headshot of Shafaq Zia

Shafaq Zia


Shafaq Zia is a science journalist and a graduate student in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously, she was a reporting intern at STAT, covering the COVID-19 pandemic and the latest research in health technology.

From this contributor

Spectrum

Spotted around the web: COVID-19 during pregnancy, sleep problems, eugenics

By Jill Adams, Angie Voyles Askham, Peter Hess, Shafaq Zia
10 June 2022 | 3 min read
Nighttime crowded Shanghai street scene with illumination from electric and neon signs.
Spectrum

New resource tracks genetic variations in Han Chinese populations

By Shafaq Zia
9 December 2021 | 3 min read

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Research image of resting-state functional MRI.
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Acetaminophen effects on developing brain organoids; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 12 October.

By Jill Adams
13 October 2026 | 1 min read
Illustration of hands holding cash.
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Private initiative makes ‘historic’ investment in autism research

Aligning Research to Impact Autism has committed more than $450 million to build a new multidisciplinary research network to uncover the roots of profound autism and develop treatments.

By Madeline Shaw
13 October 2026 | 4 min read
Edgar Adrian works in the laboratory, around 1920.
History of neuroscience

The neural code at 100

In two 1926 articles, Edgar Douglas Adrian revealed that neurons communicate through trains of spikes.

By Matteo Carandini
12 October 2026 | 8 min read