Pamela Weintraub
pamelaweintraub@gmail.com
CAREER TIMELINE
2007-present. Discover, Senior Editor. Conceive, assign and edit stories
across the range of sciences, from neuroscience, psychology, biomedicine and
evolution to physics and cosmology to energy and the environment. Specialized
beats: Biomedicine and neuroscience.
Primarily function as features editor handling journalistic narratives
and investigations in long-form, but also responsible for columns, special
topic packages, and stories in short form.
Top edit junior staff members. Manage extensive group of freelancers,
including many of the preeminent science journalists in the world and young
writers that I find and nurture. 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.
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