From 2018 to 2023, I was the sole science writer and editor for the Allen Institute, a life sciences nonprofit in Seattle that studies the brain, the cell and the immune system. I covered science news from all 5 science divisions and wrote and produced more than 200 stories, press releases, podcast episodes and newsletters in my tenure at the Institute. My work at the Institute was recognized with regional and national science writing awards. Here are a few of my favorite written pieces from that time:

• Aging is evolutionary, according to a new molecular ‘clock’ that predicts age in all mammals 2023
  News story covering two studies from aging researcher Steve Horvath describing a tool that accurately predicts age across 185 species of mammals.

• Long COVID's long fallout 2023
  I profiled two patients who have been living with long COVID for years.

• Meet the machines that are helping us understand the brain 2023
  A multimedia feature story about some really cool machines, produced for Brain Awareness Week 2023. 

From 2009 to 2018, I was a writer and editor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, a Seattle health research nonprofit and cancer center. My work ranged from writing feature stories for the Hutch's print magazine to online news stories to editing manuscripts for scientific teams. My primary beat was the Basic Sciences Division but I frequently covered infectious disease and cancer research as well. Some sample clips: 

• When scientific hypotheses don’t pan out 2018
  I talked to scientists, including the PI of the SELECT and CARET trials that found that high doses of certain vitamins raise rather than lower cancer risk, about what happens when their favored hypothesis turns out to be wrong.

• One family, two sides of cancer 2017
  Basic scientist Wenying Shou's parents went through cancer treatment with very different results. I profiled the scientist and both cancer survivors in this feature story.

• Backyard viruses of the Pacific Northwest 2017
  Infectious disease scientist Alex Greninger was determined to sequence every virus he could get his hands on.

• A boy, his chicken and a bone marrow transplant 2017
  I profiled Andrew Adams, an autistic young man who survived a rare genetic immune disorder thanks to an experimental transplant.

• A ‘selfish gene’ that poisons its own host 2017
  A news story covering a study on a cheekily named selfish gene in yeast.