New subscriber to the Forum

[Guest guest]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for admitting me to the forum. You asked for a

brief introduction. I'm the health and medicine editor at Newsweek

magazine. I've covered AIDS and global health for more than a decade

and am currently working on a special report on AIDS in India. I just

returned from several weeks in India and want to stay abreast of

relevant issues and events there.

That's probably all you need to know, but I'll attach a slightly

outdated bio in case it's useful. Thanks again and best regards,

*******

Geoffrey Cowley

Senior Editor

As Newsweek's health-and-medicine editor, Geoffrey Cowley has kept

readers at the forefront of a fast-changing field for more than a

decade. As an editor, he has steered the magazine's popular " Focus On

Your Health " section and its annual ratings of the nation's largest

HMOs. As a writer, he has produced ground-breaking stories on

everything from AIDS and brain science to the supplements craze. His

articles have won numerous awards. Several have prompted government

action, and many more have touched readers' lives.

Cowley wrote two of the three cover stories that prompted Newsweek's

1997 National Magazine Award nomination for personal service. Judges

for the American Society of Magazine Editors lauded " Why Ebonie Can't

Breathe " (an investigation of the global rise in asthma) and " The

Heart Attackers " (a close look at several newly discovered risk

factors for cardiovascular disease) as " medical journalism at its

best. " His 1998 cover story on diet and cancer was one of three

submitted -- and nominated -- in the general-excellence category that

year.

In covering major diseases, such as AIDS, Cowley has consistently

illuminated both scientific and social issues. His ambitious " AIDS:

The Next Ten Years " (6/90) won a Unity Award for Public

Affairs/Social Issues Reporting from Lincoln University of Missouri.

His cover story " Taming the AIDS Virus " (3/93) won the Clarion Award

for Best Magazine Article from Women in Communications, as well as a

Certificate of Merit from the American Academy of Nursing. In 1992 he

broke the news that physicians around the world were puzzling over

AIDS-like illnesses in people not infected with HIV. The article ( " Is

a New AIDS Virus Emerging? " 7/92) dominated the Eighth International

Conference on AIDS, in Amsterdam, and prompted investigations by the

World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Those investigations found no evidence that the

unexplained immune deficiency (now known as ICL) was infectious, but

researchers are still working to make sense of it.

Before joining Newsweek in 1988, Cowley was a senior editor at The

Sciences, where he coaxed general-interest magazine articles out of

researchers from various fields. He has also worked as a reporter and

feature writer at The Seattle Times, and as a writer and editor at

The Seattle Weekly. His professional honors include two Clarion

Awards, a National Press Club 1995 Consumer Journalism Award, a 1994

National Headliner Award (Consistently Outstanding Feature Writing on

a Variety of Subjects), and a 1992 Award for Excellence (Best Feature

Reporting) from the Society for Professional Journalists/New York

City Chapter. Cowley has also received a Fine Award from the

National Association of Secondary-School Principals; a Mental Health

Media Award from the National Mental Health Association; an Award for

Magazine Reporting from the Southern California Psychiatric Society;

a National Media Award (first place, magazine category) from the

American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology; and a first-place

Agriculture and Food Writers' Award from the Brock Center for

Agricultural Communication.

Raised in Salt Lake City, Cowley earned a B.A. in English from

and College, in Portland, Oregon, and an M.A. in English from

the University of Washington. He and his wife, Pelzer, live in

New York City and have one child, Colin Bernard Cowley.

March 2000

Geoffrey Cowley

Senior Editor

Newsweek

251 West 57th Street

New York, NY 10019

Geoffrey.Cowley@... <mailto:Geoffrey.Cowley@...>

_________________________