www.vagabondmedia.com

I’ve been writing about health and medicine since 1997, and I still feel like I’m getting a mini-graduate degree with every new story I write, as I get to explore the latest discoveries in fields like genetics, neurology, and cancer, and talk about issues that are essential to our health, like obesity, access to health care, and immunizations—all with some of the most brilliant people in their fields. Calling up a genius and saying “Tell me about what you do,” and then telling that story—that’s what I do, and I love every minute of it.

I started my health writing career as a senior writer at the Association of American Medical Colleges, where I learned about things like pluripotent stem cells from some amazing individuals who had been leaders at top medical schools before coming to the AAMC.

I began doing some freelance writing on the side, and in 2000, with more work than I could handle, I ventured out on my own, fearing with every step that leaving the safety of a day job would be a disaster. But more than ten years and millions (I’m pretty sure) of published words later, it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made. I’ve written for big newsstand magazines like Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Woman’s Day; specialty society publications like Neurology Today and ACP Hospitalist; and major institutions like Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York University Langone Medical Center, and Georgetown University School of Medicine. 

Clients often ask me, “Where did you get your medical training?” I answer, “At the AAMC!” Before that job, I had not had any real education in the biomedical sciences.My 1989 degree from Georgetown University was in English, and my 2002 MFA from Johns Hopkins was in writing. But I’ve learned on the job, from people at the top of their professions, and I’m always grateful for their willingness to teach me about the extraordinary work they do, so that I can help tell their stories to the world.

Personally? I’m married to the world’s most patient husband, the mother of three young and 100% perfect children, and I live in the kind of place magazines often call a “leafy suburb”—Montclair,  New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan. I'm a breast cancer survivor, I love to travel, and collect books like Carrie Bradshaw collects shoes.