Provide names of other journalists involved.
Correspondent: Dr. Jonathan LaPook Producer: Kevin Finnegan Editor: Peter Berman Camera: Gilbert Deiz
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
July 11,2012
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Dr. Rae Lyn Burke has helped development vaccines for HIV, Herpes, and Hepatitis B. In the 1990’s she turned her attention to Alzheimer’s disease and was on the team that created an experiment treatment called Bapineuzumab. One day driving to work she realized she could not do math problems in her head. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2008 and then joined the clinical trial of the drug she helped create. This story profiled her, a woman who can’t remember her age, who still is interested in helping the research process go forward.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
None.
Explain types of human sources used.
We spoke to several of her colleagues to find out what kind of person she was in her professional life. One of them, Dr. Leonard Mulke of the Gladstone Institute, was interviewed in the piece and called Rae Lyn’s dedication to science as an “obsession”
Results:
n/a
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
n/a
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
It’s very rare to be able to interview an Alzheimer’s patient who can speak so well about the science, yet at the same time cannot remember her name.