Dr. Diana Rangaves
Dr. Diana Rangaves is a pharmacist and health writer who uses clinical expertise to answer practical questions about medications, diagnostics, and everyday care for readers of Blavity’s health coverage. A board-certified pharmacist with experience in senior care, mental health, and finance, she grounds her reporting in evidence drawn from clinical research and professional guidelines. Her stories typically start from a question the audience is asking—such as how SSRIs work, whether an MRI can show nerve damage, or if “protein maxxing” is more than a viral diet trap—and then walk readers through the medical details step by step.
Medication and mental health explainers
In her explainer on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, she breaks down what SSRIs are, how they modulate serotonin in the brain, and why they became first-line treatments for depression and anxiety. She spends significant space on side effects such as emotional blunting, sexual dysfunction, weight changes, and withdrawal symptoms, translating dense clinical reviews into plain language while keeping the nuance intact. She also highlights regulatory warnings for younger patients and emphasizes working closely with a prescriber on dosing, tapering, and alternative therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy. Across this coverage, the pharmacist perspective is clear: she focuses less on abstract mental health narratives and more on how specific medications behave in the body, how risks are monitored, and what informed, collaborative decision-making looks like.
Imaging, injuries, and diagnostic decisions
Her piece on whether an MRI scan will show nerve damage explains the physics of magnetic resonance imaging and what clinicians can and cannot see on standard scans. She distinguishes between identifying structural causes of nerve problems—such as tumors, scar tissue, or compression—and diagnosing conditions like small fiber neuropathy, where conventional MRI has documented limitations. The article walks through scenarios in which MRI is ordered for unexplained numbness, weakness, or vision changes, and stresses the need to combine imaging with neurological exams and advanced techniques to reach a full diagnosis. As a medical expert quoted in Blavity’s breakdown of Patrick Mahomes’ ACL tear, she similarly focuses on imaging’s role in confirming ligament injuries and guiding rehabilitation decisions for high-level athletes. Together, these pieces show her tendency to demystify diagnostic technology, outlining both its power and its blind spots so readers can understand why doctors order tests and what the results actually mean.
Nutrition, brain health, and viral wellness trends
Her brain health nutrition guide links everyday food choices to cognitive performance, using studies from JAMA Neurology and public health agencies to underline how berries, leafy greens, beans, fatty fish, and moderated caffeine intake support long-term memory and productivity. She connects concepts like inflammation, blood sugar stability, and vascular health to practical habits, such as eating every three to five hours, building large green salads into the week, and limiting ultra-processed and heavily salted foods. Within Blavity Health’s mission to serve Black communities with culturally relevant, expert-informed reporting, she situates this advice in the realities of brain fog, stress, and chronic disease risk that many readers face. Her analysis of high-protein diet trends and “protein maxxing” extends this work into viral wellness culture, testing whether social media claims align with evidence on metabolic health, kidney function, and sustainable nutrition. Across nutrition and trend pieces, her distinguishing mark is an insistence on biochemical detail—what specific nutrients do, how they interact with aging and cognitive decline—without losing the plain, actionable tone of a service story.
Hands-on preventive care and chronic conditions
Her coverage of diabetic foot and nail care focuses on preventing serious infections through routine, at-home practices, from trimming techniques to monitoring for early signs of damage. She frames nail care as part of broader diabetes management and limb preservation, explaining how seemingly small injuries can escalate quickly when circulation and sensation are impaired. That emphasis on small, repeatable actions shows up elsewhere in her work, including guidance on keeping the home cool in extreme heat and sleep-related content for a home and lifestyle outlet, where comfort and safety intersect with health. Taken together with her stated expertise in senior care and mental health, these topics paint a picture of a clinician-writer who is attuned to chronic conditions, aging, and the everyday routines that keep complications at bay.
4 more health journalists.
Aislinn Antrim
Aislinn Antrim is an associate editorial director at Pharmacy Times and a journalist who connects clinical advances, regulation, and the changing role of pharmacists. She writes pharmacy-centered health coverage on chronic disease therapeutics, specialty and oncology care, workforce pressures, and advocacy. Her reporting explains FDA actions, policy shifts, drug pipelines, and the real-world effects of new evidence on patient care and pharmacy practice. She often uses interviews and expert conversations to show how pharmacists improve adherence, manage side effects, navigate access and benefits, and coordinate care with prescribers. She also covers burnout, staffing strain, and the future of pharmacy practice, with an eye on how policy and economics shape work at the dispenser.
Alex Cabrero
Alex Cabrero is an Emmy award-winning KSL TV reporter who covers where health, safety and community life meet, always focused on how decisions and events affect everyday people. He has been with KSL since 2004, bringing long experience in breaking news, public service coverage and human-centered features. His beat includes public health, emergency response, technology, local infrastructure, environment and science, framed through community well-being and resilience. He reports on issues like mental health initiatives, law enforcement staffing, environmental hazards, rescues, wildfire detection tools, land-use fights and scientific discoveries, making technical and policy details clear for a general audience. He also produces many positive, everyday-life features on families, veterans, farmers, sports and local traditions. His style is direct and conversational, often built around a central person or family whose experience carries the story across TV, digital and social platforms.
Allison Palmer
Allison Palmer stands out for turning complex microbiome and brain-health research into clear, service stories tied to everyday habits. She covers health, wellness and lifestyle topics for The Sacramento Bee, focusing on emerging trends that help readers build positive, sustainable routines. Her reporting on the gut microbiome and healthy aging uses vivid case studies, including a rare supercentenarian, to connect diet, bacterial communities and longevity to daily eating choices. Another strand of her work examines oral bacteria and brain health, linking gum infections to changes in brain tissue and to simple oral-care practices. Since 2024, her wellness coverage has appeared across the McClatchy network, alongside pieces on technology, travel, lifestyle and commerce. She favors reported explainers with direct takeaways, keeps scientific detail intact, and strips away jargon to help readers build realistic long-term habits.
Alyssa Kelly
Alyssa Kelly reports on health and emotional local stories that show how everyday experiences shape people’s sense of safety and wellbeing. They work in the digital newsroom at TV6 & FOX UP, contributing text and video pieces on community life and public interest topics. Their beat centers on health and safety in ordinary settings, especially outdoors, and on animal and family stories tied to wellbeing and memory. They cover issues like tick exposure during routine park visits and long-term pet disappearances and reunions, using specific details, clear timelines, and direct quotes to make the stakes feel immediate and personal. Kelly’s headlines often foreground quoted phrases from families and pet owners, giving their reporting a conversational, human-centered tone. They also collaborate with other reporters on health and safety stories that connect individual cases to wider public concerns.