portrait of Marcus A. Banks

Marcus A. Banks


Marcus Banks is an intern at Spectrum and a 2019 graduate of the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University. He has also worked at Nature Medicine and TCTMD.
Before becoming a journalist, Marcus was a health sciences librarian, most of the time in management roles. His first position was as associate fellow of the National Library of Medicine, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He has also worked at New York University, the University of California, San Francisco, and Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, California.  He has a B.A. in English from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a master’s degree in library and information science from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Mouse brain slices.

Cortical evolution, ZBTB18, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 30 March.

By Jill Adams
31 March 2026 | 2 min read
Drawing of a brain.

Letter asks Congress for nearly $500 million to sustain BRAIN Initiative

The one-time boost would help counter the planned end this year to one of the program’s long-standing funding streams, which will result in a $195 million drop in funding for fiscal year 2027.

By Angie Voyles Askham
31 March 2026 | 3 min read
A human arm and a robot arm write code together on a small blackboard.

How to teach programming in the age of AI

Scientists and educators are concerned about students using artificial intelligence to shortcut their learning. But there are also opportunities, especially when it comes to teaching neuroscience students how to code.

By Ashley Juavinett
30 March 2026 | 8 min read