Daisy Yuhas commissions and edits stories for Spectrum on The Transmitter. A freelance science journalist and editor based in Austin, Texas, she has edited features, news and opinions for multiple publications, including SAPIENS and Scientific American MIND. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Audubon, The Hechinger Report and Symmetry, among other outlets. (Photograph by Brio Photography)
Daisy Yuhas
Contributing editor
Spectrum
From this contributor
‘Slightly unhinged’ federal autism meeting portends unclear research priorities
The meeting last week sparked concerns about the latest Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s ability to perform its core function: developing a strategy to support autism research.
‘Slightly unhinged’ federal autism meeting portends unclear research priorities
By
Daisy Yuhas
7 May 2026 | 6 min read
Perspectives from the field: Opinions in autism research
This collection of Spectrum articles from the past 12 months highlights expert perspectives on autism’s heritability and its link to biological sex, the value of transdiagnostic frameworks, and the field’s future, among other topics.
Perspectives from the field: Opinions in autism research
By
Daisy Yuhas
10 July 2025 | 3 min read
Genetic testing; LSD1 inhibitors; and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 30 June.
Dosage of X or Y chromosome relates to distinct outcomes; and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 23 June.
Dosage of X or Y chromosome relates to distinct outcomes; and more
By
Daisy Yuhas
24 June 2025 | 2 min read
Reporter’s notebook: Highlights from INSAR 2025
The annual meeting brought autism researchers, advocates and clinicians to Seattle to discuss the latest research, including attempts to define subgroups, a potential new CHD8 macaque model and life expectancy gaps.
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Is our intelligence rooted in how living organisms are organized?
Kathryn Nave explains how a concept called constraint closure may be fundamental to understanding brains, minds and cognition.
Is our intelligence rooted in how living organisms are organized?
Kathryn Nave explains how a concept called constraint closure may be fundamental to understanding brains, minds and cognition.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
15 July 2026 | 1 min read
Making an impact through academic administration
As executive director of research at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Neurobiology, Soha Ashrafi supports more than 300 scientists, students and staff members.
Making an impact through academic administration
As executive director of research at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Neurobiology, Soha Ashrafi supports more than 300 scientists, students and staff members.
By
Katie Moisse
15 July 2026 | 7 min read
This paper changed my life: Embracing an early model for naturalistic neuroscience
A 1992 PNAS paper showed how birdsong upregulates the expression of an immediate early gene in bird forebrains. The work revealed to Ribeiro the importance of studying molecular responses in naturalistic contexts.
This paper changed my life: Embracing an early model for naturalistic neuroscience
A 1992 PNAS paper showed how birdsong upregulates the expression of an immediate early gene in bird forebrains. The work revealed to Ribeiro the importance of studying molecular responses in naturalistic contexts.
By
Sidarta Ribeiro
14 July 2026 | 4 min read