Talia Shirazi

I recently got my PhD in biological anthropology (focus: hormones & reproductive health) from Penn State, and currently work as a clinical product scientist at Modern Fertility. I'm not tech savvy enough to make cool websites, but I'm lucky enough to have friends who are. Women's reproductive health, behavioral neuroendocrinology, and statistics get me excited.


Education

Penn State

PHD, biological anthropology
Disseration title: Endocrine organization of sex differences in psychology and behavior: Evidence from isolated GnRH deficiency
Advisor: David Puts, PhD
August 2016 - May 2021

Penn State

MA, biological anthropology
Thesis title: Hormonal predictors of women's sexual motivation
Advisor: David Puts, PhD
October 2018

Emory University

BA, psychology (minor: mathematics)
Thesis title: Change and continuity in sexual behavior over the last 60 years
Advisor: Kim Wallen, PhD
August 2010 - May 2014

Publications

Including peer-reviewed articles published in journals only. For published abstracts and encyclopedia entries, please message me!

Shirazi, T., Levenberg, K., Cunningham, H., Self, H., Dawood, K., Cárdenas, R., … & Puts, D. (2021). Relationships between ovarian hormone concentrations and mental rotations performance in naturally-cycling women. Hormones and Behavior. pdf

Shirazi. T, Hastings, W., Rosinger, A., & Ryan, C. (2020). Parity predicts biological age acceleration in post-menopausal women. Scientific reports. pdf

Worthington, A., Burke, E., Shirazi, T., & Leahy, C. (2020). US women's perceptions and acceptance of new reproductive health technologies. Women's Health Reports. pdf

Shirazi, T., Self, H., Dawood, K., Cardenas, R., Welling, L., Rosenfield, K., ... & Puts, D. (2020). Pubertal timing predicts adult psychosexuality: Evidence from typically developing adults and adults with isolated GnRH deficiency. Psychoneuroendocrinology. pdf

Shirazi, T. & Rosinger, A. (2020). Reproductive health disparities in the USA: Self-reported race/ethnicity predicts age of menarche and live birth ratios, but not infertility. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. pdf

Shirazi, T., Self, H., Cantor, J., Dawood, K. , Cardenas, R. A., Rosenfield, K., ... & Puts, D. (2020). Timing of peripubertal steroid exposure predicts visuospatial cognition in men: Evidence from three samples. Hormones & Behavior. pdf

Shirazi, T., Rosenfield, K., Cardenas, R. A., Breedlove, S. M., & Puts, D. (2020). No evidence that hormonal contraceptive use or circulating sex steroids predict complex emotion recognition. Hormones & Behavior. pdf

Traino, K., Snow, J., Ham, L., Summers, A. C., Segala, L., Shirazi, T. N.,...& Williamson, P. R. (2019). HiV-negative cryptococcal meningoencephalitis results in a persistent frontal-subcortical syndrome Scientific Reports. pdf

Shirazi, T., Jones, B. C., Roney, J. R., DeBruine, L., & Puts, D. (2019). Conception risk affects in-pair and extrapair desire similarly: a comment on Shimoda et al. (2018). Behavioral Ecology. pdf

Shirazi, T., Self, H., Dawood, K., Rosenfield, K., Penke, L., Carre, J., Ortiz, T., & Puts, D. (2019). Hormonal predictors of women’s sexual psychology. Evolution and Human Behavior, 3(40), 336-344. pdf

Shirazi, T., Snow, J., Raglan, G., Wiggs, E., Summers, A. C., Toro, C., & Introne, W. I. (2019). The neuropsychological phenotype of Chediak-Higashi Disease. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, 14(101). pdf

Shirazi, T., Bossio, J., Puts, D., & Chivers, M. (2018). Menstrual cycle phase predicts women’s hormonal responses to sexual stimuli. Hormones and Behavior, 103, 45-53. pdf

Shirazi, T., Puts, D., & Escasa-Dorne, M. (2018). Filipino women’s preferences for male vocal pitch: Intra-individual, life history, and hormonal predictors. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 4(2), 188-206. pdf

Shirazi, T., Renfro, K., Lloyd, E., & Wallen, K. (2017). Women and orgasm during intercourse: Women’s reports and men’s estimates vary with question semantics. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(3), 605-613. pdf

Shirazi, T., Summers, A., Smith, B., Steinbach, S., Kapetanovic, S., Nath, A., & Snow, J. (2017). Concordance between self-report and performance-based measures of everyday functioning in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. AIDS and Behavior, 21(7), 2124-2134. pdf


Awards/Grants

  • Liberal Arts Outstanding Graduate Research Award, Pennsylvania State University (2021)
  • Anthropology Professional Achievement Award, Pennsylvania State University (2020)
  • Liberal Arts Teaching and Research Scholarship, Pennsylvania State University (2020)
  • Baker Dissertation Research Fund, Pennsylvania State University (2020)
  • Hill Fellowship (Post-Comprehensive Examination Award), Pennsylvania State University (2020)
  • William Sanders Graduate Award in Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University (2020)
  • Travel Award, European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (2020)
  • RGSO Dissertation Award, Pennsylvania State University (2019)
  • INTERN, National Science Foundation (2019; received but not accepted)
  • Hill Fellowship (Pre-Comprehensive Examination Award), Pennsylvania State University (2019)
  • Student Research Development Award, International Academy of Sex Research (2018)
  • RGSO Conference Travel Award, Pennsylvania State University (2017 - 2020)
  • Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation (2016)
  • University Graduate Fellowship, Pennsylvania State University (2016)

Experience

Clinical and research operations consultant

Modern Fertility

I currently assist with clinical and research efforts at Modern Fertility, a SF-based startup dedicated to making proactive information about fertility and reproductive health accessible to women. Watch this space; more details to come.

June 2019 - Present

Graduate research assistant

Behavioral Endocrinology and Evolution Lab

My research encompasses two broad topics: how endogenous and exogenous hormones affect women's behavior and cognition, and the organizational (i.e., permanent) effect of pubertal timing on adult behavior and cognition. While both these topics have theoretical merits, they may inform clinical decision making as well. Requisite skills include submitting and managing IRB documents, creating surveys, analyzing data (R, SPSS, STATA), conducting literature reviews, and drafting publications.

August 2016 - Present

Intramural Research Fellow (Postbac)

National Institute of Mental Health

I worked with NIMH's neuropsychological consult service, evaluating neuropsychological function on a consult and research basis using traditional neuropsychological tasks and eye-tracking based measures of cognition. I conducted and encouraged participants through 3+ hour evaluations. This was valuable in affirming my love for human behavior and cognition, and perhaps more importantly, dissuading me from pursuing a degree in clinical psychology. Requisite skills included administering and scoring traditional neuropsychological tests, writing code and running experimental paradigms using E-Prime, analzying and interpreting eye-tracking data, and drafting publications.

July 2010 - June 2016

Research Assistant

Behavioral Endocrinology Lab

Little undergrad me led survey-based study on changes and continuity in sexual behavior in the last 60 years. Requisite skills included drafting and submitting IRB documents, creating surveys, recruiting 1,000+ participants, processing and analyzing data (SPSS), and drafting publications.

August 2008 - June 2010

Science communication

Contributor

Modern Fertility blog

I write about the current science on women’s reproductive health. My author page can be found by clicking here.

September 2019 - Present

Interests

Jack of some trades, master of none. I like to spend most of my free time moving, whether it be taking an OrangeTheory fitness class (yes it's a cult), going on a hike, or training for one of the several half marathon I've gotten peer pressured into doing.

My relatively more stationary interests include my parents' dog (pictures of a full-sized blanket with her face on it available upon request), my own dog Emmy (although we're convinced she's part cat), jenga, science-themed crossword puzzles, yummy food, and pop-sci books.