Emily Singer commissions and edits scientist-written content and develops new resources for the community. She joined The Transmitter in 2023 and has previously held a variety of editorial roles at the Simons Foundation, including editor for neuroscience collaborations, and senior biology writer and contributing editor at Quanta Magazine. Before joining the foundation, she was biomedical editor at Technology Review.
Emily Singer
Chief opinion editor
The Transmitter
From this contributor
Neuroscience gave AI its start. What happens now?
By
Emily Singer
27 October 2026 | 10 min read
Amid funding uncertainty, neuroscientists report a mix of cynicism, persistence
By
Emily Singer
28 August 2026 | 5 min read
How insights from network theory can boost interdisciplinary efforts
By
Emily Singer
23 February 2026 | 0 min watch
Education
- Certificate in science communication, University of California, Santa Cruz
- B.A. in biology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Fellowships
- AAAS Mass Media Fellowship
Explore more from The Transmitter
The genome offers a recipe, not a blueprint, for the brain
During brain development, genes set the rules and turn the knobs; self-organization does much of the rest.
The genome offers a recipe, not a blueprint, for the brain
During brain development, genes set the rules and turn the knobs; self-organization does much of the rest.
By
Ila Fiete
2 November 2026 | 8 min read
Autism research involving monkeys contends with uphill battle
Macaques and marmosets recapitulate the condition’s core traits better than mice can, but funding uncertainty and challenges at primate centers in the United States could make this work difficult to continue.
Autism research involving monkeys contends with uphill battle
Macaques and marmosets recapitulate the condition’s core traits better than mice can, but funding uncertainty and challenges at primate centers in the United States could make this work difficult to continue.
By
Diana Kwon
2 November 2026 | 8 min read
When is self-organization a mechanism in brain development?
Retinal waves offer a powerful example of a self-organizing system that can build structure without external guidance. The field would do well to embrace such phenomena more broadly as a type of mechanistic explanation.
When is self-organization a mechanism in brain development?
Retinal waves offer a powerful example of a self-organizing system that can build structure without external guidance. The field would do well to embrace such phenomena more broadly as a type of mechanistic explanation.
By
P. Robin Hiesinger
2 November 2026 | 6 min read