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A Chat with Uma

A Chat with Uma

By: Uma R. Chatterjee M.S. MHPS
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 Hi! I'm Uma - a neuroscientist, researcher, board-certified Mental Health Peer Specialist, mental health advocate, organizer, community builder, communicator... and most importantly, someone with vast lived experiences with mental health, chronic illness, young-adult cancer, & survivorship. On this show, I bring all of my identities together to bring you honest and unfiltered conversations exploring our true human experiences in their fullest form. We bridge the gap on all things neuroscience, psychology, mental health, lived experience, advocacy, psychedelics, research, & more!Uma R. Chatterjee, M.S., MHPS Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • 52. Thriving with Schizophrenia: Revolutionizing Brain Health, Co-founding One Mind, & Leading with Lived Experience with Brandon Staglin

    52. Thriving with Schizophrenia: Revolutionizing Brain Health, Co-founding One Mind, & Leading with Lived Experience with Brandon Staglin
    Sep 1 2025
    On episode 52 of A Chat with Uma, I sit down with my dear friend & role model, Brandon Staglin—co-founder & Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer of One Mind, the world’s leading brain health nonprofit. For nearly three decades, Brandon has transformed lived experience into leadership: co-creating a global organization, raising hundreds of millions for brain health research, & pushing society toward a future where mental health is prioritized like physical health. But behind the impact is a deeply personal story—one that began with a diagnosis of schizophrenia at 18 & a fight to reclaim his life, voice, & purpose.Brandon opens up in this honest conversation with rare depth. We walk through his journey from Napa Valley childhood to the terror of psychosis, through recovery & relapse, to the discovery of meaning in advocacy. He shares the cost of stigma, the reality of treatment, the lifeline of family, & the radical belief that worth is inherent—not earned. If you’ve ever wondered what it means to turn survival into legacy, this episode is a testament to courage, connection, & the possibility of healing at scale.Topics Discussed (+ Timestamps):(00:00:00) Introduction & welcome to Brandon Staglin, M.S.!(00:09:28) Who is Brandon behind the titles & roles? His upbringing, childhood, & early influences(00:17:48) Early cracks in reality: existential questions, “something’s wrong,” & the first shifts in self(00:29:10) Dartmouth years: When he experienced his first harrowing episode of psychosis(00:39:16) The team that held him: family, early clinicians, & how early intervention saved him(00:50:04) 6 years until the word “schizophrenia”: why “thought disorder” landed better at first(00:51:22) A kitchen table intervention of love: “There’s a lot of love coming from here, Brandon” & choosing to engage in recovery(01:11:00) Setbacks & recalibration: medication side-effects, suicidality, & rebuilding around values(01:28:08) How One Mind was cofounded with his parents to accelerate brain-health solutions (01:37:16) Naming the schizophrenia stigma: what people still say & the cost of silence(01:41:26) The One Mind ecosystem at a glance: Accelerator (mental-health startups), One Mind at Work (workplace mental health), Rising Star Academy (funding & training scientists), & Lived Experience Initiative (Council & Community Advisory Network) (01:45:14) How Brandon built the Lived Experience Initiative: giving lived expertise real power alongside scientific & governance bodies(01:48:26) The Council's profound success thus far: consulting for & advising startup founders, research scientists, & Fortune-level leaders(01:55:26) The annual One Mind Music Festival for Brain Health: raising hundreds of millions for brain health research & innovation, bringing together leaders & stakeholders across all fields(02:00:02) Closing reflections, guidance, & inspiration from BrandonConnect with Brandon!⁠Email⁠⁠LinkedInInstagramX/Twitter: @BStaglinOne Mind WebsiteWatch Brandon's recovery song performanceTry CURED Nutrition's CBN Night Oil, Serenity Gummies, & all of their other fantastic products--Use code 'UMA' for 15% off of all products!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try CLEARSTEM's amazing skincare products, including VITAMINSCRUB, CELLRENEW, CLEARITY, HYDRAGLOW, and HYDRABERRY--Use code 'UMA' for 15% off all products!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with me!My website⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠umarchatterjee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@umarchatterjee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support my work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/umarchatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a guest you want on the show? Fill out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Guest Suggestion Form!⁠
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    2 hrs and 5 mins
  • 51. Tripping in Your Sleep: Psychedelics, The Placebo Effect, & How Human Connection Heals the Brain with Dr. Boris Heifets

    51. Tripping in Your Sleep: Psychedelics, The Placebo Effect, & How Human Connection Heals the Brain with Dr. Boris Heifets
    Aug 25 2025
    On episode 51 of A Chat with Uma, I sit down with Dr. Boris Heifets, MD, PhD—associate professor at Stanford, anesthesiologist, neuroscientist, & one of the most extraordinary scientists & clinicians who is truly revolutionizing mental health! He pushes the boundaries of how we approach consciousness, mental health, & pharmacology—asking questions most people are too afraid to traverse: Do we need to be awake for drugs to heal the brain? What exactly are ketamine, MDMA, & psilocybin doing when they flip a circuit? Could anesthesiology itself hold keys to psychiatry’s future?And yet what makes Boris remarkable isn’t only the science—it’s who he is. Over two hours, he shares not just his cutting-edge research but his story: moving from Moscow to the U.S., struggling with belonging, discovering MDMA & LSD in college, & how those experiences of connection still shape his lab’s vision today. We explore MDMA for OCD & autism, the limits of “magic bullet” thinking, why context & lifestyle matter more than a single intervention, & how anesthesiology lets him practice applied neuroscience in real time. If you want to understand where psychiatry is heading & hear from one of field's foremost minds, this is an episode you cannot miss.Topics Discussed (+ Timestamps):(00:00:00) Introduction & welcome to Dr. Boris Heifets, MD, PhD!(00:08:44) How Boris & I first met, & why I've admired him since!(00:11:00) Who Boris is beyond titles: curiosity, sci-fi imagination, & breaking boundaries(00:16:00) Childhood across Moscow, Denver, St. Louis, Philly → disconnection & search for belonging(00:17:30) College discoveries: MDMA & LSD → the shock of true connection(00:19:30) MDMA for autism spectrum: Alicia Danforth’s trial & showing connection for the first time(00:22:00) Psychedelics as tools, not cures → lifestyle & comorbidities vs. one-day interventions(00:27:00) How reductionistic models fail to capture what psychedelics actually do(00:31:00) Anesthesiology + psychiatry + neuroscience → how Boris integrates it all(00:36:40) Applied neuroscience: giving drugs, flipping brain states in real time(00:43:00) Why mental health was always his focus & the bottlenecks of human communication(01:00:00) Translational bridge: MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin across mice & humans(01:12:00) What anesthesiology teaches psychiatry about states, context, & timing(01:25:00) Team science vs. lone-genius myth → collaboration, controversy, courage(01:36:00) What makes psychedelic medicine powerful: bending life trajectories, not instant cures(01:45:00) How to measure outcomes when the drug is just the beginning(01:55:00) Risks, hype, & how to ground the field in reality without losing hope(02:10:00) Closing reflections: radical curiosity, gratitude, & staying human in the scienceConnect with Dr. Boris Heifets!Heifets Lab WebsiteRead Boris' publications hereEmailX/Twitter: @TheBorisLabLinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try CURED Nutrition's CBN Night Oil, Serenity Gummies, & all of their other fantastic products--Use code 'UMA' for 15% off of all products!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try CLEARSTEM's amazing skincare products, including VITAMINSCRUB, CELLRENEW, CLEARITY, HYDRAGLOW, and HYDRABERRY--Use code 'UMA' for 15% off all products!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with me!My website⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠umarchatterjee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@umarchatterjee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support my work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/umarchatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a guest request? Fill out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Guest Suggestion Form!⁠
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    2 hrs and 21 mins
  • 50. My Husband Interviews ME: Celebrating Our 50th Episode!

    50. My Husband Interviews ME: Celebrating Our 50th Episode!
    Aug 18 2025
    On episode 50 of A Chat with Uma, we flip the script: my husband, Zac, takes the host chair and interviews me—for our first-ever in-person recording! To celebrate 50 episodes, we go wide and deep; and what he pulls out surprised even me. We trace how I went from barely hanging on to betting my life on the brain; the awe (and pressure) of studying the most complex thing in the universe; what I’d do with myself if science vanished tomorrow (hello, cheese); and the version of me that only exists when the door is closed.We pull apart internet myths about “bought” science and where NIH money actually goes; why diagnoses are both blunt instruments and lifelines; and the chapter I almost never reopen—the singer I was before cancer changed my voice. Zac asks the one question I’d ask the universe. And yes, we lock in a carrot for interviewing HIM on episode 100. Plus, our doggy Beans makes a cameo! This is the deepest cut yet: Zac’s questions pull threads I’d never tug on by myself, and tune in to hear the most open, unmasked conversation I’ve recorded.Topics Discussed (+ Timestamps):(00:00:00) He finally said yes!: A little bit about Zac, my (VERY private & offline) husband & why he's here today(00:05:12) Rapid-fire kickoff questions... that of course, stump me(00:09:18) Top 5 Dream Guests + WHY—the most interesting person I know, 2 scientists, a novelist, & a grunge legend…and Beans joins us!(00:14:10) The next 25 years of brain science I’m betting on: precision, prevention, seeing the unseen(00:18:46) If I lost it all tomorrow: the soft life, making cheese, and a totally different mission(00:26:40) When the mic turns off: how I act when no one’s around(00:30:56) For anyone who feels “unworthy”: thoughts aren’t facts—and what kept me here(00:36:06) Is science “bought”? The truth about NIH grants, salaries, and where the money goes(00:54:20) The take most people avoid: diagnoses are blunt tools—and still lifesaving(01:05:36) The chapter I rarely reopen: the singer I was before surgery changed my voice (ft. how I opened for Morgan Wallen)(01:11:32) If we cured mental illness, what happens to art?(01:18:40) The one question I’d ask the universe—and why it feels like cheating(01:21:12) Why this episode felt different than any other—and the carrot we just hung for interviewing Zac on episode 100!Try CURED Nutrition's CBN Night Oil, Serenity Gummies, & all of their other fantastic products--Use code 'UMA' for 15% off of all products!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Try CLEARSTEM's amazing skincare products, including VITAMINSCRUB, CELLRENEW, CLEARITY, HYDRAGLOW, and HYDRABERRY--Use code 'UMA' for 15% off all products!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with me!My website⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠umarchatterjee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@UmaRChatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@umarchatterjee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support my work:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/umarchatterjee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a guest you want on the show? Fill out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Guest Suggestion Form!⁠
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    1 hr and 28 mins
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