Elissa Welle was a news reporter for The Transmitter from 2023 to 2024, where she covered neurodegeneration and a smorgasbord of other basic neuroscience research. Before joining the newsroom in late 2023, she worked as an intern reporter for Reuters, Nature, STAT News and The Detroit Free Press. She has also written for The Chronicle of Higher Education and her alma mater’s student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. Her days as a scientist were spent designing and fabricating tiny electrodes for single-neuron electrophysiology recordings.
Elissa Welle
Former reporter
The Transmitter
From this contributor
Persistent protein pairing enables memories to last
By
Elissa Welle
17 July 2024 | 5 min read
10 standards for brain electrode-array recordings enhance reproducibility
By
Elissa Welle
12 July 2024 | 5 min read
Climbing to new heights: Q&A with Kaspar Podgorski
By
Elissa Welle
21 June 2024 | 8 min read
Reviving ‘inside-out’ hypothesis of amyloid beta to explain Alzheimer’s mysteries
By
Elissa Welle
29 May 2024 | 8 min read
New method reignites controversy over brain clearance during sleep
By
Elissa Welle
22 May 2024 | 8 min read
Education
- M.S. in science journalism, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, University of Michigan
- B.S. in bioengineering, Cornell University
Fellowships
- AAAS Mass Media Fellowship in 2022
Articles
- “Utah array characterization and histological analysis of a multi-year implant in non-human primate motor and sensory cortices” | Journal of Neural Engineering
- “Sharpened and mechanically durable carbon fiber electrode arrays for neural recording” | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
- “Multi-channel intraneural vagus nerve recordings with a novel high-density carbon fiber microelectrode array” | Scientific Reports
- “Ultra-small carbon fiber electrode recording site optimization and improved in vivo chronic recording yield” | Journal of Neural Engineering
Explore more from The Transmitter
Supported by a $40 million NIH grant, Yale brain shuttle technology raises questions
Yale University claims its STEP platform might be able to deliver gene-editing tools into the brain via multiple routes. Researchers are eager to see more.
Supported by a $40 million NIH grant, Yale brain shuttle technology raises questions
Yale University claims its STEP platform might be able to deliver gene-editing tools into the brain via multiple routes. Researchers are eager to see more.
By
Natalia Mesa
3 June 2026 | 11 min read
What counts as a ‘naturalistic’ behavior?
Nedah Nemati explains how neuroscience methods and the lived experience of the scientists themselves shape how we define the behaviors we seek to explain.
What counts as a ‘naturalistic’ behavior?
Nedah Nemati explains how neuroscience methods and the lived experience of the scientists themselves shape how we define the behaviors we seek to explain.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
3 June 2026 | 1 min read
Allen Institute sets sights on treatments for five brain diseases
The Brain Health Accelerator program aims to harness single-cell transcriptomics and cell-type-specific genetic tools to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, Lewy body dementia and ALS.
Allen Institute sets sights on treatments for five brain diseases
The Brain Health Accelerator program aims to harness single-cell transcriptomics and cell-type-specific genetic tools to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, Lewy body dementia and ALS.
By
Calli McMurray
2 June 2026 | 5 min read