Mary Kekatos
Mary Kekatos is a Health & Science Reporter for ABC News who focuses on translating complex infectious disease and public health research into clear stories about risk, vaccination and everyday health. She leads coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and related health issues, blending breaking news, explainers, features and data-driven reporting across ABC News and Good Morning America.
Infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine gaps
Kekatos’ core reporting centers on infectious disease outbreaks and the consequences of low vaccination coverage. She has reported on measles surging in Texas, detailing how an outbreak grew to 48 cases, all in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, and explaining why health officials consider it the state’s largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years. In that piece, she frames the story around the question “Should we be concerned?”, using interviews with health authorities to clarify risk rather than amplify alarm.
She extends this work with data tools, co-authoring an interactive ZIP code–level measles map that lets readers see estimated local vaccination coverage and corresponding measles risk. The story explains how to use the map, identifies geographic hot spots such as West Texas and southern New Mexico, and connects neighborhood-level data to broader concerns about declining immunization rates. Her coverage of mpox similarly foregrounds vaccination, breaking down a CDC report that found 87.2% of cases among 18- to 49-year-olds occurred in unvaccinated people and that infection rates were many times higher in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated groups.
Kekatos also reports on Ebola and other high-consequence pathogens, including coverage of an American doctor treating Ebola patients in eastern Congo who tested positive for the virus and later returned to the United States. In a more recent piece on Ebola, she highlights how fear and mistrust of health officials can slow response efforts, reporting on an aid organization’s view that building trust is essential to controlling the outbreak as cases rise. Her beat includes vaccine policy and governance as well; she has examined what might follow for the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee after the removal of a controversial member, explaining the committee’s role and the implications for upcoming vaccine decisions.
COVID-19, long COVID and pandemic science
Within ABC News, Kekatos leads coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, producing a mix of breaking news, scientific explainers and longer features. Her reporting tracks both acute and long-term effects of COVID-19. She has covered research showing women are 22% more likely than men to develop long COVID, laying out the different lingering symptoms and emphasizing sex-based differences in how the condition presents. She also reports on federal data linking COVID infection to chronic fatigue and other post-viral conditions, explaining new findings that COVID patients are substantially more likely to develop chronic fatigue compared to those without prior infection.
Kekatos engages with debates over COVID’s origins, contributing not only written coverage but also on-air explanatory segments. In a video report on the “lab leak” theory, she summarizes what the U.S. Energy Department’s assessment adds to existing evidence, walks through how intelligence and scientific agencies evaluate origin hypotheses, and outlines what remains unknown. Across these stories, she consistently anchors discussion of COVID in emerging data, official reports and peer-reviewed studies, using expert interviews to help general audiences interpret technical findings.
Public health data, nutrition and everyday risk
A recurring feature of Kekatos’ work is heavy use of federal health datasets to show how everyday behaviors shape population-level risk. In one report, she highlights a CDC analysis finding that Americans aged 1 and older obtain an average of 55% of their total calories from ultra-processed foods, with children consuming nearly 62% of their calories from these products compared to 53% for adults. She breaks down the numbers by age group, noting that adults 19 to 39 consume the highest share of ultra-processed calories and that overall consumption has declined slightly over the past decade. The story links these trends to challenges with weight loss and metabolic health, weaving in commentary from ABC News medical experts to connect statistics with practical implications.
The same data-focused approach appears in her coverage of mpox, where she walks readers through case counts, vaccination status breakdowns and relative risk metrics based on a CDC report of 9,544 cases. By explaining how much higher infection rates are in unvaccinated and partially vaccinated populations, she turns abstract percentages into concrete guidance about personal and community risk. Her measles reporting uses similar techniques, pairing outbreak narratives with local vaccination data and interactive tools to help audiences understand how national trends materialize in their own neighborhoods.
Global health and international crises
Although health is her primary beat, Kekatos’ reporting sometimes extends into major international crises with significant human impact. She has covered Ebola outbreaks affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, noting that only a small number of Americans are directly affected while emphasizing the broader regional threat. Her work also includes reporting on a deadly school attack in Iran in which at least 186 students and teachers were allegedly killed, focusing on calls for an investigation and the international concern surrounding the incident. In these stories, she maintains the same emphasis on verified figures, official statements and the human consequences of policy and conflict that characterizes her public health coverage.
Across these threads, Kekatos’ distinguishing trait is a sustained focus on how data, science and policy intersect in real people’s lives. She moves between outbreaks, vaccine governance, nutrition trends and international emergencies while keeping attention on who is affected, what the numbers actually say and how health decisions translate into risk or protection for different communities.
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.