Sheeva Azma
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I founded @FancyComma, where we translate STEM to impact. A rarity in science, I'm a neuroscientist and writer who's worked in Congress and as a civil servant.
Articles by Sheeva Azma
Which scientists did Jeffrey Epstein name as his beneficiaries before he died?
By Sheeva Azma This article mentions aspects of Jeffrey Epstein’s life that may not be suitable for all audiences. Legal proceedings are still underway to settle Jeffrey Epstein’s estate. He named at least three scientists in his trust. I recently read that Jeffrey Epstein named scientists in his trust. So, I got to work figuring out what exactly that entailed, despite being a science writer with very little knowledge about probate matters — though I did learn a few things writing this article.
5 Years of Grift: Epstein and MIT’s One Science
By Sheeva Azma This blog talks about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and is not suitable for all audiences. Had MIT’s One Science initiative come to fruition, Jeffrey Epstein’s interdisciplinary science influence would increase — it was the perfect plan to distract people from his sexual offenses.
I followed the money and learned that Jeffrey Epstein + Gates Foundation + Templeton Foundation paid for over a dozen science papers
By Sheeva Azma Jeffrey Epstein, the Gates Foundation, and the Templeton Foundation collectively funded the same handful of papers coming out of Harvard University. As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.” That is abundantly clear when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein’s financial support of scientists. Here are papers that publicly declare support from Jeffrey Epstein in their acknowledgement sections. “Support” in science almost always means “funding”.
The surprising history of universal healthcare in our modern era
By Sheeva Azma The modern quest for universal healthcare has been made up of many important side quests. People talk about helping more people have healthcare when it should really also be safer, more effective, and cheaper. Simply expanding healthcare coverage to everyone doesn’t make everyone healthier if the health care system doesn’t help everyone equally. Me? Well, I’m on ACA health coverage, which actually does all three of those things.
Epstein and Evil Neuroscience
By Sheeva Azma This blog talks about Jeffrey Epstein’s and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ crimes and is not suitable for all audiences. Plants that erase memories, brain damage that affects moral judgements, and deception are some of the more nefarious neuroscience topics in the Epstein files. There’s actually a lot of neuroscience happening in the Epstein files. Not all of it seems to have the purpose of benefiting humanity. Some of it is downright nefarious.
Despite challenges, the Affordable Care Act perseveres, as it should
By Sheeva Azma Health care reform can’t happen without buy-in from the actual health care industry (how would that happen)? I’m one of the 6.8% of people in the United States that have Affordable Care Act insurance. That number used to be higher — 9% of people enrolled in the ACA last year dropped their coverage because it became too expensive due to Congress ending the COVID-era subsidy. At this point, it feels like politicians are waiting for the ACA to die so that they can say they killed it.
The Iran War’s objectives can’t be met. That’s why it needs to end.
By Sheeva Azma The Iran War is unconstitutional, expensive, and a bad example for the world. Anyone who has read the Constitution knows that the president cannot just wake up one day and declare war on a nation — even though, basically, that’s what happened in the Iran War. The US Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war in Article I, Section 8, Clause 11. This is called the War Powers clause. The United States and Israel began the Iran war on February 28, 2026.
Without financial support from Jeffrey Epstein, artificial intelligence would not be what it is today
By Sheeva Azma The people that make something get to shape its priorities. Reader, I must level with you on this day that I am tired and weary of reporting on science in the Epstein files…but persevere despite it all, because the world deserves better than what currently exists. In technology…and in everything. Please don’t tell this kid or her parents that Jeffrey Epstein funded the work of early artificial general intelligence researchers.
Jeffrey Epstein and disgraced Nobelist James Watson bonded over sexist and racist views
By Sheeva Azma This blog mentions Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities and may not be appropriate for all audiences. On the day he was arrested by federal agents on sex trafficking charges, Epstein was traveling to grab lunch with James Watson, the Nobelist who lost accolades for decades of racist comments.
Science in the Epstein files, the movie
By Sheeva Azma Friends, “Science in the Epstein Files” is now a movie! You can find it on YouTube. If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, or have been reading our blogs and/or Substack, you know that I’ve been posting about science in the Epstein files since February — it’s been about six months since I started this project. Because having tons and tons of Instagram reels floating around feels very chaotic, I decided to consolidate them all to see what that would look like.
A retracted science paper gains its backstory in the Epstein files
By Sheeva Azma A retracted science paper from the now-dismantled MIT Media Lab OpenAg project finds its backstory in the Epstein files, highlighting the eponymous trafficker’s role in scientific misconduct.
Fear and loathing of lettuce (and bad public health policy)
By Sheeva Azma Policymakers, make sure you can actually solve a public health problem before you make it your whole identity. I’m so tired of people who think they can do something, despite a lack of evidence, and then fail to do it. I’m not talking about people that impulsively declare that they are going to run a marathon and then do it…but things that require actual expertise.
Epstein’s last sciencing
By Sheeva Azma Jeffrey Epstein’s death ultimately exposed the fraud he had been enabling in an MIT Media Lab study on plants. Jeffrey Epstein used science as a cover, as a way to network with smart people to gain clout, and as a way to learn useful things about manipulating people. One of Jeffrey Epstein’s last “pet projects” was a study on whether plants could think like humans.
My science career was punctuated by toxic scientists in the Epstein files who enabled actual crimes against women and girls
By Sheeva Azma Many professors in the Epstein files are eminent people I’ve met, read about, and (unsuccessfully) tried to work with. It’s all irrelevant when considering the actual crimes against women and girls they enabled. One reason I started investigating science in the Epstein files is that I’ve been trying to figure out how much Epstein’s involvement in elite science overlaps with my career in, and exit from, academic science.
Did scientists in the Epstein files participate in crimes against women and children?
By Sheeva Azma This blog discusses Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities and therefore may not be suitable for a general audience. We can’t know what role scientists played in the Epstein files for sure since no scientists are currently under criminal investigation. That doesn’t mean scientists haven’t done any questionable things, per the Epstein files.
Oklahoma researchers seek new options for treatment-resistant depression
Dr. Salvador Guinjoan stands in front of his equipment at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research facility in Tulsa as a patient behind him undergoes an MRI scan Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Sheeva Azma) When depression proves resistant to traditional treatments, patients may fear they have exhausted their options, and those with the disease experience higher incidences of suicidality.
Science in the Epstein files: Epstein friend Al Seckel couldn’t handle the truth about his own life
By Sheeva Azma Al Seckel and his friend Jeffrey Epstein both liked to “collect” prestigious scientists, says Tom McIver, whose breaking down of Seckel’s facades caused Seckel “frustration and very intense distress.” It’s now been five months since I started researching the role of science in the Epstein files. When I just started out, I had few answers and a whole lot of questions.
Science in the Epstein files: By Community Request (Part 3 — Various Collected Notes)
By Sheeva Azma This blog discusses Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities and therefore may not be suitable for a general audience. When I started making Instagram reels about science in the Epstein files, so many kind, analytical people — many, fellow scientists — started reaching out to me to send me their own research about various people they had found in the Epstein files, so I could look into it further.
Science in the Epstein files: By Community Request (Part 2 — Down in my DMs)
By Sheeva Azma This blog, and included links, deal with Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities and are not suitable for a general audience. “I’m glad you published your article on your blog rather than at the New York Times, because I would not have read it,” one Instagram user wrote me via direct message (DM).
Science in the Epstein files: By Community Request (Part 1 — Instagram Reels)
By Sheeva Azma The “Science in the Epstein files” series persists thanks to a community of concerned people who, like me, care about who is rewarded in science — and why. Neither journalism nor science are individual endeavors — they are a team effort. While one person often gets the credit, the truth is that there are many others behind the scenes helping make everything possible.
Exposing science in the Epstein files is a community effort
By Sheeva Azma I keep looking into science in the Epstein files just because kind, just people I’ve never met told me to persevere. I was never planning to become an Epstein files journalist, but this week marks four months that I have been poring over the files and finding more and more stuff. I feel like the number of audible gasps I have made staring at the Epstein files is more than any other investigation I have undertaken in my life — and I started out as a scientist.
Science in the Epstein files: Optics-obsessed Al Seckel, Epstein’s post-jail PR person
By Sheeva Azma Al Seckel, skilled in fighting people’s efforts to reveal the truths of his life, also led the effort to clear Epstein’s name post-jail time. Remember how I told you not to listen to a word coming out of Epstein-affiliated scientists’ mouths? Al Seckel’s life exemplifies that. He is (well, was) another Epstein-affiliated man, also a self-styled scientist with no science degrees (and, like Epstein, no college or grad school degrees).
Science in the Epstein files: “Lots of interesting scientists visiting” Zorro Ranch
By Sheeva Azma This blog discusses Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities and therefore may not be suitable for a general audience. Ever since I learned that MIT professor Ed Boyden was in the Epstein files (969 mentions!), and found his Zorro Ranch plane ticket in the files, I have been obsessed with piecing together the details of his visit there. The Zorro Ranch is Jeffrey Epstein’s now defunct ranch which was located just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Science in the Epstein files: Living above the law, Jeffrey Epstein reinforced sexism in science
By Sheeva Azma “The women are all weak and a distraction.” When I read these words from Jeffrey Epstein to his friend, John Brockman whose organization, the Edge Foundation, Epstein funded, every setback I’d experienced in science not only made sense, but all the things I’d been suspecting for years finally had some pretty high-profile and tangible evidence.
Science in the Epstein files: Epstein’s post-jail welcome from elite scientists meant he could continue to influence science
By Sheeva Azma This blog discusses details of Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activity and may not be appropriate for all audiences. In July 2009, Jeffrey Epstein returned from his jail time to reconnect with a welcoming community of elite scientists who treated him both as a friend and intellectual equal. Jeffrey Epstein did not have any science degrees.
Science in the Epstein files: What are implicated scientists saying?
By Sheeva Azma Scientists named in the Epstein files have largely evaded actual consequences through planned resignations, public apologies, and denial of any wrongdoing. I’ve spent three months, at this point, combing through the Epstein files and sharing what I’ve learned, both here and on our Instagram. As I’ve written previously, Jeffrey Epstein not only befriended science’s biggest names, but he also some of the most toxic figures who found themselves forced out of science.
Science in the Epstein files: Jeffrey Epstein, freshly out of jail, was thanked in a 2010 Nature paper
By Sheeva Azma Jeffrey Epstein flew under the radar with his crimes for decades until he went to jail for them in 2008, and released on good behavior (knowing what we all know now, it’s like: um, okay?!) in 2009. He ended up going back to jail a few years later after dragging a whole bunch of gleeful scientists into it all, as we know post-Epstein files. Just add the requisite Nobel Prize winner Epstein friendos to this, and it’s good to go.
Science in the Epstein files: Epstein’s love of deception wove a tangled web, entrapping scientists
By Sheeva Azma Epstein was so fascinated with deception that he aligned with researchers who he could fund to study it. Some of them got caught deceiving people. This article is one of many focused on the role of science in the Epstein files produced by us. Check out our other Science in the Epstein files articles here or follow our Instagram for more storytelling on the topic.
Science In the Epstein Files: Why did Epstein fund so much science?
By Sheeva Azma Note: Though new information may emerge about science in the Epstein files, this article will not be updated. So many scientist mentions — so little time. I’ve been posting our Instagram about science in the Epstein files almost daily for over two months, so check that out for more info! You can also read all our Epstein blogs here.
Dana Perino on Dreaming Big in Political Public Relations
By Sheeva Azma Fancy Comma has affiliate partnerships to support its content. We may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. Dana Perino declared, at the age of seven, that she would work in the White House one day…and she did. These days, Dana Perino is perhaps best known for her work as a Fox News anchor and host of The Five. Before that, she was White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush, and before that, she got her start in politics working on Capitol Hill.
I didn’t vote for George W. Bush, but I loved reading his memoir, anyway
By Sheeva Azma Fancy Comma has affiliate partnerships to support its content. We may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. Even though I never voted for George W. Bush, I respect the tough decisions he had to make as president and admire his commitment to public service. I didn’t vote for George W. Bush either time he ran for president, but I enjoyed his memoir, Decision Points. Over time, I came to find George W.
A Time-Capsule Noruz Greeting to Future Iran
By Sheeva Azma Happy Noruz! I hope this will be the greatest year ever for the people of Iran, but I have no way of knowing what they are experiencing on this day. The reason for that is that I am actually writing this blog on January 12, 2026. I thought it would be fun to write a letter to my future self and the future Iran, whatever shape it ends up taking.
Here’s why we can’t take the scientists named in the Epstein files at their word
By Sheeva Azma Luminaries in science should not be “too big to fail.” That’s not how science works at all. Let’s revisit our hypotheses about what it takes to succeed in science. Readers, I’m still sitting down to write this blog with all the odds stacked against me.
Here’s every scientist I found in the Epstein Files
By Sheeva Azma Note: Sorry, this post will not be updated as I learn more information (so many scientist mentions — so little time). I wrote this post on March 2, 2026, when I had scheduled out a good two weeks’ worth of reels on our Instagram about scientists in the Epstein files and had plans for putting together several more. Since then, I may have discovered a few more scientists…check out our Instagram for the most up-to-date info.
Looking Back to Our First Year, Six Years Later
By Sheeva Azma You know when you have a vision for something, but know it will take a while to make reality…if even possible? That was me six years ago. Fancy Comma has affiliate partnerships to support its content. We may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.
Participatory Action Research as a Research-Based Framework for Rapidly-Evolving Public Health Messaging
By Sheeva Azma Participatory action research emphasizes learning and deep community involvement, with objectives that shift and evolve as needs do. One of the most challenging aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic was the growing tide of vaccine hesitancy, which gained momentum through those times, and has now pervaded US health policy, to experts’ great dismay.
"Don't get PTSD from the news"
Hello, Fancy Comma Newsletter readers! I’m writing this newsletter in advance on the 12th of January, 2026, which means that by the time you read this, Iran may have a completely different government, expired Affordable Care Act subsidies may or may not be renewed, Venezuela may be part of the United States, federal immigration enforcement officers may have killed more people and gone door-to-door as they are currently doing in St. Paul, MN (according to a Facebook post I read this morning),...
A Science Freelancer’s Wish List of Creative Projects
By Sheeva Azma Here’s a list of my dream freelance jobs! If you want to work with me, check out this list for a bunch of projects that I will definitely say “yes” to. I am a freelance science creative, but before I started Fancy Comma, LLC, I had spent most of my life as a brain nerd and neuroscientist. I was living the life of the mind (and brain) — literally. There’s nothing more exciting than trying to figure out how the human brain works — and sharing that excitement with people.
A Moment (and Music Playlist) for Science Creatives
By Sheeva Azma We may not be in the room with the marketing executives all the time, but when we are, we bring our best ideas (and can back them up with science). We can come up with a tagline and we can search PubMed to do so in an evidence-based manner. Since we naturally love research and data, we can optimize our impressions on social media while loving the number-crunching and statistics. Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com Need science explained?
The 1 Not-So-Weird Trick to Lower Healthcare Costs
By Sheeva Azma Healthcare system: don’t pay for unsafe care. It’ll make us all healthier (and wealthier). If health is wealth, why is healthcare so expensive? It feels like I pay so much for healthcare that it might be better named wealthcare. What it looks like when doctors get paid more and more despite the preventable harm that happens in hospitals…according to WordPress’s AI tool that generates images. Look at my prompt! Look at the bar graph with the AI-generated word-looking things.
Former Congressional Staffer Explains Ways to Make Policy More Evidence-Based with Scientist Involvement
By Sheeva Azma On November 13, 2025, Adriana Bankston, PhD, a former staffer in the office of Rep.
6 minutes of my ideas to repair US science in 2026
Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Fancy Comma newsletter readers, it’s been quite a year. Whew! I am a business owner, but I am a person, too, and I am exhausted from this year.
Congress’s Role in Trump 1.0
By Sheeva Azma My former workplace adorns US paper money. Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com on Pexels.com Just a few weeks before Trump shutdown 1.0, in early January 2018, I wrote about the role of Congress in President Trump’s first administration — that was just a couple of weeks before the government would shut down for the longest time it ever had.
How to Be a Good Discussion Moderator, Whether at a Conference or at the Dinner Table
By Sheeva Azma People want to feel heard. A moderator helps that happen. When did we become a society so obsessed with talking that we forgot to listen? One of my greatest pet peeves in life is being interrupted, but I’ve had to learn to embrace it. As I get older and have more wisdom to share in life, it feels like fewer and fewer people want to listen.
Things I Have Learned about Being a Science Creative
By Sheeva Azma Being a science creative sometimes does not feel very creative at all. It can seem like we do nothing and can feel like we do not exist in the world. Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash Being a science creative sometimes does not feel very creative at all. I wish there was a guide to productivity for science creatives, because sometimes, it feels like we do not exist in the world of “traditional” (non-scientist) creatives.
The Washington, DC Taylor Swift Playlist You Didn’t Know You Needed
By Sheeva Azma In late October, just a couple weeks ago, I spent some time in Washington, DC, where I was lucky enough to be a moderator of an important discussion on science infrastructure in the US. While I would only be there for about 36 hours, I had an idea of what I wanted to do: walk around DC listening to music…and lo, this playlist was born.
Yes, Larry Summers, I’m a scientist who taught herself economics (what, like it’s hard?!)
By Sheeva Azma Disclaimer: The opinions below are Sheeva Azma’s alone and are not representative of the Census Bureau, US government, or any official entity.
Lawmakers Defunded Soooo Much Healthcare in the Big, Beautiful Bill (especially for Oklahomans)
By Sheeva Azma The legacy of this Congress will be all of the things they took away from the American people while they, themselves, benefited more and more. It’s the day before this blog is to be published and I’ve let my responsibility of blogging each week come down to the wire. Oh well. At least we made it through the government shutdown just for more rigamarole come January 30.
Countdown to the 2026 US Midterm Elections
By Sheeva Azma Working in policy consulting, one is acutely aware of the ramp-up to election day. Here in the United States, the midterm elections are scheduled for November 3, 2026. The midterm elections are called such because they are halfway through the presidential term. People up for election therefore include members of Congress, as well as state and local candidates, who are running for office.
Book Review: 107 DAYS by Kamala Harris
By Sheeva Azma Fancy Comma has affiliate partnerships to support its content. We may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. “One hundred and seven days were not, in the end, long enough to accomplish the task of winning the presidency,” writes Kamala Harris in her campaign memoir, 107 Days.
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