We connect journalists with experts, studies and stories to help you inform and engage the public.

Media inquiries

General inquiries:
Phone
: 314-286-0100
Fax: 314-286-0199

About the school

Visit the WashU Medicine website for key facts and stats.

After-hours assistance

Jessica Church
Director of Media Relations
314-320-8485
j.church@wustl.edu

Abeeha Shamshad
Senior Media Relations Specialist
925-998-0775
abeeha@wustl.edu

News writers

Elizabethe Holland Durando, Executive Director of Medical News & Media Relations

elizabethe.durando@wustl.edu | 314-286-0119
Elizabethe works with the science-writing and media relations teams within Medicine Marketing & Communications. She writes occasionally, including stories for Outlook magazine and the Record that took her to Bangladesh to cover faculty efforts to help Rohingya refugees. She is a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Las Vegas Sun and the Northwest Florida Daily News, and she has taught journalism and/or writing courses at The Ohio State University, Lindenwood University and Webster University. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in journalism from Ohio State.

Stories by Elizabethe Holland Durando »


Kristina Sauerwein, Senior Medical Science Writer

k.sauerwein@wustl.edu | 314-747-7921
Kristina covers pediatrics, surgery, medical education and student life. In 2020, she received a gold Robert G. Fenley Writing Award for general staff writing from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and in 2019, she received the silver award. Kristina is an author and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Los Angeles Times, where she was part of a team of journalists that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for breaking news. Additionally, she covered the 2014 Ferguson unrest for TIME magazine and, for eight years, wrote a popular parenting column for BabyCenter.com.

Stories by Kristina Sauerwein »


Tamara Schneider, Senior Medical Science Writer

tamara.schneider@wustl.edu | 314-286-0122
Tamara covers infectious diseases; molecular microbiology; neurology; adult psychiatry; community engagement; diversity, equity and inclusion; global health; public health; the Institute for Informatics, Data Science & Biostatistics; and Becker Medical Library. She holds a double bachelor’s degree in molecular biophysics & biochemistry and in sociology from Yale University, a master’s in public health from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in biomedical science from the University of California, San Diego. She joined WashU Medicine Marketing & Communications in 2016. She has received three Robert G. Fenley writing awards from the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Stories by Tamara Schneider – before Dec. 2023 »
Stories by Tamara Schneider – after Dec. 2023 »


Mark Reynolds, Senior Science Writer

r.mark@wustl.edu
Mark covers surgery, cell biology and physiology, radiology, neuroscience, neurosurgery, and both occupational and physical therapy. Prior to joining Washington University, he was a freelance writer for many years, specializing in science and medicine with publications in CNRS International, Canadian Geographic and the Medical Post, among others. He is a former editor of McGill University’s Headway/En Tête research magazine and has won awards from the Canada Council for the Advancement of Education including for best science writing. He has a bachelor’s degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Stories by Mark Reynolds »


Julia Evangelou Strait, Senior Medical Science Writer

straitj@wustl.edu | 314-286-0141
Julia covers medical news in genomics, cancer, cardiology, developmental biology, otolaryngology, biochemistry & molecular biophysics, and gut microbiome research. In 2022, she won a gold award for excellence in the Robert G. Fenley Writing Awards competition. Given by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the award recognized her coverage of long COVID-19. Before joining Washington University in 2010, she was a freelance writer covering science and medicine. She has a research background with stints in labs focused on bioceramics, human motor control and tissue-engineered heart valves. She is a past Missouri Health Journalism Fellow and a current member of the National Association of Science Writers. She holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Stories by Julia Evangelou Strait »


Marta Wegorzewska, Senior Science Writer

wegorzewskam@wustl.edu
Marta covers pathology & immunology, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology, anesthesiology, ophthalmology and technology management, among other topics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Georgetown University and a PhD in immunology from the University of California, San Francisco. She did her postdoctoral work in Washington University’s Department of Pathology & Immunology. Marta joined WashU Medicine Marketing & Communications in 2023 after working as a science writer in the Department of Biology on the Danforth Campus for five years.

Stories by Marta Wegorzewska »


All WashU Medicine Marketing & Communications contacts »