Judy Van de Water

Professor
University of California, Davis

Judith Van de Water is professor of internal medicine at the University of California, Davis and director of the UC Davis Center for Children’s Environmental Health.

From this contributor

baby in utero, with placenta and antibodies and molecules
Spectrum Microphone

What the placenta could reveal about autism

By Judy Van de Water
19 February 2019 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.
Spectrum

Premature ideas

By Judy Van de Water
7 September 2012 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of mice microglia.
Spectrum

Single-gene systems-level effects, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 6 April.

By Jill Adams
7 April 2026 | 2 min read
Book cover of The Brain, In Theory by Romain Brette.
Theoretical neuroscience

‘The Brain, In Theory,’ an excerpt

In his new book, Brette pushes back against theories that describe the brain as a “biological computer.” In this excerpt from Chapter 4, he challenges equating brain evolution with programming, and the universality of neural network models.

By Romain Brette
7 April 2026 | 5 min read
Kieth Hengen looks through a small window, aligning his face with a fancy moustache sticker and rolling his eyes comically to the side.
Computational neuroscience

Computational neuroscientist Keith Hengen explains his work through illustrations

The images help him communicate the “big-picture ideas” behind the mathematical principles of neuronal networks.

By Helena Kudiabor
7 April 2026 | 4 min read