an Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Systemising Quotient (SQ) and attempts to explain the social and communication symptoms in autism spectrum disorders as deficits and delays in empathy combined with intact or superior systemising.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uta Frith</span> German developmental psychologist, born 1941

Dame Uta Frith is a German-British developmental psychologist at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. She has pioneered much of the current research into autism and dyslexia. She has written several books on these subjects, arguing for autism to be seen as a mental condition rather than as one caused by parenting. Her Autism: Explaining the Enigma introduces the cognitive neuroscience of autism. She is credited with creating the Sally–Anne test along with fellow scientists Alan Leslie and Simon Baron-Cohen. She also pioneered the work on child dyslexia. Among students she has mentored are Tony Attwood, Maggie Snowling, Simon Baron-Cohen and Francesca Happé.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Societal and cultural aspects of autism</span>

Societal and cultural aspects of autism or sociology of autism come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects the definition of personhood. The autistic community is divided primarily into two camps; the autism rights movement and the Pathology paradigm. The pathology paradigm advocates for supporting research into therapies, treatments, and/or a cure to help minimize or remove autistic traits, seeing treatment as vital to help individuals with autism, while the neurodiversity movement believes autism should be seen as a different way of being and advocates against a cure and interventions that focus on normalization, seeing it as trying to exterminate autistic people and their individuality. Both are controversial in autism communities and advocacy which has led to significant infighting between these two camps. While the dominant paradigm is the pathology paradigm and is followed largely by autism research and scientific communities, the neurodiversity movement is highly popular among most autistic people, within autism advocacy, autism rights organizations, and related neurodiversity approaches have been rapidly growing and applied in the autism research field in the last few years.

Asperger syndrome (AS) was formerly a separate diagnosis under autism spectrum disorder. Under the DSM-5 and ICD-11, patients formerly diagnosable with Asperger syndrome are diagnosable with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The term is considered offensive by some autistic individuals. It was named after Hans Asperger (1906–80), who was an Austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician. An English psychiatrist, Lorna Wing, popularized the term "Asperger's syndrome" in a 1981 publication; the first book in English on Asperger syndrome was written by Uta Frith in 1991 and the condition was subsequently recognized in formal diagnostic manuals later in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autism Speaks</span> American advocacy organization

Autism Speaks Inc. is a non-profit autism awareness organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public. It was founded in February 2005 by Bob Wright and his wife Suzanne, a year after their grandson Christian was diagnosed with autism. The same year as its founding, the organization merged with Autism Coalition for Research and Education. It then merged with the National Alliance for Autism Research in 2006 and Cure Autism Now in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Alter</span> American surgeon

Gary J. Alter is an American plastic surgeon. His specialties include sex reassignment surgery, genital reconstruction surgery and facial feminization surgery. He appeared in two episodes of the reality television series, Dr. 90210. PRNewswire reported on June 5, 2015 that Dr. Gary J. Alter performed the body work plastic surgery on Caitlyn Jenner. He has a practice in Beverly Hills, CA.

<i>Aspergirls</i> 2010 non-fiction book by Rudy Simone

Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome is a non-fiction book written by American author Rudy Simone. It was published in 2010 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. The book is about women and girls who have Asperger syndrome and their experiences. It was written to help girls and women who have been diagnosed with Asperger's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesca Happé</span> British neuroscientist

Francesca Gabrielle Elizabeth Happé is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Director of the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. Her research concerns autism spectrum conditions, specifically the understanding social cognitive processes in these conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Snodgrass</span>

Warren Snodgrass is a pediatric urologist specializing in the repair of hypospadias, the second most common birth defect. In 1994 he described the tubularized incised plate (TIP) repair of hypospadias, which has become known as the Snodgrass repair and has become the most common approach to repairing most forms of hypospadias. Together with Dr. Nicol Bush, he also developed the STAG repair for severe hypospadias and the Snodbush repair used mainly for reoperations after unsuccessful surgery. Snodgrass is internationally known for his advocacy of evidence-based surgery, and was the editor of a textbook on pediatric urology. He is in private practice near Dallas, Texas.

The history of autism spans over a century, autism has been subject to varying treatments, being pathologized or being viewed as a beneficial part of human neurodiversity. The understanding of autism has been shaped by cultural, scientific, and societal factors throughout history, and its perception and treatment change over time as scientific understanding of autism develops.

Tara Susan Haelle, known professionally as Tara Haelle, is an American photojournalist, educator, author, and science writer. Haelle, along with co-author Emily Willingham, published The informed parent : a science-based resource for your child's first four years, which examines several child raising controversies. She examined the history and science of vaccines in a 2018 book entitled Vaccination investigation. In addition, Haelle has written several children's educational books, including Edible Sunlight, and Seasons, Tides, and Lunar Phases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miroslav Djordjevic</span> Serbian genital surgeon

Miroslav L Djordjevic is a Serbian surgeon specializing in sex reassignment surgery, and an assistant professor of urology at the School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia.

<i>The Autistic Brain</i> 2013 nonfiction popular science book

The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum is a 2013 nonfiction popular science book written by Temple Grandin and Richard Panek and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It discusses Grandin's life experiences as a person with autism from the early days of scientific research on the topic and how advances in technology have revolutionized the understanding of autism and its connection to the brain.

References

  1. 1 2 Willingham, Emily; Baskin, Laurence S. (2007). "Candidate genes and their response to environmental agents in the etiology of hypospadias". Nature Clinical Practice Urology . Nature Publishing Group. 4 (5): 270–279. doi:10.1038/ncpuro0783. PMID   17483812. S2CID   19932650.
  2. "Research Fellows Trained". University of California, San Francisco . Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "About". www.emilywillinghamphd.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  4. 2014 John Maddox Prize, Sense about Science
  5. Emily. "Emily Willingham: About". Emilywillinghamphd.com. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  6. "CV". Nasw.org. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  7. "A life less ordinary?". Daisymayfattypants.blogspot.com. 2011-10-18. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  8. "Vaccines Not Linked To Autism. Again". Forbes. 2013-03-29. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  9. "Seralini Paper Influences Kenya Ban of GMO Imports". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  10. Willingham, Emily (2012-12-17). "Asperger's and Newtown school shooting: Autistic does not mean violent". Slate.com. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  11. Willingham, Emily (11 July 2012). "Is Autism an "Epidemic" or Are We Just Noticing More People Who Have It?". Discover . Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  12. Silberman, Steve (2 April 2012). "Autism Awareness is Not Enough: Here's How to Change the World". Public Library of Science. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  13. Tara Haelle; Emily Willingham (2016). The informed parent : a science-based resource for your child's first four years. New York, NY: TarcherPerigee. ISBN   9780399171062.
  14. "'Phallacy' deflates myths about the penises of the animal kingdom". 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  15. "The Tailored Brain: From Ketamine to Keto, to Companionship, a User's Guide to Feeling Better and Thinking Smarter by Emily Willingham". www.publishersweekly.com. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  16. "Emily Willingham - Google Scholar Citations" . Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  17. Emily Willingham Biography
  18. Des Roches Rosa, Shannon (21 April 2012). "Emily Willingham and Autism Acceptance Month". Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. Retrieved 25 May 2023.