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
Polarized cortical organoids mimic the brain’s regional organization
The organoids show region-specific gene-expression changes that match those observed during fetal development.
Polarized cortical organoids mimic the brain’s regional organization
The organoids show region-specific gene-expression changes that match those observed during fetal development.
By
Holly Barker
24 September 2026 | 4 min read
Prefrontal cortex has three transcriptomic acts across human lifespan, new atlas suggests
Various genes show distinct exits and entrances with age in the open-source dataset, the largest of its kind to date.
Prefrontal cortex has three transcriptomic acts across human lifespan, new atlas suggests
Various genes show distinct exits and entrances with age in the open-source dataset, the largest of its kind to date.
By
Siddhant Pusdekar
23 September 2026 | 5 min read
Microglia scoop out garbage from inside neurons
Through a newly identified process called skoupocytosis, neurons recruit the immune cells to remove cellular waste they find hard to deal with themselves.
Microglia scoop out garbage from inside neurons
Through a newly identified process called skoupocytosis, neurons recruit the immune cells to remove cellular waste they find hard to deal with themselves.
By
Siddhant Pusdekar
23 September 2026 | 0 min watch