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EMBARGOED UNTIL 12:00 A.M NOV. 4 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 4, 2015 Contact: Kate Nocera/SKDKnickerbocker [email protected] / 202-464-6968

John Henry and Rick Berke Launch STAT A Publication Dedicated to Health, Medicine and Sciences

November 4, 2015 — — John W. Henry, owner of and principal owner of the , and longtime reporter and editor Rick Berke today launched STAT, a national publication reporting from the frontiers of health, medicine and life sciences. The publication has assembled a news team of nearly 40 top journalists, as well as an engineering team, an team, and a marketing team.

Delivering fast, deep and tough-minded journalism, STAT will take readers inside science labs and hospitals, biotech boardrooms and political backrooms. It will publish breaking news, richly reported feature stories, investigative projects and multimedia presentations throughout the day at STATnews.com.

“Over the 20 years, some of the most important stories in the world are going to emerge in the life sciences arena. STAT has a tremendous opportunity to uncover vital issues that touch the of every human being,” Henry said. “We realized that there was no one doing what we aim to do: be the country’s go-to news source for the life sciences.”

STAT is headquartered in Boston, with additional reporters in , San Francisco and Washington, and more to follow in other cities around the world.

“I’m grateful to have the opportunity to hire dozens of the most talented reporters, writers and multimedia phenoms in the country to join our quest to create a news site with stories you won’t find anywhere else,” said Berke, a former assistant managing editor at and executive editor at . “We will take readers behind the scenes of the worlds of science and medicine and introduce them to patients and personalities who are driving a revolution in human health.”

STAT reporters have wasted no time breaking news even before today’s launch. Initial stories, published through its sister publication, The Boston Globe, included an exclusive on Democratic presidential candidate rejecting a campaign donation from price-hiking pharmaceutical executive ; a scoop on President Obama’s nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration pulling his name off several scientific papers that were critical of the agency; a fascinating deep dive into clinical trials in the age of ; and an important examination of the shortcomings of precision medicine. STAT has also launched a fast-paced email newsletter, “Morning Rounds,” which has quickly become a must-read.

The STAT editing team is led by three accomplished journalists: The managing editor for news, Stephanie Simon, has been a national reporter for The , The Journal, and, most recently, Politico. The managing editor for enterprise, Gideon Gil, was the Boston Globe’s health and science editor. Jason Ukman, the senior news editor, was an editor at for 14 years. Gil and Ukman played important roles in editing - winning stories for their organizations.

STAT has developed a sleek website with an emphasis on its mobile version. It has also built out an extensive multimedia unit including animators, a data visualization editor and videographers. Led by New York Times veterans Jeffery DelViscio and Matthew Orr, the team will bring stories to visual life, creating everything from , social-media-focused video explainers to mini- documentaries to interactive reader experiences.

A strong lineup of regular features is also in the works:  Carl Zimmer, STAT national correspondent and a New York Times , will host a monthly video feature called “Science Happens” that will take viewers inside laboratories conducting cutting-edge biomedical research.  Veteran pharmaceutical industry reporter Ed Silverman will revive his Pharmalot, last at , and will write a weekly column.  , a nationally renowned science writer and formerly an editor at , will puncture myths and question conventional wisdom in her column “Gut Check.”  STAT will conduct monthly nationwide polling on health and medicine issues in partnership with Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  In a new biweekly podcast, “,” leading biotech reporters Meg Tirrell of CNBC and Luke Timmerman of the Timmerman Report will deliver a high-energy mix of news analysis, feature stories and interviews with movers and shakers in the biotech industry.  A section called “First Opinion,” overseen by Patrick Skerrett, previously executive editor for Harvard Health Publications, will feature science, medical and financial experts weighing in on the news of the day.  Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus, of the popular site “Retraction Watch,” will write “The Watchdogs,” focusing on issues of misconduct, fraud and scientific integrity.

In addition, the reporting staff includes former Politico reporter David Nather, a health policy expert who will lead the STAT Washington bureau; Helen Branswell, a renowned global health reporter who comes from The Canadian Press; enterprise reporter David Armstrong, who covered health care on the projects team for and The Wall Street Journal; senior writer Bob Tedeschi, a longtime New York Times columnist who will write about patients and clinicians; Charles Piller, an award-winning investigative reporter for The Sacramento Bee and The Los Angeles Times; and , a contributing writer and prominent author.

Other editors include Elie Dolgin, PhD in evolutionary genetics who was previously an associate editor at The Scientist and senior news editor at Nature Medicine; Lisa Raffensperger, a former web editor at Discover ; and Tony Fong, previously a senior editor at GenomeWeb.

Chief Revenue Officer Angus Macaulay, a veteran executive of publishing companies including Rodale, Hearst and Time, Inc., leads the team. Michele Staats, the former head of integrated marketing at General Hospital, is the marketing director at STAT. Peter Bless, a 16-year veteran of scientific and healthcare advertising, is sales director.

In addition to ads, the STAT business team will be developing sponsored content and native advertising intended for readers interested in health, medicine and life sciences.

For more information please go to STATnews.com, or visit us on : https://www.facebook.com/STATnews, or : https://twitter.com/STATnews.