Laurie Udesky, Senior Health Writer

Laurie Udesky has covered health and medical issues for National Public Radio (NPR); produced features for "Crossroads," a cross-cultural program that aired on NPR; and served as a reporter or editor for medical trade journals such as TB Monitor and AIDS Alert. She wrote a chapter on drug interactions for The Self-Care Advisor , a Time Inc. health publication, and has written regularly on health and mental health issues affecting older people for Consumer Health Interactive , where she is a contributing editor. As a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Laurie covered health, social welfare, and political issues for the Dallas Morning News, the St Petersburg Times, Salon.com, Macleans magazine, NPR, and Consumer Health Interactive. She has been recognized with an Award for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, a California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship, an Exceptional Merit Media Ward (EMMA) from Radcliffe College, and other top awards in magazine writing. Laurie's B.A. is in English with honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

In the 1980s Laurie served on the board of an intergenerational organization. The experience of working with older people in the community helped shape her views and interest in reporting on issues affecting older people. She also was very close to her grandmother, who lived to be 95.