Laura Sebben
Laura Sebben is a reporter at the Hamilton Spectator who covers health-centred stories that connect cutting-edge medical research, public health risks and the everyday experiences of patients and communities. Her work explains complex developments in areas such as antibiotic discovery and infectious disease in clear, accessible language, while keeping the focus on practical consequences for care, safety and local services.
Antibiotic Discovery and Drug-Resistant Bacteria
A core strand of Sebben’s health reporting follows new antibiotic discoveries and their implications for drug-resistant infections. In her coverage of McMaster researchers identifying a new antibiotic that targets some of the world’s most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria, she describes how the compound works differently from existing drugs and how it opens the door to an entirely new class of treatments.
She highlights the scientific mechanism - blocking the exit site of the bacterial protein-producing machinery - and links it to the broader race to address the global threat of antimicrobial resistance.
In her health-beat work on new antibiotics, Sebben routinely grounds research breakthroughs in concrete outcomes, such as activity against priority pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli and Klebsiella, and early evidence that new candidates are not toxic to human cells. She emphasizes the development pathway, reporting on milestones like animal-model effectiveness and efforts to optimize how long drugs stay active in the body, rather than treating discovery as an endpoint.
Her Hamilton Spectator coverage of a new antibiotic developed by local researchers targeting drug-resistant bacteria follows the same pattern: clear explanation of the scientific novelty, paired with a direct line to patient benefit and system readiness.
Public Health Incidents and Disease Surveillance
Sebben also reports on acute public health incidents, with particular attention to infectious disease surveillance and response. Her coverage of a measles case linked to an inbound flight and investigated by a regional health unit sets out the chain of exposure, the above-average local case count, and the role of public health authorities in tracing contacts and issuing guidance.
She frames measles not only as an individual diagnosis but as a signal in a broader surveillance picture, drawing on data trends and health-unit warnings.
In this public health work, Sebben writes in a brisk, factual style that keeps the focus on timelines, case numbers and official actions, while still noting practical advice drawn from new data on respiratory illnesses and seasonal spikes. Her approach treats health units, hospitals and emergency rooms as systems responding to evolving threats, which aligns with her broader interest in how health risks move from scientific or epidemiological insight to operational decisions and patient-facing messaging.
Local News and Consumer Impacts
Alongside health coverage, Sebben brings a general-assignment lens to stories where crime, consumer issues and local business intersect. In her Hamilton Spectator report on a Dundas restaurant losing Uber Eats revenue to a scammer, she lays out how fraudulent orders and chargebacks erode margins, describes the mechanics of the scheme, and captures its impact on a small business operating on tight budgets.
She uses direct accounts from affected owners to show the human and financial toll, while tying the episode to wider concerns about platform-mediated commerce and vulnerability to scams.
Her portfolio includes breaking news and local content beyond health, informed by experience covering general assignments and fast-moving stories. That background supports a style that is comfortable with both highly technical health research and the practical details of how fraud, crime or policy decisions play out in everyday settings.
Multi-Platform Reporting Background
Sebben’s reporting is shaped by a multi-platform career across television, digital and print newsrooms. Before joining the Hamilton Spectator, she worked for nearly six years at CHCH News, beginning as a lineup editor for a morning show and later pitching, launching and producing a multi-platform program focused on trending stories.
She then served as a multi-platform writer with CTV News and CP24, combining reporting, writing and production work in broadcast and online formats.
This background in television production, social-focused news and digital writing informs the way she structures stories, favouring clear headlines, concise explanation of technical material and an emphasis on visual and narrative elements that translate well across formats. It also underpins her ability to pivot between long-form health research pieces and shorter breaking-news reports, while maintaining a consistent focus on how developments in medicine, public health and local news affect real people.
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.