NIH News In Health Celebrates 20 Years of Practical Health Tips
This April, NIH News in Health is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Since its debut in 2005, the monthly newsletter has provided consumers with practical health information and tips based on NIH-funded research.
“For the past two decades, we’re proud to have been able to share the results of NIH research with our readers in an easy-to-read style so they can apply our findings to improve their health,” said Dr. Harrison Wein, the newsletter’s founding editor.
Over the years, its following has continued to grow. Today, the newsletter has more than 500,000 email subscriptions and 42,000 print requests each month. News in Health also gets distributed to various community spaces including libraries, health centers and doctor’s offices. Since the stories are not copyrighted, outside news outlets often reprint the articles in their own publications.
News in Health editors have always emphasized accuracy. Stories undergo multiple levels of review before publication. Researchers interviewed for each story have a chance to read and comment on draft articles to make sure they’re correct. NIH health and science experts also review each story before it’s published.
“When I first came to NIH, I thought it was strange that most of the online health information was split across NIH’s institutes and centers’ websites,” said Wein. “News in Health bridges the gaps between the institutes and centers.”
Many institutes and centers (ICs) work on the same diseases or conditions, but they approach their research from different scientific perspectives. While this makes sense from a scientific point of view, communicating public health information effectively requires a more unified approach.
“If you’re interested in sharing the latest information on disease prevention, for instance, you need to bring together many different types of research,” he said.
The unique design has been a hallmark since the start. The newsletter features whimsical illustrations and pastel colors. Its original designer thought this approach would stand out in a doctor’s office or library rack alongside general interest magazines.
At first, Wein and Vicki Contie, News in Health’s first managing editor, would mail out issues themselves. As subscriptions grew, it became difficult for them to handle the distribution, and they moved to a different model.
News in Health couldn’t have published for 20 years without support of the ICs, noted Wein. Every cover story includes perspectives from three or four intramural or extramural scientists and clinicians. The ICs propose ideas and help find experts to include.
If you have story ideas to share with the News in Health team, please send them to nihnewsinhealth@od.nih.gov.
To subscribe to News in Health for free in print or by e-mail, visit https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/content/subscribe.