James Gallagher
James Gallagher is a health and science correspondent at the BBC and a presenter of radio programmes including Inside Health and Loud, focusing on how complex medical research translates into real outcomes for patients and the public. He joined the organisation as a trainee in 2005 and has specialised in health and medical science since 2010, moving into senior roles in online health coverage and broadcast across the BBC’s radio and television stations. His reporting consistently returns to emerging therapies, environmental risks and infectious disease, using clear language and detailed explanation to make specialised science intelligible to non‑expert audiences.
Immune resets, gene therapy and the frontier of treatment
Gallagher regularly reports on experimental treatments that re‑engineer the immune system or manipulate genes to tackle severe and often incurable diseases.
In his coverage of an experimental immune reset for lupus, he follows patient Katie Tinkler through a trial in which genetically modified T cells are used to destroy B cells, reset the immune system and put the disease into remission in most of the first patients treated. He explains how the therapy induces a “civil war” within the immune system, describes the process of harvesting and modifying T cells, and shows how new healthy B cells grow back after the reset.
The piece sets the early results - five of six patients in remission, with data presented at a major rheumatology congress - against unanswered questions about how long the effect will last and how it will perform in larger trials.
Across audio programmes such as Discovery and Health Check, Gallagher explores gene‑based interventions including RNA interference drugs and gene therapy for Huntington’s disease.
He narrates how a Nobel prize‑winning discovery in RNA interference has, over roughly a quarter‑century, become a class of medicines for rare, debilitating conditions like amyloidosis and porphyria. On Health Check he discusses the world’s first gene therapy for Huntington’s disease, framing it as a health breakthrough while examining the science, clinical trial evidence and implications for families living with neurodegenerative disorders.
These pieces balance granular biomedical detail with patient experience, highlighting both the transformative potential of new therapies and the uncertainties around access, long‑term safety and health‑system readiness.
Air pollution, noise and everyday exposures
Gallagher’s environmental health work often uses personal participation to make invisible risks tangible. In one investigation he inhales traffic fumes so specialists can track where pollutants travel in his body, producing images that show how air pollution affects his lungs and other organs. The article connects those findings to wider evidence on how breathing polluted air contributes to chronic disease, turning abstract notions of particulate levels into concrete, bodily harm.
In Loud on BBC Radio 4, Gallagher investigates how contemporary noise - from transport, workplaces and leisure - damages hearing and wider health.
The programme presents him as a BBC health and science correspondent and Inside Health presenter who is examining the consequences of life in a noisy world. By combining scientific studies on sound exposure with accounts of daily experience, he portrays noise and pollution as cumulative, everyday exposures rather than isolated incidents, linking them to long‑term risks that demand policy and behavioural change.
Variants, outbreaks and public risk
Gallagher plays a central role in the BBC’s explanation of infectious disease threats, from coronavirus variants to outbreaks in Africa. In his article on the Omicron variant, he outlines what scientists know about its mutations, transmissibility, possible immune escape and severity, and situates this knowledge within the familiar cycle of concern over new variants.
The piece guides readers through the emerging evidence, explaining why conclusions are provisional and how ongoing studies will clarify the risks.
On Health Check, Gallagher joins Claudia Hammond to discuss new clinical trials and to provide updates on outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. He speaks with microbiologists and medicinal chemists to connect laboratory work on pathogens to real‑time public‑health responses.
His infectious‑disease reporting combines virology and epidemiology with clear statements about implications for vaccination, screening and everyday behaviour, helping audiences understand what changing threats mean for their own risk.
Explainers, Q&A and multi‑platform storytelling
Gallagher works as both correspondent and presenter, moving between online articles, radio documentaries, podcasts and broadcast Q&As. As presenter of Inside Health on Radio 4, he fronts programmes on topics such as cystic fibrosis care, AI in cancer screening and the science of run clubs, blending expert interviews with practical health questions. He has led a Q&A on a major cancer study, answering audience questions about trial results and clarifying what they mean for patients.
In longer‑form audio such as The Silence of the Genes, he tells the story of how RNA interference moved from basic science to approved medicines for rare diseases, charting the ups and downs of that journey.
His career in the BBC’s health and medical science coverage includes running online health teams and being at the forefront of stories from “three‑person babies” to the rise of immunotherapy in cancer treatment, alongside regular broadcasting across UK and international services. His work has been recognised by professional bodies including the Radio Academy, the Medical Journalists’ Association, the Association of British Science Writers and the Endocrine Society.
Across formats, his consistent approach is to anchor stories in solid evidence while using patient narratives, expert voices and his own experiences to make highly technical medicine understandable and relevant.
4 more health journalists.
Alanna Smith
Alanna Smith is a national health reporter whose work links health policy and politics to real access to care, with a constant focus on health equity, infectious disease and the toxic drug crisis. She reports for The Globe and Mail on infectious diseases, hospitals and long-term care, mental health, drug policy and the pressures on health systems in Western Canada. Her stories connect big-picture decisions to patients, families, front-line workers and volunteers, showing how funding, privatization and federal standards shape public care. She has covered trauma care inequities, proposed public‑private models in Alberta, drug toxicity and overdose policy, respiratory virus surges, measles elimination, gene‑editing advances and gender‑affirming health care laws. Her work combines narrative reporting, data, legal and policy analysis, and has been recognized by national journalism and press freedom organizations.
Allan Levine
Allan Levine is a historian and author whose journalism uses the past to explain present-day issues. He writes for the Winnipeg Free Press, including the Now & Then column, which examines current events through history. His subjects include public health, disease, medical treatment, health systems, politics, social conflict, strikes, wars, antisemitism and Canadian public life. His polio reporting traces Manitoba epidemics, hospital pressures, treatment, mortality and the arrival of vaccines through archival data and medical history. He also writes about the Winnipeg General Strike and Jewish communities, including discrimination, rights and security. His work draws on books about Canadian political leaders, Jewish history and the wartime economy, including The Dollar A Year Men. He writes long-form, analytical pieces that combine dates, statistics, policy decisions and narrative storytelling to connect people and institutions with broader historical change.
Angela Amato
Angela Amato is a digital news producer with CTV News, and her coverage is distinct for linking health research and public safety concerns to legal and policy decisions that shape daily life. She reports on health, justice, politics, business, arts and culture, crime and public-interest stories. Her health work covers academic and clinical research, including studies on vaping and lung blood flow, exercise tolerance and early heart dysfunction in young adults. She also reports on motorcycle gang arrests, homicide and death investigations, Indigenous justice stories, wildfire evacuations, ambulance contracts, property taxes, labour negotiations and political advocacy rules. She explains complex findings in plain language and stays close to documents, data and expert sources. Her background includes investigative and daily newsrooms, and she has earned nominations for national journalism awards.
Apoorva Mandavilli
Apoorva Mandavilli covers the collision of infectious disease science, vaccine policy and public health agencies for The New York Times, following how research, regulation and politics shape outbreaks and access to vaccines. She reports on science and global health with a steady focus on infectious diseases and pandemics, including Covid-19, mpox, H.I.V., malaria and tuberculosis, treating them as ongoing global threats. Her work explains complex epidemiology and virology in clear narratives about risk, evidence and the consequences of scientific decisions. She repeatedly returns to vaccine policy, law and misinformation, tracing how court fights and agency disputes affect immunization schedules and public trust. She also reports on global health programs, funding cuts and inequity in care and technology. A longtime science journalist and former founding editor in chief of Spectrum, she has written widely on science and health and received major honors for medical science reporting and pandemic coverage.