EXPERIENCE
Health Writer-Editor
Freelance (1999 - Present)
Articles.
Have written feature and news articles for magazines, books, reports and websites, including:
Brochures, Fact Sheets and Press Releases.
Have written summaries for the VA on wide-ranging priority research areas, including genomics; comparative effectiveness; post-traumatic stress disorder; traumatic brain injury; and women’s health.
Meeting Coverage.
Have covered several health research organizations’ meetings, including:
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clearinghouse
(Full-time and Consulting) (2005 - 2007)
Working for contractor Lockheed Martin, wrote and edited consumer fact sheets about complementary and alternative medicine topics such as soy, acupuncture and magnet therapy.
Matthews Media Group (Full-time and Consulting) (2002 - 2004)
Wrote and edited assorted health materials—including newsletter, brochure and website copy—for government and pharmaceutical company clients. Representative accomplishments:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1996 - 2001)
FDA Consumer Magazine, Office of Public Affairs
Food Safety Staff, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Lawyer
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (1993 - 1996)
Drafted FDA regulations; wrote citizen petition responses explaining FDA's regulatory positions; and responded to telephone inquiries from within FDA and from the public about agency policy.
Other (During law school, 1990 - 1992)
Law Clerk: Center for Science in the Public Interest, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
EDUCATION
Juris Doctor, American University, Washington College of Law (1992)
Bar Memberships: Maryland Bar (admitted 1992), D.C. Bar (admitted 1994)
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Drexel University (1988)
Health Writer-Editor
Freelance (1999 - Present)
Articles.
Have written feature and news articles for magazines, books, reports and websites, including:
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine’s Medicus magazine—features (mostly cover stories) about food deserts, childhood obesity, medicine in a century, mesenchymal stem cells in multiple sclerosis, and a heart attack biomarker (MRP-8/14)
- Case Western Reserve University’s Think magazine—the acinetobacter pathogen, stem cells in heart disease, and many other health topics
- Department of Veterans Affairs’ Research Currents newsletter and its VAnguard and VA Research Today magazines—veterans’ issues such as comparative effectiveness, acinetobacter, brain banks and “biohybrid” limbs
- National Cancer Institute’s The Nation's Progress in Cancer Research annual reports—drug discoveries, proteomics, nanoscience, and other cutting-edge research advances
- NCI Cancer Bulletin—cord blood stem cells in adult leukemia
- Cleveland Clinic Magazine—Alzheimer’s disease (cover) and antibacterial products
- Discovery Health Channel's website—topics such as nutrition, weight management and aging
- Food and Drug Administration’s website—continuing medical/pharmacy education articles on clinical trials, antibiotic resistance, depression, osteoporosis and drug advertising.
Brochures, Fact Sheets and Press Releases.
Have written summaries for the VA on wide-ranging priority research areas, including genomics; comparative effectiveness; post-traumatic stress disorder; traumatic brain injury; and women’s health.
Meeting Coverage.
Have covered several health research organizations’ meetings, including:
- Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues Subgroup meetings for NCI’s caHUB biobank (2010)
- NCI’s “Botanicals and Cancer Research—Clinical Trials” conference (2009)
- Two Lymphoma Research Foundation meetings on advances in lymphoma understanding and treatment (2006, 2007)
- NCI’s “Health Disparities Workshop: Enhancing Interactions to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities” (2004).
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clearinghouse
(Full-time and Consulting) (2005 - 2007)
Working for contractor Lockheed Martin, wrote and edited consumer fact sheets about complementary and alternative medicine topics such as soy, acupuncture and magnet therapy.
Matthews Media Group (Full-time and Consulting) (2002 - 2004)
Wrote and edited assorted health materials—including newsletter, brochure and website copy—for government and pharmaceutical company clients. Representative accomplishments:
- Wrote participant newsletters for two NIH clinical trials: CALERIE (study of purported calorie restriction-aging connection) and DPPOS (diabetes prevention study).
- Wrote and edited NCI’s "Cancer Content" fact sheets on various types of cancer and related topics such as clinical trials, health disparities and cancer communications.
- Wrote, edited and copyedited clinical trial brochures for patient participants and investigators.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1996 - 2001)
FDA Consumer Magazine, Office of Public Affairs
- Wrote feature and news articles for FDA's official consumer publication. Topics included smoking cessation, cell phones and cancer, medical errors, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, the drug approval process, and colds and flu.
- Edited magazine's "updates" and "investigators' reports" sections.
- Articles have been reprinted on websites such as WebMD.com, ReadersDigestHealth.com, and JHU.edu (Johns Hopkins) and in textbooks including Marriage and Family and Health.
Food Safety Staff, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
- Wrote public and internal agency documents, including "Food and Drug Administration" entry for Encyclopedia of Food Science and Nutrition and Food Safety Initiative annual report 2000.
Lawyer
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (1993 - 1996)
Drafted FDA regulations; wrote citizen petition responses explaining FDA's regulatory positions; and responded to telephone inquiries from within FDA and from the public about agency policy.
Other (During law school, 1990 - 1992)
Law Clerk: Center for Science in the Public Interest, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
EDUCATION
Juris Doctor, American University, Washington College of Law (1992)
Bar Memberships: Maryland Bar (admitted 1992), D.C. Bar (admitted 1994)
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Drexel University (1988)