Melissa Rudy
Melissa Rudy focuses on how medical research, infectious threats and everyday habits translate into real-world health risks and decisions for patients and families. Her reporting links emerging science with clear explanations, expert guidance and human stories, often showing the consequences when prevention, screening or treatment fall behind the data. Alongside coverage of outbreaks and chronic disease, she returns to themes of substance use, aging and mental health, and includes unconventional therapies such as psychedelic-assisted treatment for neurodegenerative illness.
She is senior health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital, where she oversees the planning, editing and publication of health news and features. In that role, she produces and guides coverage across infectious diseases, groundbreaking medical advances, new drug development, cancer prevention and treatment, rare diseases and women’s health. Her byline appears regularly on health stories that combine major study findings with interviews from clinicians, researchers and affected individuals.
Infectious disease and emerging health threats
Rudy devotes a significant share of her coverage to infectious disease trends and the resurgence of illnesses that were once considered contained. She has reported on the spread of a dangerous drug-resistant fungus across the United States, tracking its reach across dozens of states and highlighting concerns about limited treatment options and public health surveillance.
In a detailed piece on tuberculosis, described as the “white plague,” she explains how cases in the U.S. have climbed to their highest level in more than a decade, linking the increase to underdiagnosis during the COVID-19 pandemic and the activation of latent infections.
Her work on infection-related cancer risk shows the same emphasis on quantifying threat and translating epidemiology into practical prevention advice.
In a story on a global analysis of cancer cases, she reports that about one in eight new cancer diagnoses worldwide were linked to specific infections, breaking down which pathogens contributed most and relaying an oncologist’s recommendations on vaccines and screenings. She has also covered measles deaths and coroner findings that triggered debate, placing individual cases in the context of vaccination policy and public skepticism. Across these pieces, the common thread is close attention to trend data and expert interpretation, paired with clear takeaway actions for readers.
Behavior, substances and chronic disease risk
Rudy frequently examines how behavior and substance use drive chronic disease, particularly in aging populations. In a report on heavy drinking, she focuses on adults ages 50 to 64 and shows that while overall U.S. alcohol use has begun to decline, heavy intake in this group has surged by more than a third since 2018, using national survey data and physician commentary to spell out associated cardiovascular and cancer risks. A separate piece tracing what killed Americans in 1776 compared with today underscores how modern deaths skew toward chronic, behavior-linked illnesses rather than acute infections, reinforcing her interest in long arcs of health change.
Her coverage of marijuana is similarly framed around health outcomes and regulatory questions.
In an article on a major newspaper’s reversal on marijuana legalization, she summarizes evidence that frequent cannabis use is tied to addiction, mood disorders and syndromes such as cannabinoid hyperemesis, and reports expert calls for tighter taxes and restrictions on higher-risk products. She also writes on “forgotten” healthy habits that doctors want people to revive, such as reducing ultraprocessed foods and spending more time outdoors, positioning lifestyle changes as tools against stress, obesity and chronic disease. An article on a woman with advanced Alzheimer’s who regained speech and memories after taking magic mushrooms fits this pattern from another angle, showing her willingness to cover emerging, controversial interventions while still grounding them in clinical context and individual outcome.
Cancer, aging and long-term health impacts
Cancer prevention, early detection and survivorship are recurring subjects in Rudy’s work. In a feature on ovarian cancer, she follows the story of a woman who lost her best friend to the disease and then received the same diagnosis, using that narrative to illustrate how vague symptoms can be dismissed as aging and to stress the importance of seeing a gynecologic oncologist.
Her reporting makes clear that there is currently no routine screening test for average-risk women that reliably detects ovarian cancer early, underscoring the need for symptom awareness and specialist care.
She also covers the intersection of cancer and metabolic medications, focusing on GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
One article examines research suggesting these drugs could influence cancer risk by altering immune responses, while carefully noting that the overall evidence is mixed and that key clinical trials are still needed. Beyond cancer, Rudy reports on accelerated aging among people exposed to the 9/11 attacks, relaying scientists’ findings that certain biomarkers and health patterns in survivors resemble those of older individuals, which aligns with her broader interest in long-term impacts of trauma and environment on health.
Together, these stories show a consistent approach: she uses specific cases and cohorts to illuminate how diseases unfold over time and what evolving science might mean for prevention and treatment.
Health policy, mental health and personal stories
Rudy’s health beat extends into policy and access, particularly where new treatments collide with cost and coverage. In a piece on a Medicare “bridge” program for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, she explains how eligible seniors can obtain medications such as Wegovy and Zepbound at sharply reduced prices, outlines the program’s temporary nature and discusses implications for obesity treatment and budget planning. Her reporting connects these policy changes to patient-level decisions, emphasizing who benefits and how long such support is expected to last.
She also writes about mental and relational health, often through individual narratives.
An article on parents cut off by their adult children uses a psychology researcher’s guidance to explore estrangement, coping strategies and the role of stability and healthy habits in rebuilding community. Across her mental health and lifestyle pieces, Rudy tends to structure stories around a central case or question, then layer in expert advice that is actionable but restrained, in keeping with the evidence presented. That same balance of personal story, data and grounded guidance runs through her broader portfolio on health and wellness.
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Alex Cabrero
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Alexandra Frost
Alexandra Frost is a freelance journalist and content marketing writer who turns expert-backed health and family guidance into clear, practical service stories. She covers consumer health, wellness, nutrition, preventive care, medical research, parenting, kids’ mental health, education, products, and lifestyle. Her reporting explains concerns such as inflammation, urinary symptoms, fiber, lung cancer screening, pain treatment, mobility, family dynamics, children’s technology use, and school readiness. She profiles clinicians and scientists, connects research to everyday decisions, and focuses on what readers should watch for, ask, or change. Frost currently writes across multiple outlets, including Good Housekeeping, Cincinnati Magazine, Wirecutter, Popular Science, Success, Healthline, Parents, Women’s Health, Reader’s Digest, Today’s Parent, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, TIME, Consumer Reports, Business Insider, and National Geographic. She also works as a freelance editor, media consultant, and content strategist.
Alexandra Pattillo
Alexandra Pattillo is a freelance journalist who pairs rigorous health and science reporting with intimate accounts of patients’ lives. She covers health, science and wellness for the BBC and other major outlets, including National Geographic, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Outside, CNN and Inverse. Her beat includes eating disorders, women’s health, perinatal mental health, brain health, youth sports, concussion, long-term Covid symptoms, attention, habits and behavioral science. She reports on emerging treatments such as psychedelic-assisted therapy for anorexia, testing evidence, safety and relapse risk. She explains complex research in plain language and examines how it shapes everyday choices. Her reporting uses in-depth interviews with patients, families, clinicians, researchers and coaches. Through the BBC’s Health Gap column, she also covers stigma, unequal access to care and gaps between lived experience and standard medical pathways.