Print/Digital Media
Collection of my written work focused on health topics. Click on the image to read more.
Gene therapy provides hope for those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy – but not without concerns
July 30, 2024
PHOENIX – Jace Taylor is a rambunctious 4-year-old boy. He runs, jumps and plays with his friends. He isn’t aware that genetically, he’s different from other children.
“I think he’s too young to comprehend what’s going on,” said Brittany Taylor, Jace’s mother. “We let him … do his little boy thing.”
Last year, Jace was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare and fatal genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and deterioration. But, in some ways, he’s lucky.
‘Commodification of life:’ Some religious leaders oppose IVF, causing tension among churchgoers struggling with infertility
PHOENIX -- It was Christmas Day 2012 when E-Beth Marshall and her husband’s lives were shattered.
“We finally got to go and tell everybody that we are pregnant, and then on Christmas Day, we ended up miscarrying,” Marshall said. “It was heartbreaking.”
Over 11 years, Marshall had seven miscarriages. She tried everything from natural pregnancy to intrauterine insemination to embryo transfers. She turned to in vitro fertilization and still ended up miscarrying.
“Mine’s the story that everyone hopes they don’t have,” Marshall said.
In Phoenix, VP Kamala Harris puts focus on abortion rights as advocates mark two years post-Roe v. Wade
June 24, 2024
Marking two years since the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights, protesters marched on the court Monday, and Vice President Kamala Harris stumped in Phoenix to put a spotlight on the tussle over abortion in Arizona.
“Our work right now is absolutely directly going to affect the people of Arizona, the people of our country, but will have an impact on people around the world. That’s what’s in our hands right now,” Harris said at a reproductive freedom campaign event in Phoenix.
Breaking barriers and improving access: Providers hopeful that cervical cancer self-test will increase screening rates
June 12, 2024
PHOENIX -- Dr. Gail Petersen Hock was making dinner for her family on a Friday night in 1982 when her OB-GYN called her.
“He said, ‘I want you to sit down,’” she recalled. “‘We found cancer in your cervix, and you need to have surgery next week.’”
“It was a surprise to me,” she said.
Petersen Hock, 69, was 27 at the time of her cervical cancer diagnosis, and her treatments lasted for almost two decades. She counted herself lucky.
