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About

Life With Evidence was created as a place to:

Obtain quality information based on evidence backed with references, not opinions.
Enjoy interesting articles in under 10 minutes. I read through the technical words, so you don’t have to, while also giving you the reference for further reading.
Ask questions and get answers with evidence and respect. No judgement. No politics.
Encourage honest and respectful dialogue about science, faith, or both. Because no topic should be off the table.

Life With Evidence is a good resource for:

The person who wants to understand the basics of how science works, its strengths, and its limitations, to better navigate today’s world.
A person of faith who wants to feel confident in topics of science and its intersection with faith.
A person of science who wants to feel confident in topics of faith and its intersection with science.
A person considering or studying science as a career. Get insider knowledge on how to navigate academia to succeed.

The Story Behind Life With Evidence.

Dr. Stephanie Palacio has a lifelong passion for learning and then talking about it with others. Unfortunately, not all content is created equal, and much of what is published online for the general public has no references to the original source of the information. How can the reader know if this is based on evidence or an opinion? On the other hand, the original sources of information are written for other experts in that field, leaving the reader to choose between unreliable articles or articles too technical to fully understand without a degree in that field. For this reason, Dr. Palacio created Life With Evidence as a place to easily learn information with references to the original sources, so that you, too, can confidently talk about it with others.

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Stephanie Palacio, Ph.D.

Science journey:

Stephanie was curious about nature for as long as she can remember. Discovery Channel inspired her to be a scientist, the first in her family. She earned her B.S. in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, and her Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Science Campus. She continued to do biomedical research as a postdoctoral scientist at the University of California, Davis, and taught Anatomy as an adjunct professor at colleges. Dr. Palacio then went on to be the Associate Director of the NIH T32 Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program at UC Davis, where she mentored Ph.D. students in biomedical sciences, using evidence-based information to teach them how to be successful in academia. She has had the privilege of mentoring over 70 undergrad and graduate students.

You can read more details of this story here.

Faith journey:

Stephanie grew up believing in God and being in wonder about the complex world we live in. No one around her had answers to her BIG questions in life…it seemed like everyone just did the best with what they knew. Then, while finishing college to be a biologist, a friend asked, “What is the basis of your faith?”. As a Christian, she said, “The bible, of course.” But the truth was that she had never read the bible to answer any question. When Stephanie started reading it, she noticed she understood her faith very little. Long story short, she realized that while she was eagerly learning to be a scientist (whose ultimate goal is to gather evidence to answer questions), she was not using her natural curiosity or scientific skills to better understand the basis of her faith, an area of life she considered important. Since that day, Stephanie went back to ask her BIG questions, using the skills she learned in college to find answers. She read many books (including the bible), participated in workshops, took classes, read articles, and listened to academic debates on faith, science, life, etc. She recognized that in all areas of life, evidence helps make better choices, but that a bit of faith is also needed for each area.

Dr. Palacio is interested in respectful discussions of all belief systems. She focuses on the “mere Christianity” coined by C.S.Lewis, which is the common set of beliefs that Christians from all denominations share. She grew up Catholic, was part of the Christian and Missionary Allience, then a member of a Baptist church and is currently part of a non-denominational charismatic church. She has seen God bless her life through each one.