Deborah Rudacille earned an M.A. in science writing from Johns Hopkins University in 1998. She worked as a research writer at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and as senior science writer at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Rudacille is the author of three books: The Scalpel and the Butterfly (2000), The Riddle of Gender (2004) and Roots of Steel (2010). She joined SFARI.org’s team as news editor in 2010.
Deborah Rudacille
Former News Editor
SFARI.org
From this contributor
The twenty-something free fall
Young adults with autism face many new expectations and challenges — with none of the support that is available during high school.
New clinical guidelines address gender dysphoria in autism
New recommendations urge clinicians to screen teenagers for autism when they seek treatment at gender clinics, and evaluate those with autism for gender concerns.

New clinical guidelines address gender dysphoria in autism
Living between genders
‘Trans’ people with autism express a gender at odds with societal expectations, or reject the male-female divide entirely. Many are breaking new ground on how identity is defined — and what it means to also have autism.
Nobel goals
On the occasion of Thomas Südhof winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, SFARI.org’s former news editor recalls their first meeting.
Autism rates higher among adults with low birth weight
Autism prevalence is five times higher in young adults born weighing 2,000 grams or less compared with controls, according to a study published 17 October in Pediatrics.

Autism rates higher among adults with low birth weight
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By offering education and translating scientific terms into Indigenous languages, López-Hidalgo’s outreach program, Neurociencias Para Todos, provides schoolteachers with tools to bring neuroscience to their communities.
Bringing neuroscience to rural Mexico: In conversation with Mónica López-Hidalgo
By offering education and translating scientific terms into Indigenous languages, López-Hidalgo’s outreach program, Neurociencias Para Todos, provides schoolteachers with tools to bring neuroscience to their communities.
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A través de la educación y traducción de términos científicos en lenguas indígenas, el programa Neurociencias Para Todos provee de herramientas a maestros para llevar la neurociencia a sus comunidades.
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Worms help untangle brain structure/function mystery
The synaptic connectome of most animals bears little resemblance to functional brain maps, but it can still predict neuronal activity, according to two preprints that tackle the puzzle in C. elegans.