Elissa Welle was a news reporter for The Transmitter from 2023 to 2024, where she covered neurodegeneration and a smorgasbord of other basic neuroscience research. Before joining the newsroom in late 2023, she worked as an intern reporter for Reuters, Nature, STAT News and The Detroit Free Press. She has also written for The Chronicle of Higher Education and her alma mater’s student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. Her days as a scientist were spent designing and fabricating tiny electrodes for single-neuron electrophysiology recordings.
![Headshot of Elissa Welle.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/elissa-welle-headshot.webp)
Elissa Welle
Former reporter
The Transmitter
From this contributor
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/PKM-Kibra-1200-1024x692.webp)
Persistent protein pairing enables memories to last
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Neuropixels-1200-1024x692.webp)
10 standards for brain electrode-array recordings enhance reproducibility
![Portrait of Kaspar Podgorski standing in his lab wearing a helmet with a climbing rope over his shoulder.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/KasparPodgorski-lede-1200-landscape-1024x683.webp)
Climbing to new heights: Q&A with Kaspar Podgorski
![Image of amyloid beta plaques.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1200-amyloid-beta-plaque-origins-neuroscience-transmitter-1024x683.webp)
Reviving ‘inside-out’ hypothesis of amyloid beta to explain Alzheimer’s mysteries
![New method reignites controversy over brain clearance during sleep.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Glymphatics-1200-1024x692.webp)
New method reignites controversy over brain clearance during sleep
Education
- M.S. in science journalism, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, University of Michigan
- B.S. in bioengineering, Cornell University
Fellowships
- AAAS Mass Media Fellowship in 2022
Articles
- “Utah array characterization and histological analysis of a multi-year implant in non-human primate motor and sensory cortices” | Journal of Neural Engineering
- “Sharpened and mechanically durable carbon fiber electrode arrays for neural recording” | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
- “Multi-channel intraneural vagus nerve recordings with a novel high-density carbon fiber microelectrode array” | Scientific Reports
- “Ultra-small carbon fiber electrode recording site optimization and improved in vivo chronic recording yield” | Journal of Neural Engineering
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Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
![Research image of neurons in the fly’s ventral nerve cord.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/lede-motormodules-1200-1024x692.webp)
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
Researchers are mapping the neurons in Drosophila’s ventral nerve cord, where the central nervous system meets the rest of the body.
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
![Illustration of researchers talking to laypeople amidst strands of DNA.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1200_Charman-1024x687.webp)
Building an autism research registry: Q&A with Tony Charman
A purpose-built database of participants who have shared genomic and behavioral data could give clinical trials a boost, Charman says.
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/paincircuit-1200-1024x692.webp)
Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
The newly identified circuit taps into the brain’s opioid system to provide a top-down form of pain relief.