Leah Shaffer

Freelance writer

Leah Shaffer is a freelance science writer based in St. Louis, Missouri. Her stories have appeared in publications such as Wired, The Atlantic, Discover, NOVA Next and UnDark. She writes about biology, medicine and the weird critters inside and outside the human body.

From this contributor

Spectrum

By Leah Shaffer

26 June 2019

16 min read

Giant helminth flies over figure with glowing gut and microbiome

Supplements, worms and stool: How families are trying to game the gut to treat autism traits

Scientists are playing catch-up as microbiome-based treatments for autism proliferate.

Spectrum

Supplements, worms and stool: How families are trying to game the gut to treat autism traits

By Leah Shaffer

26 June 2019 | 16 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Spectrum

By Jill Adams

10 November 2026

2 min read

Scans of brains using the OPM-MEG method.

Language development during the first 1,000 days; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 9 November.

Spectrum

Language development during the first 1,000 days; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 9 November.

By Jill Adams

10 November 2026 | 2 min read

Reviews

By Daniel Graham

10 November 2026

6 min read

Illustration of brain with many connecting lines.

What ‘Brain Flows’ gets right

Michael W. Cole’s new book makes a convincing case that the dynamic movement of signals underpins just about everything the brain does, though it misses mention of relevant theoretical and single-cell work.

Reviews