This entry was named an Honorable Mention.
Judges’ comments:
An important and timely topic, thoroughly reported with a nice narrative structure.
1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
“Brain, Interrupted” by Megan Scudellari
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
July 1, 2010 by The Scientist magazine
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Traumatic brain injury affects thousands per day, yet has no treatment, and receives only a small fraction of the funding allocated to much less common diseases. This is the story of TBI researchers who are making a last-ditch effort to transform the field, and the treatment that may be their last, best hope.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
At the 2010 AAAS meeting, I sat in a largely-empty lecture hall and heard three researchers describe how the field of traumatic brain injury is stuck in the dark ages, with no effective treatments and poor classification methods. I was shocked. Upon returning home, I poured through a decade of scientific papers in the field, and followed that up with interviews with numerous neuroscientists and surgeons, including researchers in the US and Europe. I also spoke with people affected by TBI and their caretakers. This resulting feature article reflects part of that work.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
For this article, I did a long in-person interview with a neuroscientist who became a victim of traumatic brain injury, Suzanne McKenna — the lead story in the piece. I also spoke with Geoff Manley, Chief of Neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital who is an upstart in the field, trying to re-vamp TBI classification, as well as numerous neuroscientists, including Andrew Maas, perhaps the best-known TBI researcher today. Finally, I had extensive interviews with two men leading the clinical trial for progesterone as a treatment for TBI, what some view as the best hope in the field and a last chance to funnel funding toward TBI treatments: David Wright and Don Stein at Emory University.
6. Results (if any).
None.
7. 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.
No, we have had only positive responses from both doctors and patients. One TBI researcher called it “one of the best of this type of science reporting.”
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Some topics are huge, and traumatic brain injury is one of those. When a story is so expansive, do your best to focus on a few characters and their struggles. That will ground the topic into a specific story. Also, be willing to cut extra information to keep the piece focused. You don’t have to put it all in there. After writing this piece, I have continued to do research in the area and am following the progesterone trial as it progresses, with plans to write more on this field in the future.