Taking the Lead: A medical reporter doesn’t let a cancer diagnosis stand in her way
By Pamela Ferdinand | Spring-Summer 2010 for CR Magazine
It’s time to tango and the competition is hot at the 2008 “Dancing With Chicago Celebrities”—an annual charity ball to benefit breast cancer research. As the beat begins, a professional dance instructor, his black shirt unbuttoned, emerges from the wings. With a dramatic flourish, he pulls a scarlet cloth up and away from a mysterious figure crouched on [...]
Close to Home: A young woman searches for answers about the disease that took her parents’ lives
By Pamela Ferdinand | Summer 2008 for CR Magazine
Stephanie Kinkel moved across the country last year from California to pursue biology research as a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Peers and faculty members ask her, like other newcomers, the usual questions: Do her parents still live in San Diego? When are they going to visit? And will she spend the holidays with [...]
Taking the Needles out of TB Vaccination
By Pamela Ferdinand | April 19, 2007 for Nature.com
Nearly two million people around the world die of tuberculosis each year, most of whom live in the developing world. A vaccine exists but is difficult to distribute and administer in countries lacking an advanced health care system. A Cambridge-based nonprofit, Medicine in Need (MEND), led by Harvard University bioengineering professor David Edwards, aims to change that.
Edwards has developed [...]
When The Brain Goes Under
By Pamela Ferdinand | November 15, 2006 for Nature.com
If you have ever experienced general anesthesia, you may recall feeling as if your brain was temporarily switched off. You plunged into unconsciousness and woke up, seemingly seconds later, without any memories of having undergone a painful procedure.
What changes happen in the brain during general anesthesia have long been a mystery. But preliminary results from an ongoing study [...]
A Flexible, 9-Ft. Whale Tooth with Super-Sensing Power?
By Pamela Ferdinand | December 13, 2005 for National Geographic News
For centuries observers have been fascinated and mystified by the majestic spiral tusk grown by the small Arctic whale known as the
narwhal.
The extraordinary tooth—extending up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) and textured like a seashell—long evoked the horn of the mythical unicorn and was once sought by royalty as a magical antidote to poison.
Science shed little light on [...]
‘We Commit Their Elements’; Ashes of JFK Jr., Bessettes Scattered Near Crash Site; Kennedy, Bessettes Given Shipboard Rites
By Barton Gellman and Pamela Ferdinand | July 23, 1999 for The Washington Post
MARTHA’S VINEYARD, Mass.–In an ancient naval ritual adapted to private grief, the Kennedys and Bessettes entombed three loved ones today in the plot of sea that swallowed their fallen aircraft six nights ago.
From the fantail of the destroyer USS Briscoe, anchored between Martha’s Vineyard and the Kennedy clan’s redoubt at Hyannis Port, an officer [...]
After One Cardinal Resigns, Catholics Ask: Who’s Next?; Other Bishops Under Scrutiny for Handling Sex Abuse Cases
By Pamela Ferdinand and Alan Cooperman | December 23, 2002 for The Washington Post
MANCHESTER, N.H.–Within hours of Cardinal Bernard F. Law’s resignation on Dec. 13, an alleged victim of a pedophile priest stepped to the podium at a news conference in Boston and announced a new target.
“Bishop McCormack, we’re coming after you,” said Gary Bergeron, 40, referring to New Hampshire Bishop John B. McCormack, who was not [...]
Boston’s Cardinal Resigns Over Sex Abuse Scandal
By Alan Cooperman and Pamela Ferdinand | December 14, 2002 for The Washington Post
Nearly a year after the scandal over clergy sexual abuse erupted in his archdiocese, Boston’s Cardinal Bernard F. Law resigned yesterday, apologizing for his mistakes and saying he hoped his departure would usher in a period of healing.
Law tendered his resignation in a morning meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, [...]
Recruiting Teachers: Try m-o-n-e-y
By Pamela Ferdinand | July 18-24, 1998 for The Economist
How can you get good teachers in the public schools? Over the past few months. Massachusetts has been wondering. Across the country, demand for new teachers is expected to reach 2m over the next decade, and states are in fierce competition to get the best of the crop. So first Massachusetts has tried tests, and now it is [...]
Rent Control: The morning after
By Pamela Ferdinand | May 2-8, 1998 for The Economist
All across America, rent control is dying A out Not before time, some would say. What began as an emergency measure, to address housing shortages during the second world war. now looks mostly like a way to prevent landlords realizing the proper value of their properties. In recent years, California’s legislators have diluted restrictions governing how much private [...]
