Roni Robbins
Roni Robbins covers how health policy, medical advances and lifestyle choices play out in people’s lives, with a focus on Georgia patients, providers and systems. She writes in clear, service-oriented language that blends clinical detail with practical takeaways, often using individual case studies and local data to anchor broader trends in care, outcomes and access.
Health systems, workforce gaps and the business of care
Robbins reports closely on the capacity and economics of regional health systems, especially when they intersect with access to care. In a piece on two new nursing schools opening in Georgia, she explains how the programs are designed to ease the state’s nursing shortage and ties them to projections about workforce demand and hospital staffing needs. Her coverage of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s multibillion-dollar economic impact uses a Georgia Tech report to show how a pediatric system functions as both a clinical hub for complex cases and a major regional employer and research partner. Across these stories she connects institutional decisions to downstream effects on patients, caregivers and community services rather than treating health care as an abstract policy topic.
Clinical advances and serious disease
She regularly translates emerging medical research and new treatments into accessible coverage for a general audience. In a report on Georgia hospitals testing new pancreatic cancer drugs, she presents the therapies as potential “game-changers,” outlining how they are being studied locally and what they could mean for a cancer that is often diagnosed late and has limited options. Her pieces tend to walk through how a drug or intervention works, what stage of research it is in, and which patients might benefit, while grounding the story in local trials or clinicians. That approach helps clinical news feel specific and relevant to readers rather than purely theoretical.
Preventive health, lifestyle risks and patient stories
Robbins’ wellness coverage emphasizes prevention, everyday choices and early warning signs, often framed around younger or seemingly lower-risk groups. In an article on the rise of strokes among young adults, she explains recent American Heart Association findings, then breaks prevention into concrete steps such as managing blood pressure, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, monitoring chronic conditions, limiting alcohol and reducing stress. A separate guide on avoiding ultraprocessed foods defines how these products are classified, explains why ingredient lists matter, and relays current dietary guidance on sodium, added sugar and saturated fat in straightforward terms. She frequently builds these service pieces around real patients, like a Georgia mother whose life was saved by quick stroke recognition, to illustrate symptoms, time-sensitive decisions and the consequences of delay.
Chronic conditions, technology and younger patients
Beyond acute events, she covers how chronic diseases and new tools shape daily life, especially for children and young adults. One story follows a Georgia Tech student who developed an app to help young diabetes patients manage their care, highlighting both the clinical needs of pediatric diabetes and the role of user-designed technology in adherence and self-management. Her work often shows how younger patients and their families navigate complex regimens, health literacy and digital solutions, placing lived experience alongside expert commentary.
Experience and broader health writing
Robbins is a veteran health journalist with nearly four decades of experience as a published writer. She is in her second stint as a freelance reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she focuses on health, wellness and medical news. Alongside her work for the paper, she freelances for medical and health-industry outlets, including coverage for Medscape/WebMD, which draws on the same strengths she brings to her newspaper reporting: precise use of clinical evidence, reliance on medical specialists and an emphasis on how policy, practice and innovation affect real patients.
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.