Willingham received her bachelor"s degree in English in 1989 and her Doctor of Philosophy in biology in 2001, both from the. She completed her fellowship in pediatric urology at the University of California, San Francisco, from 2004 to 2006, where she studied under Laurence South. Baskin.
She frequently blogs about autism, as well as genetically modified food controversies. 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. Willingham formerly ran the blog "A Life Less Ordinary", which she started in 2007 and which published its last post on November 25, 2011.
Willingham currently blogs for Forbes.com, where she states she writes about "the science they"re selling you," which includes the disproven link between vaccines and autism, as well as the Seralini affair.
She has also written three posts for Slate.com about, among other topics, what the motivation might have been for Adam Lanza to carry out the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. Her view is that his Asperger"s syndrome was not a contributing factor to him carrying out the shooting.
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 disorder. She was called "one of the sharpest science writers in the blogosphere" by Steve Silberman.
Willingham has published 44 scientific papers, and, according to Google Scholar, her h-index is 22.
With regard to her research, Willingham has said that talking about it "has always carried a frisson of the risque," which is not surprising, given that it often has to do with hypospadias, a birth defect of the penis, and how they can be caused by synthetic chemical compounds, including vinclozolin. Originally, however, Willingham researched the effects of pesticides on the red-eared slider while studying for her Doctor of Philosophy. She has also conducted research on endocrine disrupting chemicals such as atrazine with biologist Tyrone Hayes, a well-known advocate for banning atrazine. M. M. K. C. T. South. F. South. Alpha.
