Members of AHCJ have been busy! Here’s the latest update on our members who have won awards, taken new jobs and have other news of interest.
Beryl Lieff Benderly is this year’s winner of the IEEE-USA Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering the Public Understanding of the Profession (of engineering) for a cover story on biomedical engineering she did for Prism magazine, for which she is a contributing editor.
Sean Carr, formerly the Washington bureau manager for A.M. Best’s News Service, joined SNL Financial, a global news service, as a senior reporter covering insurance and financial services.
Robert Davis, president and editor-in-chief of Everwell, a health video website, has released his book, “Coffee Is Good for You,” with Penguin/Perigree.
Katherine Eban, an independent journalist who writes for Self, Vanity Fair and other national titles, has recently contracted with Fortune as a contributing writer. She will write four long-form investigative pieces each year, which will focus predominantly on pharmaceutical, medical or public health issues.
Allyn Gaestel, an independent journalist based in Philadelphia, was awarded a Kaiser Media Fellowship to work at The Philadelphia Inquirer over the summer.
Kenny Goldberg, a health reporter with KPBS news, won a Golden Mike award in the category of Best Light Feature from the Radio Television News Association of Southern California for his television piece on wheelchair dancing.
Tara Haelle, a graduate student at the University of Texas-Austin, began writing for DailyRX.com as a condition leader for prenatal, sleep and nutrition issues. She also launched a blog of health and science news for moms called Red Wine & Apple Sauce. She is on track to complete her master’s report for graduate school this spring, which will tellsthe stories of people affected by vaccine-preventable diseases through journalistic features and photographic portraits.
Harriet Hodgson, an independent journalist and author of 30 books, has been appointed as a forum editor for the Open to Hope Foundation. Hodgson will respond to posts about the death of an adult child, something she has experienced.
Jodie Jackson Jr., reporter and blogger at the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune, was awarded second place in the Missouri Associated Press Media Editors 2011 news writing contest. The award was in the community affairs/public interest category for “Patients in Peril?” He also received a 2011 Missouri Public Health Association media award for significant contributions to health education in the state.
Steve Jacob’s book, “Health Care in 2020,” was published in January. Jacob is an independent journalist from Culleyville, Texas.
Richard M. Kirkner has been named editor-in-chief of Optometry Times, an Advanstar publication. A 20-year veteran of health care media, Kirkner will work out of his Phoenixville, Pa., office and report to the Advanstar Medical Communications Group editorial headquarters in North Olmstead, Ohio.
Steven Z. Kussin, M.D., F.A.C.P., an independent journalist based in Clinton, N.Y., is the founder and director of The Shared Decision Center, a patient advocacy center dedicated to educating patients about alternative approaches to their medical problems. Kussin’s book, “Doctor, Your Patient Will See You Now,” was also named amongst top 10 health titles of the year by Booklist.
Independent journalist Claudia Perry started a three-month training program with The Heartland Group in Chicago. She is working on a memoir about living with chronic conditions.
André Picard, longtime health reporter at Toronto’s Globe and Mail, was awarded the College of Family Physicians of Canada Lectureship Prize. It is the first time a non-physician has been honored. Picard donated the $15,000 cash portion of the award to Médecins Sans Frontières. In November, Picard also received the National Child Day Award from the Canadian Institute for Child Health for his “dedication to improving the health of children.”
Yanick Rice Lamb, associate publisher/editorial director of Heart and Soul magazine, participated in the Cancer Issues Fellowship sponsored by the National Press Foundation in December and the Knight Digital Media Center‘s workshop at the University of California, Berkeley, in January. She was recently accepted into April’s Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University. Rice Lamb was invited to join the National Advisory Council of the Center for Health Media and Policy at Hunter College.
Bryan Thompson, a health reporter at Kansas Public Radio, recently completed the National Public Radio/Kaiser Health News project, “Health Care In The States.” This workshop, which deepened the 24 participants’ understanding of issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act, included a week of intensive training in Washington and is followed by a four-month mentorship with editors from NPR and KHN.
San Francisco-based independent journalist Laurie Udesky published an article about dangerous prescription drugs in nursing homes for The Bay Citizen that also appeared in The New York Times.
Harriet Washington, an independent journalist from Albany, N.Y., published her book, “Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself and the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future,” with Doubleday in November.
Share your news
If you have news to share about a new job, fellowship, award or other accomplishment, please send us a note about it to info@healthjournalism.org to be featured in a future Covering Health post and in HealthBeat, AHCJ’s printed newsletter.
