Cheryl Platzman Weinstock is an award–winning journalist who reports about health and science research and its’ impact on society. Her investigative pieces have brought attention to mental health, medical ethics issues and the medical research gender gap. Many of her recent stories bring awareness to important issues about the suicide epidemic. A Reuters Health piece shines light on the underreported number of suicides misclassified as unintentional overdose deaths that misleads policymakers and can leave a huge segment of society ignored. The other piece, for NPR, brings awareness to the hidden mental health risks for people who survive a brother or sister’s suicide.
Weinstock has earned many local and national honors, awards and fellowships. In June she received an award from the National Federation of Press Women and the Connecticut Press Club for an NPR story feature on sibling suicide survivors that can be read here.
She has also received The American Society of Journalists and Authors Arlene Eisenberg Award for Writing That Makes a Difference and the New England Chapter of the American Medical Writer’s Association Will Solimene Award for Excellence in 2014 for a story in O, The Oprah Magazine, that examined the validity of genetic testing. The story helped result in Cigna becoming the first insurer to require genetic testing by a certified genetic counselor because the tests are often misordered and misinterpreted by clinicians with no training in genetics.
Besides covering health and science, she frequently writes and reports on breaking news for The New York Times. She contributed to the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of 9/11 and also wrote about the Sandy Hook massacre. She recently covered the trial of a Yale student accused of rape. For years, she also wrote regularly about neighborhoods for the Real Estate Section of The New York Times and was a contributing author to, If You’re Thinking of Living In... (Random House in 1999).
Ms. Platzman Weinstock’s articles have appeared in major newspapers, magazines and websites, including The New York Times, NPR Shots, Cancer Today, Spectrum, Newsday, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, O, The Oprah Magazine, Time, Woman’s Day, Reuters Health,Essence, Men’s Health, Glamour, Town and Country, Self, More, Parenting, American Health, The Village Voice, Jewish World, All You, Family Circle, Omni, Savvy, Health, Marie Claire, Consumer Reports on Health, Health Monitor, The Scientist, Research Resources Reporter, FDA Consumer, World Book Encyclopedia, Science Digest, Technology Review, Rx Being Well, Management Technology, Healthy Kids, American Medical News, Ophthalmology World News, Medical Tribune, Infections in Surgery, the NYU Medical Center Newsletter, the Mayo Clinic Health Letter, Medscape, and The Huffington Post.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from Brooklyn College and a Master of Arts in journalism and a certificate in Science and Environmental Reporting from New York University. She was an intern at Newsday’s “Discovery” section before launching her freelance career.
She has been an adjunct professor of journalism at Brooklyn College, York College and Long Island University and also teaches writing at public relations firms and other corporate venues. She is a frequent speaker on women’ health. In 2011 she began, “Shop Talk,” a program bringing important health news to women during department store lunch and learn sessions. The program launched at Saks Fifth Avenue.
She is a member, past board member and was chair for several years of the awards committee of ASJA. She is also a member, past board member and member of the awards and freelance committee of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) and a member of the freelance committee of the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ). She also belongs to The Authors Guild, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE), and the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA).
Weinstock has earned many local and national honors, awards and fellowships. In June she received an award from the National Federation of Press Women and the Connecticut Press Club for an NPR story feature on sibling suicide survivors that can be read here.
She has also received The American Society of Journalists and Authors Arlene Eisenberg Award for Writing That Makes a Difference and the New England Chapter of the American Medical Writer’s Association Will Solimene Award for Excellence in 2014 for a story in O, The Oprah Magazine, that examined the validity of genetic testing. The story helped result in Cigna becoming the first insurer to require genetic testing by a certified genetic counselor because the tests are often misordered and misinterpreted by clinicians with no training in genetics.
Besides covering health and science, she frequently writes and reports on breaking news for The New York Times. She contributed to the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of 9/11 and also wrote about the Sandy Hook massacre. She recently covered the trial of a Yale student accused of rape. For years, she also wrote regularly about neighborhoods for the Real Estate Section of The New York Times and was a contributing author to, If You’re Thinking of Living In... (Random House in 1999).
Ms. Platzman Weinstock’s articles have appeared in major newspapers, magazines and websites, including The New York Times, NPR Shots, Cancer Today, Spectrum, Newsday, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, O, The Oprah Magazine, Time, Woman’s Day, Reuters Health,Essence, Men’s Health, Glamour, Town and Country, Self, More, Parenting, American Health, The Village Voice, Jewish World, All You, Family Circle, Omni, Savvy, Health, Marie Claire, Consumer Reports on Health, Health Monitor, The Scientist, Research Resources Reporter, FDA Consumer, World Book Encyclopedia, Science Digest, Technology Review, Rx Being Well, Management Technology, Healthy Kids, American Medical News, Ophthalmology World News, Medical Tribune, Infections in Surgery, the NYU Medical Center Newsletter, the Mayo Clinic Health Letter, Medscape, and The Huffington Post.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from Brooklyn College and a Master of Arts in journalism and a certificate in Science and Environmental Reporting from New York University. She was an intern at Newsday’s “Discovery” section before launching her freelance career.
She has been an adjunct professor of journalism at Brooklyn College, York College and Long Island University and also teaches writing at public relations firms and other corporate venues. She is a frequent speaker on women’ health. In 2011 she began, “Shop Talk,” a program bringing important health news to women during department store lunch and learn sessions. The program launched at Saks Fifth Avenue.
She is a member, past board member and was chair for several years of the awards committee of ASJA. She is also a member, past board member and member of the awards and freelance committee of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) and a member of the freelance committee of the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ). She also belongs to The Authors Guild, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE), and the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA).