BethAnn McLaughlin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
BethAnn McLaughlin
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McLaughlin in 2018
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| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
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| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neurology |
| Institutions | Vanderbilt University |
| Thesis | Striatal vulnerability to mitochondrial inhibition (1998) |
BethAnn McLaughlin is an American scientist who studies the brain, known as a neuroscientist. She was an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University, where her research focused on how the brain reacts to stress and injury.
After her time at the university, she became known for her activism. She started a non-profit group called MeTooSTEM to support scientists who had been mistreated. However, she later became the center of a major online hoax, where she created a fake identity on Twitter.
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Early Life and Education
BethAnn McLaughlin was born in Boston and grew up in St. Louis and New Hampshire. As a child, she was interested in nature and science. In high school, she was active in the school newspaper and worked as a waitress.
McLaughlin earned a degree in Biopsychology from Skidmore College in 1990. During college, she spent a year in Africa studying how to manage wildlife. This experience inspired her to become an advocate for nature. She later earned her PhD in Neurological Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998.
After getting her PhD, she continued her training at the University of Pittsburgh. There, she received a special grant to study neurodegeneration, which is the loss of brain cells.
Career as a Scientist
In 2002, McLaughlin began working at Vanderbilt University. In 2005, she became an assistant professor, a position that could lead to a permanent job, known as tenure.
What Did She Research?
McLaughlin's research team studied how the brain responds to stress. They hoped to find ways to treat brain injuries and diseases. Her lab looked for new genes that could make the brain more or less vulnerable to damage.
Their work focused on conditions like stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and autism. A key part of her research was understanding why brain cells die after events like a stroke, which can cut off oxygen to the brain.
Leaving Vanderbilt
In 2015, McLaughlin applied for tenure, which is a long-term, permanent position at a university. The university delayed its decision for two years while it investigated claims that she had sent unkind tweets to her coworkers from anonymous accounts.
In 2017, Vanderbilt decided not to give her tenure. She tried to appeal the decision and even started a petition online to get support. However, the university's decision was final, and she left Vanderbilt in July 2019.
MeTooSTEM and Controversy
In 2018, McLaughlin founded an organization called MeTooSTEM. Its goal was to advise and support scientists who had experienced mistreatment at work.
However, several leaders of MeTooSTEM soon left the organization. They raised concerns about McLaughlin's leadership style, accusing her of bullying and mistreating people. Others defended her, saying her direct approach was effective. After the Twitter hoax became public, McLaughlin announced she was stepping away from all her work with the organization.
The Twitter Hoax
In July 2020, McLaughlin announced on Twitter that a colleague had died from COVID-19. She claimed this colleague was a female, Indigenous professor at Arizona State University (ASU). The fake professor's Twitter account, created in 2016, had been very active in supporting MeTooSTEM.
After McLaughlin held an online memorial service, people became suspicious because no one seemed to know the professor in real life. ASU announced that it had no record of such a professor working there or of any professor dying from the virus.
It was soon discovered that the Twitter account was a fake identity, also known as a persona, created and run by McLaughlin. On August 3, 2020, Twitter suspended her account for breaking its rules against platform manipulation. The fake account was also suspended.
A day later, McLaughlin admitted through her lawyer that she was responsible for the hoax. As a result, she was removed from the editorial board of the Journal of Neuroscience and from an award she had previously received from the MIT Media Lab.
Recognition
In 2018, McLaughlin received the Society for Neuroscience Louise Hanson Marshall Special Recognition Award. She was given the award for her work in helping women advance in the field of neuroscience.
