Erika Check Hayden is an award-winning, San Francisco-based science and technology reporter. She writes for Nature, and on a freelance basis for a variety of publications, and is a lecturer in the University of California, Santa Cruz Science Communication Program.
Erika Check Hayden
Freelance writer
From this contributor
For studies, size matters: Let us count the ways
In autism research, as in other fields, small sample sizes can lead to false findings. The size of the sample needed for statistical significance depends on the type of study.

For studies, size matters: Let us count the ways
Preprint server bioRxiv gets boost from Facebook billionaire
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has pledged to provide financial support for bioRxiv, a website where researchers can share manuscripts before peer review.

Preprint server bioRxiv gets boost from Facebook billionaire
Book review: ‘Rigor Mortis’ reveals rampant sloppiness in science
In his new book, journalist Richard Harris writes that lack of reproducibility in research poses a serious threat to science.

Book review: ‘Rigor Mortis’ reveals rampant sloppiness in science
Rising star: Somer Bishop fine-tunes autism diagnosis
Somer Bishop is launching a revolution in autism diagnosis, creating faster, more precise tools that speed research and better capture the full spectrum of autism symptoms.

Rising star: Somer Bishop fine-tunes autism diagnosis
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Mitochondrial ‘landscape’ shifts across human brain
Evolutionarily newer regions sport mitochondria with a higher capacity for energy production than older regions, according to the first detailed map of the organelles in a tissue slice, adding to mounting evidence that the brain features a metabolic gradient.

Mitochondrial ‘landscape’ shifts across human brain
Evolutionarily newer regions sport mitochondria with a higher capacity for energy production than older regions, according to the first detailed map of the organelles in a tissue slice, adding to mounting evidence that the brain features a metabolic gradient.
Expediting clinical trials for profound autism: Q&A with Matthew State
Aligning Research to Impact Autism, a new initiative funded by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, wants to bring basic science discoveries to the clinic faster.

Expediting clinical trials for profound autism: Q&A with Matthew State
Aligning Research to Impact Autism, a new initiative funded by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, wants to bring basic science discoveries to the clinic faster.
This paper changed my life: Shane Liddelow on two papers that upended astrocyte research
A game-changing cell culture method developed in Ben Barres’ lab completely transformed the way we study astrocytes and helped me build a career studying their reactive substates.

This paper changed my life: Shane Liddelow on two papers that upended astrocyte research
A game-changing cell culture method developed in Ben Barres’ lab completely transformed the way we study astrocytes and helped me build a career studying their reactive substates.