 I'm pleased to announce that I have been promoted to Deputy Editor of HealthCentral after three years of serving as a senior editor for the site. With the COVID crisis hitting two months after I joined the team, it's been an intense time to be on the health beat! In the words of Chief Content Officer Jo-Ann Strangis, I have "led the charge of our COVID coverage," tackling (with the help of top experts and ace reporters) everything from vaccine Qs and long COVID symptoms to emerging variants, as well as regularly updating our deep-dive COVID condition hub, and more. Challenging as it's been, I have never felt more professionally fulfilled than I am now, working for HealthCentral and its parent company, Remedy Health Media.
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 I haven't painted in years ... but my friend Kristine of Ostmoe Studio asked me to pick up my brushes again. So, I decided to make her my first victim...
 New research shows that, after controlling for height differences, women may be 50% more likely to get atrial fibrillation (Afib), a life-threatening heart arrhythmia that is responsible for up to 20% of all strokes in the U.S., than men—who have forever been told that THEY are at higher risk, even though women are more likely to die from Afib-triggered stroke. This is just one surprising bit of news on the subject. Click here to learn more about Afib in my latest story for HealthCentral.
 Thrilled to share that the series I spearheaded for HealthCentral, "Your Total Guide to Chronic + Sex," was named a finalist and won an Honorable Mention at this year's FOLIO: Eddie and Ozzie Awards for Best Series of Articles/Consumer Health. I launched the series with my survey story, "10 Revealing Truths About Chronic Sex."
 I'm long overdue to post some of my HealthCentral work here. This four-part advocacy series ran in March. It shares how an Everyman first became a social media force, was soon recognized by leading advocacy organizations, and then took his health concerns and message to lawmakers in D.C. to affect change. Find all four installments here.
 An article I assigned and shepherded ("What If COVID Is Chronic?" by ace reporter Erin L. Boyle) won first prize for Best Single Article in Consumer Health at last week's Eddie and Ozzie Awards! The Eddies are one of the most meaningful awards from an editorial POV—a wonderful validation of the work we at HealthCentral have been doing (before and during the pandemic). This story, first published back in early March 2021, was one of the first to give voice to the long-COVID community and examine the many troubling symptoms people from all walks of life continue to experience, long after they test negative for the virus. READ IT here.
 In a word: yes. And with obesity rates doubling in the U.S. over the past 20 years alone, it's time to ask the questions: Why are we packing on the pounds? How is our health affected because of it? And what role does excess weight play in chronic conditions (type 2 diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, more) and other health threats, including COVID-19, which disproportionately targets and takes down obese people? I edited this special report for HealthCentral, which was designed in Shorthand and was written by ace reporter Leslie Goldman. UPDATE: Thrilled to announce this story won an Honorable Mention for Best Long-Form Feature in the Consumer Health category by the 2022 FOLIO: Eddie and Ozzie Awards on 9/13/2022.
 Warner Bros. If you had told me one year ago—right around the time I'd just accepted a new role as a senior health editor at HealthCentral—what was coming around the bend, I might not have believed you. A modern-day plague? Ripped straight from the film Contagion, quickly going viral around the globe and quarantining most of us to our homes for months on end? Set against the backdrop of raging political protests, conspiracist rabbit holes, and a historically chaotic U.S. presidential election? As I've reported, edited, and worked through it all, doing my best to produce and share fact-checked, scientifically backed, and peer-reviewed information, I confess I've been dismayed to realize just how many of us are satisfied with consuming and reposting unreliable quackery—even folks whom, by their educational credentials alone, should know better. As 2020 closes, the only thing I know with certainty is that I haven't a clue what 2021 will bring. A praying type might do well to make a single "ask" for the new year ahead: that truth and facts—for both do still exist, despite arguments to the contrary—prevail to guide us all going forward. Here's to a better, healthier, saner 2021.
 Remedy Health Media, parent company to HealthCentral (where I serve as a senior health editor), surveyed 4,300 Americans about their worries and opinions on COVID-19. I wrote up the results—and it's safe to say this pandemic has us deeply unnerved. Read on.
 When top editorial recruiter Chandra Turner (of Talent Fairy and Ed2010 fame) contacted me back in December, I never imagined I'd soon be covering a global pandemic in real time for HealthCentral. Here, she interviews me and two other new hires, my colleagues Carrie Kreiswirth and Sarah Ellis, about joining Remedy Health Media at this historic time.
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