About AHCJ: General News

First class of journalists named for National Cancer Reporting Fellowships Date: 09/08/16

COLUMBIA, MO. – Fourteen journalists have been chosen for the inaugural class of the National Cancer Reporting FellowshipsNational Cancer Reporting Fellowships. The fellowship program was created as a collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and the Association of Health Care Journalists.

The fellows will spend four days on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., to increase their understanding of and ability to report accurately on complex scientific findings, provide insight into the work of cancer researchers and to better localize cancer-related stories.

The fellows will gather in Bethesda the week of Oct. 24 for a series of presentations, discussions, database sessions, lab tours and interactions with researchers and fellow journalists.

The 2016 fellowship class includes:

  • Ken Alltucker (@kalltucker), The Arizona Republic

  • Carrie Feibel (@carriefeibel), Houston Public Media

  • Alison Bowen (@byalisonbowen), Chicago Tribune

  • Eric Boodman (@EricBoodman), Stat, Boston Globe Media

  • Martha Craver, The Kiplinger Letter

  • Bradley George (@radiobkg), Georgia Public Broadcasting

  • Yanick Rice Lamb (@yrlamb), independent journalist and FierceforBlackWomen.com, Bowie, Md.

  • Laurie McGinley (@lauriemcginley2), The Washington Post

  • Matthew Ong (@mattobh), The Cancer Letter

  • Maria Ortiz-Briones (@TuValleTuSalud), Vida en el Valle, Fresno, Calif.

  • Catlin Nalley, Oncology Times

  • Padma Nagappan (@SavvyWordsmith), independent journalist, San Diego

  • Carol Pearson, Voice of America

  • Laura Santhanam (@LauraSanthanam), PBS NewsHour

The training topics will include:

♦ Cancer wars and moonshots: Lessons from historyDeep dive: Immunotherapy
♦ Cancer evidence by the numbers
♦ Hands-on exercises: How to understand and relay cancer statistics
♦ The world of guidelines and cancer screening
♦ Social determinants and disparities
♦ Tour of clinical center/Researchers in their labs
♦ How clinical trials work
♦ Hands-on exercises: Using SEER
♦ Deep dive: GenomicsStory building: Including patients in the equation
♦ Deep dive: Diet and cancer risk
♦ Where do we go from here?

The fellows were selected from dozens of qualified applicants.

“We had an amazing number of applicants for this brand new fellowship,” said AHCJ Executive Director Len Bruzzese. “There is a tremendous interest by reporters and editors in tackling cancer research and cancer treatment stories accurately and at a more sophisticated level. It mirrors the public’s intense interest in the battle against cancer right now. So, we are very happy to be working with the folks at the National Cancer Institute to tap into their expertise.”

The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. With about 1,500 members across the United States and around the globe, its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. The association and its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism provide training, resources and a professional home for journalists. Offices are based at the Missouri School of Journalism.