David Kohn Email & Phone Number

• Write science and medicine stories for a variety of publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and NPR. Stories have covered topics such as: the use of parasitic worms to treat autoimmune disease and allergy; the epidemic of mental illness in the developing world; the neuroscience of hitting a baseball; and the worrying decline of play in elementary schools.

• Chief editor for $11 billion surgical robotics company in Sunnyvale, CA; identified compelling narratives that articulated Intuitive’s leadership vision, brand strategy, health equity efforts.• Wrote and edited stories, profiles, and Q&As for website and social media, leading to significant increase in engagement. Crafted presentations, backgrounders, and briefs for executives. • Produced video series on key brand themes, including the promise of single-incision surgery and the company’s journey from startup to trusted partner. Developed and conceived stories, identified and interviewed doctors and patients, conducted on-camera interviews, worked with editors.• Helped revamp company’s content review process; mentored junior members of team; used Agile/Scrum methodologies and other project management tools.• Worked with Intuitive teams in Japan and China to advance strategy and messaging in those markets.

• Led communications for the dean/CEO, advised leadership on communications strategy, media relations, community outreach, and crisis management.• Wrote and edited speeches, remarks, columns, op-eds, letters, emails, social media. Wrote a series of op-eds with JHM faculty on pandemic-related subjects, including the need to allow clinicians to practice across state lines and how Covid upended the healthcare supply chain. Pieces appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, Vox, The Guardian, and JAMA.• Responsible for the dean’s social media presence; developed and wrote posts, tracked engagement.• Produced the dean’s town hall meetings at JHM hospitals and in the community.

21201, Md, Us

• Oversaw communications for the school. Generated coverage in local, national, and international media on research, clinical, and educational activities. Coverage included an innovative project to reduce rural opioid addiction; the clinical trial of a new Zika vaccine; and an effort to unravel Oliver Cromwell’s mysterious death. Wrote and edited pitches, releases, and web stories. Wrote op-eds for faculty and the dean, which ran in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and elsewhere.• Advised school leadership on communications strategy, crisis management, and other issues. Counseled faculty on how to interact more effectively with the media. Collaborated with department chairs, researchers, and development staff, as well the governor’s office, other state and city agencies, and outside PR firms. Managed public affairs staff, including web developers, designers, and visual media specialists.• Produced videos for the school’s site and YouTube channel. Developed and wrote radio and TV ads for school events. Planned events, including the launch of a new cancer immunotherapy lab. • Co-directed the school’s Science Communications Program, teaching post-doctoral and graduate students about conveying science to the public, the media, and other groups.

College Park, Md, Us

• Wrote and edited content, with a focus on science, including stories for the school’s alumni magazine, newsletters, marketing materials, and web. Worked closely with administrators, faculty, and researchers. Stories included a researcher using drones to protect African rhinos, and a physicist at the forefront of quantum computing. Produced and wrote video segments for the university’s YouTube channel.

• Taught science journalism to undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Journalism.

• Conceived, reported, wrote, and edited reports, commentaries, backgrounders, and other material for non-profit public health advocacy group. Worked on a range of issues, including the obesity epidemic, chronic disease, infant health, food safety, healthy community design, and health disparities.

• Wrote and edited statements, releases, and op-eds for Committee chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman. Addressed questions from the press and managed media portion of Committee hearings.

• Produced, wrote, and hosted a weekly science and health podcast for nationally syndicated international affairs radio show, and contributed stories to the show. Segments included an interview with an anthropologist who thinks soft food was crucial to human evolution; a conversation about how humans make decisions; and a look at China’s efforts to go green. Managed podcast website and Twitter.

Baltimore, Maryland, Us

• Reported on key developments in science and medicine. Stories included the hidden earthquake threat in the Midwest; the global child mortality crisis; and the debate over the safety of chemicals in plastic.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Us

• Studied global health and other topics at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Harvard Business School, and the Kennedy School of Government. Traveled throughout India for four months, reporting on health and other subjects. Stories appeared in The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Lancet, and on NPR.

• Studied at the School of Advanced International Studies. Traveled to Uzbekistan. Stories included the Aral Sea disaster, Central Asia’s heroin boom, and the last Jews in Samarkand.

Nieman Fellow, Global Health

Fellow, International Reporting Project, Central Asia

M.S. With Honors, Journalism

B.A With Honors, American History