For Immediate Release: Feb. 9, 2023
Media Contact: Morgan Hopkins, mhopkin[email protected]
Latest in a Series of Major Hirings for the Health and Science Media Company
BOSTON — Today, STAT, the leading media company reporting on health, science, and medicine, is proud to announce the selection of Torie Bosch as its new First Opinion editor, succeeding Patrick Skerrett who retires in March. Bosch joins STAT after 11 years at Future Tense, an editorially independent partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that focuses on the intersection of technology, policy, and society.
First Opinion has become the premier forum for first-person essays and perspectives on health, medicine, and the life sciences written by everyone from top government officials to physicians, academics, and patients.
“First Opinion is a model for opinion journalism and has played a critical role in the success of STAT, with its essays accounting for a substantial chunk of our engagement,” said Rick Berke, co-founder and executive editor of STAT. “Pat created an opinion powerhouse, and Torie has an impressive track record to further build the franchise.”
“So much impresses me about First Opinion,” Bosch said. “First Opinion is a place where in one day, I might be able to work on articles about CRISPR for rare genetic diseases, the way the lack of Black psychiatrists hurts mental health care, and how we need better systems to help people with life-saving at-home medical equipment keep the power on during natural disasters.”
In addition to her work on Future Tense, in February, Bosch also launched a Slate-ASU partnership called State of Mind, which covers mental health. Both the Future Tense and State of Mind publish commentary and analysis, written by academics, policy experts, advocates, health care workers, and other specialists. Her work has often touched on topics that STAT readers care about, including pandemic response, biotechnology, AI, innovation policy, climate change, and health. A Pennsylvania native, Bosch is a graduate of Penn State University.
Under the leadership of Skerrett, since 2015 First Opinion has published 3,268 essays from nearly 4,000 authors, and produced 65 episodes of the First Opinion podcast. Bosch will begin her tenure in March and will be based in Philadelphia.
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ABOUT STAT:
Founded in 2015, STAT is a national digital media brand that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about health, medicine, and the life sciences. STAT takes readers inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.