46. From Foster Care to Harvard Neuroscientist: The Choice to Live, Maternal Psychedelics, & Post-Viral Chronic Illnesses with Dr. Ya’el Courtney

On episode 46 of A Chat with Uma, I speak with Dr. Ya’el Courtney—a neuroscientist whose life traverses extreme circumstances that most only read about. Removed from an abusive, violent, fundamentalist household at 15, she spent her teen years couch-surfing, battling eating disorders & self-harm, working night shifts, & finishing high school coursework as her own teacher. She forged a transcript to escape poverty, later confessed, earned a GED, &—after years of 40-hour workweeks in fast food & bartending—won a full scholarship to Kent State. Ya’el’s love of science carried her to Harvard for a PhD in Neuroscience, where she discovered how serotonin-sensing cells in the fetal brain release “packets” of growth signals—& why activating that pathway with certain drugs (including psychedelics) can derail neurodevelopment.

Today, she is a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow at Stanford, studying how infections such as Epstein–Barr, Lyme, & SARS-CoV-2 spark long-term neurological illness. We talk frankly about the cost of doing science while poor, eating disorder recovery, post-viral chronic illnesses, & the quiet solidarity required to push for better funding & fair wages inside elite institutions. Ya’el’s story is a testament to the power of showing up anyway—of choosing truth, carving out possibility where none existed, & daring to build a future no one handed you. Her courage & brilliance make this one of the most unforgettable conversations we’ve had.

Topics Discussed (+ Timestamps):

(00:00:00) Introduction & welcome to Dr. Ya’el Courtney!
(00:13:20) State intervention, bouncing between homes, & the decision to stay alive
(00:20:30) Shoplifting for food & clothes; straight-A validation at school
(00:27:10) Anorexia ➝ bulimia ➝ binge eating: control in chaos
(00:33:50) Self-harm as dopamine; reading the DSM & misdiagnosing herself a “psychopath”
(00:42:00) Forged transcripts, expulsions, confession, & landing at Kent State
(00:49:30) Working 40 h/week while carrying a full course load & unpaid lab hours
(00:58:00) Strep + mono, months of cognitive fog, & a commitment to protect sleep
(01:05:30) Summer REUs, research productivity, & graduating debt-free
(01:12:10) Seven grad school offers—strategy, letters, & the essay that changed everything
(01:20:30) Choosing a PhD mentor who defended boundaries & a 50-hour work cap
(01:28:40) PhD findings: choroid plexus secretory “balloons,” 5-HT2C signaling, & prenatal drug risk
(01:38:10) LSD, psilocybin, & why pregnant or breastfeeding people should avoid them (for now)
(01:44:30) COVID’s silver lining: new funding for post-viral brain research
(01:49:00) Stanford postdoc: unraveling immune-triggered neurodegeneration in long COVID & Lyme
(01:54:00) Making science accessible: “Let the Data Speak”
(01:59:20) Closing reflections: turning survival skills into a blueprint for the next generation

Connect with Ya'el!

• ⁠⁠Website
• Instagram: @Yael.Carmel, @LetTheDataSpeak

• LinkedIn
• X/Twitter: @ScienceYael
• Bluesky: @ScienceYael
• YouTube
• TikTok: @LetTheDataSpeak
• Facebook

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Connect with me!

• My website⁠: .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}