http://www.astralgia.com

pamelaweintraub@gmail.com

CAREER TIMELINE

2014-present, Aeon, Psychology, Neuroscience and Health & Medicine Editor. Acquire and edit award-winning long-form essays and shot-form opinion pieces for publication weekly; develop partnership relationships for shared editorial content.

2012-2014, Discover, Executive Editor; 2010-2012, Features Editor; 2007-2010. Senior Editor.  Conceive, assign and edit long-form journalistic narratives and investigations across the full range of sciences and science/culture.  Each year, my feature acquisitions win numerous top journalistic awards and honors, including selection for Best Science Writing and Best Science and Nature Writing, among others.  Manage extensive group of freelancers, including many of the preeminent science journalists in the world. Mentor junior staff members and find and nurture new talent. As the interview editor, I personally interview many of the great iconic thinkers of the 21st century and produce, from these in-depth discussions, formal, feature-length Q&A’s.  Also assign and edit regular neuroscience and astronomy/space columns.

2005-2007. Psychology Today, Consulting Editor.  Conceived, acquired, and edited two features an issue. Topics included personal transformation, relationships, mind-body health, cultural trends, and cutting-edge findings from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience. 

2005-2007. MAMM Magazine. Executive Editor.  As top staff editor for this 200,000 circ. magazine for women with breast cancer, I reported directly to the publisher. I conceived the lineup for each issue, from news stories to columns to profiles and features. Worked with staff, from assistant editors to art director, on every aspect of magazine editorial and production. Beat ranged from biomedical breakthroughs and exploration of emotional territory (like hope, intimacy and resilience) to personality profiles and woman's service.

1999-2004. During these years I wrote five books, including Cure Unknown (St. Martin’s Press), which won the American Medical Writers Association book competition, 2009; edited special sections on health, travel, and the environment for Newsweek International; wrote dozens of freelance articles for national magazines; developed content and community-based web sites; and founded an Internet company, Tools for Health (now VoxBox), that received millions of dollars in funding.  (More details on various projects under section headings, below.) 

OMNI Internet, Editor-in-Chief, 1996-1998. Conceived and directed transformation of the print magazine into a multi-award-winning web site at the dawn of the Internet era, creating one of the largest and most popular content destinations of the day. Supervised all editorial, production, design, and programming, providing living web-based journalism based on interactive, real-time content and web communities.  Created “OMNI Prime Time,” consisting of six nightly web shows a week, on topics ranging from health to anomalies to the environment, with a name guest for each production. Managed budget and staff, including 6 full-time editors, two programmers, and literally dozens of freelancers.  Forged a wide variety of relationships with entertainment and business partners to drive traffic and generate revenue streams.  Managed the budget. Accompanied marketing staff to help pitch sponsored sections to advertisers.

OMNI Magazine, 1981-1996

   Editor at Large, 1990-1996. Acquired, edited, wrote, and rewrote feature stories, conceived issues and sections, and coordinated production of entire issues.

   Senior Editor, 1984-1990. Acquired and edited feature stories and supervised production of issues.

   Associate Editor, 1981-1984. Handled features and columns on a wide range of subjects, including health and medicine, computers, and the environment. 

Discover, 1980-1981. As charter staff writer, produced feature stories on medicine, psychology, the environment, technology, neuroscience, computers, and a wide range of other subjects.

BOOKS

Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic, St. Martin’s Press, 2008.  An investigation into the medical history, patient experience, and brutal political war over Lyme disease. Widely considered the definitive book on Lyme disease and its co-infections. First place winner of the American Medical Writers Association Book Competition, 2009, for best medical book for a consumer audience.   

Bioterrorism: How to Survive the 25 Most Dangerous Biological Weapons, Citadel, 2002.

Pre-parenting: Nurturing Your Child from Conception. The art and science of parenting based on the latest findings in brain science, with Dr. Thomas Verny, Simon & Schuster, 2002

Medical Emergency!!: The St. Luke's-Roosevelt Book of Emergency Medicine, William Morrow, 1996. First serial rights to Redbook and Women's Day.

The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Anti-depression Diet and Brain Program by Andrew Stoll, Free Press, 2001. Ghostwriter.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Surviving Divorce, Macmillan, 1996, 2000, 2005.

Thirty-Day Higher Consciousness Series:  funky, stylized self-help books based on psychology and neuroscience, co-authored with psychologist Keith Harary, St. Martin’s Press, 1991-1994, published in US, England, Japan, Spain, and the Netherlands, among other countries. “Dreams” and “Out-of-Body” remain cult classics:

Lucid Dreams in 30 Days: The Creative Sleep Program, St. Martin's Press, 1992

Have an Out-of-Body Experience in 30 Days: The Free Flight Program, St. Martin's Press, 1992

Right Brain Learning in 30 Days: The Whole Mind Program, St. Martin's Press, 1993

Memory Enhancement in 30 Days: The Total Recall Program, St. Martin's Press, 1993

Inner Sex in 30 Days: The Erotic Fulfillment Program, St. Martin's Press, 1994

Mystical Experiences in 30 Days: The Higher Consciousness Program, St. Martin's Press, 1994

Nurturing the Unborn Child: A Nine-Month Program for Soothing, Stimulating and Communicating with Your Baby, cowritten with Thomas Verny, M.D., Delacorte, 1991. Sold in the US, Japan, Spain and Portugal.

Save the Animals, cowritten with Dr. Michael Fox, scientific director of the Humane Society, St. Martin's Press, 1991

25 Things You Can Do to Beat the Recession of the 1990s, St. Martin's Press,1991

Omni's Catalog of the Bizarre, Doubleday, 1985

The Omni Interviews, Ticknor & Fields, 1984. Edited and conducted interviews with the world's preeminent scientists, including Dr. Jonas Salk, Hans Bethe, Richard Leakey, and E.O. Wilson. 

FREELANCE WRITING & EDITING

Wrote dozens of feature articles for many national magazines, including OMNI, Health, Redbook, Ms., McCall's, Audubon, Discover, Woman's Day, American Health, Eating Well, Penthouse, HMS Beagle, My Generation, Modern Maturity, Self, Psychology Today and others, 1977-present. Extensive writings can be seen at the features link on the website, astralgia.com

Special Sections Editor for Newsweek International, 1989-2002. Working for the special projects department as a regular, out-of-house editor, created and edited several 15-60-page center sections  a year on a variety of subjects from travel to biotechnology, wireless technology, and the environment.

Columnist. Wrote two weekly columns, one on Business in Cyberspace, and the other on Entertainment in Cyberspace, for about 30 daily newspapers in the US and abroad, including the New York Daily News, Boston Herald,  Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and St. Paul Pioneer Press through the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, 1995-1996. Wrote health and fitness column for Longevity, 1990-1992. Regular Contributor to Newsweek International's website for the global executive and its "Net Prophet" column on the future of business in Cyberspace.

INTERNET/ BLOGGING

 Psychology Today, blogger.  Through the blog, Emerging Diseases, covered patients at the crossroads of new diseases and chronic ills, 2008-2009.

OMNI Internet, founding editor and editor-in-chief of OMNI. Converted the print magazine into

one of the largest content-based websites at the dawn of the Internet age, 1996-1998. (See details, above.)

Event Horizon Web Productions, Inc.: Think Tank for the Web.   Founded and ran a web production company specializing in health and science content, concept incubation and communities.   Through Event Horizon, was selected to present business plans at major Venture Conferences and launched multiple web ventures, including an award-winning science fiction webzine (Event Horizon: SF, Fantasy, Horror)  and a company (Tools for Health, now called VoxBox) that received millions of dollars in funding and thrives in the black today.   1998-2001.

ENY Projects Web Hangout. Critically acclaimed web community for Brooklynites, covered in the New York Times, New York Post, and Daily News. Launched 1998.

Web/Computer Skills:  Blogging; web site production with HTML; Internet marketing and traffic analysis;  online community creation and management; social networking  through Facebook and Twitter; In Copy; MS Office Suite; graphic design and presentation with Photoshop and PowerPoint.  

MEDIA AND SPEAKING

Have been featured on dozens of major radio shows over the years, including Leonard Lopate and Diane Rehm, to discuss biomedicine, science, and the future. Have traveled around the U.S. speaking about my book Cure Unknown. Podcasts of some favorite appearances include NPR's Diane Rehm Show: stream //podcast and NPR San Francisco.

EDUCATION

Boston University, MS, Science Journalism

SUNY at Albany, BS in Biology with a double major in English

Bronx HS of Science

AWARDS & HONORS

First place, American Medical Writers Association book competition for Cure Unknown, 2009

Community Service Award for invaluable contribution to Lyme disease through journalistic integrity, accurate portrayal of science, and determination to tell the patient story. Lyme Disease Association, 2009

Community Service Award for dedication to revealing the history, politics, and patient experience of Lyme disease through investigative journalism, California Lyme Disease Association, 2008

Notable mention in Best Science and Nature Writing, 2009, for "The Great Imitator," published in Psychology Today in April, 2008.

Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Summer science Writing Fellowship with concentration in molecular evolution, 1990