Christine Herman is a Ph.D. chemist turned audio journalist. Her reporting has received awards from the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association and has aired on national programs including All Things Considered and Here & Now. Christine is a mother of three and aspiring aerial artist. She’s a recipient of the 2018-2019 Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism and has been working at Illinois Public Media since 2015.
Christine Herman
Side effects public media
From this contributor
Parents forced to trade custody for children’s mental-health care
Each year, dozens of families in Illinois give up custody of their children to help them get mental-health services.
Parents forced to trade custody for children’s mental-health care
By
Christine Herman
11 January 2019 | 11 min read
Explore more from The Transmitter
What Trump’s psychedelics executive order means for basic neuroscience
The order provides a potential path to remove some psychedelic drugs from the strictest regulatory category, yet it “may not be the breakthrough the basic research community has been looking for,” says neuroscientist Shawn Lockery.
What Trump’s psychedelics executive order means for basic neuroscience
The order provides a potential path to remove some psychedelic drugs from the strictest regulatory category, yet it “may not be the breakthrough the basic research community has been looking for,” says neuroscientist Shawn Lockery.
By
Calli McMurray
24 April 2026 | 4 min read
Switching neural code may solve ongoing face-recognition debate
Face patch cells in macaque monkeys initially respond to images of any object but rapidly transition to attend to faces exclusively, a new study finds.
Switching neural code may solve ongoing face-recognition debate
Face patch cells in macaque monkeys initially respond to images of any object but rapidly transition to attend to faces exclusively, a new study finds.
By
Holly Barker
23 April 2026 | 5 min read
Liset de la Prida explains how neuron subtypes may control the activity of large neural populations, from manifolds to ripples
De la Prida's work analyzing the varieties of sharp wave ripples in the hippocampus led to her discovery that specific types of neurons control the properties of neural manifolds.
Liset de la Prida explains how neuron subtypes may control the activity of large neural populations, from manifolds to ripples
De la Prida's work analyzing the varieties of sharp wave ripples in the hippocampus led to her discovery that specific types of neurons control the properties of neural manifolds.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
22 April 2026 | 104 min listen