Robin Lloyd is a freelance writer, editor and educator, as well as a contributing editor for Scientific American and an adjunct professor at New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She has a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a B.A. from Smith College. She completed a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the 1998-1999 academic year.
Robin Lloyd
Locum News Editor
Spectrum
From this contributor
Sounding out ultrasounds; name game; geek gathering
A tie between first-trimester ultrasounds and autism severity is tenuous at best, misnamed genes litter the literature, and neuroscientists enjoy their version of summer camp.
Sounding out ultrasounds; name game; geek gathering
By
Robin Lloyd
9 September 2016 | 5 min read
Calming remedies; labor lessons; women wanted
New drugs target the brain’s calming chemical, inducing labor does not boost autism risk, and the start is imminent for a project to develop personalized treatments.
Fake facilitation; third strike; Pokémon passion
An autism researcher retracts her third paper in as many years, scientists write fraudulent reviews of their own papers, and Pokémon Go boosts social skills in children with autism.
Brexit break-ups; little impact; micro medicine
Scientists are excluding U.K. colleagues from studies; a life sciences publisher abandons the ‘impact factor;’ and a new open-access journal makes its debut.
CRISPR medicine; inclusive experiments; autism in Egypt
Scientists target human cancer with CRISPR, device trials may become more diverse, and autism awareness grows in Egypt.
CRISPR medicine; inclusive experiments; autism in Egypt
By
Robin Lloyd
24 June 2016 | 4 min read
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Eighteen teams analyzed the same neurophysiology dataset—and got wildly different answers
The “Brainhack” hackathon revealed that disagreement in neuroscience runs deeper than most researchers suspect—even in electrophysiology, a field that prides itself on hard data.
Eighteen teams analyzed the same neurophysiology dataset—and got wildly different answers
The “Brainhack” hackathon revealed that disagreement in neuroscience runs deeper than most researchers suspect—even in electrophysiology, a field that prides itself on hard data.
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Gaëlle Chapuis, Mattia Chini
1 June 2026 | 7 min read
‘Unbelievably beautiful’ evidence extends Nobel Prize-winning model of vision
Orientation tuning—the ability to distinguish a horizontal line from a vertical one or something in between—originates in the visual cortex, according to new mouse synapse imaging experiments.
‘Unbelievably beautiful’ evidence extends Nobel Prize-winning model of vision
Orientation tuning—the ability to distinguish a horizontal line from a vertical one or something in between—originates in the visual cortex, according to new mouse synapse imaging experiments.
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Claudia López Lloreda
29 May 2026 | 5 min read
Bringing basic biology back to INSAR
As the International Society for Autism Research has grown over the past two decades, basic science has become less central, Christine Wu Nordahl says. This year, she and other meeting organizers aimed to change that.
Bringing basic biology back to INSAR
As the International Society for Autism Research has grown over the past two decades, basic science has become less central, Christine Wu Nordahl says. This year, she and other meeting organizers aimed to change that.
By
Diana Kwon
28 May 2026 | 6 min read