Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky

Data Reporter

Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky analyzes data and writes data-driven news stories for Spectrum.

Prior to joining the Spectrum team, she covered health, science and general news for the Daily Beast, NBC News MACH, Gothamist and other publications. She has an M.A. from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, where she studied data journalism and health and science reporting.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Fruit flies use memory to track odors

When flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume—a process that depends on encoding a memory of the angle needed to travel back to the plume, according to a new study.

By Calli McMurray
8 September 2026 | 2 min watch
Map of genome variation.

New methods to contextualize autism-linked genes, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 7 September.

By Jill Adams
8 September 2026 | 2 min read
Illustration of folded origami.

Dimensionality—neuroscience’s red herring?

Placing too much emphasis on a specific interpretation of dimensionality, or treating it as an end-all quantification of some aspect of neural computation, may hinder progress in understanding the brain.

By Matthew Perich
7 September 2026 | 8 min read