Wendy Leonard, PhD, MPH

Silver Spring, MD USA
http://www.mediabistro.com/wendyleonard
25 Years Experience
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Professional Experience

Do you profoundly care if your target audience truly gets it? Do you believe in: • Educating people about health, science, disease, illness, and serious medical topics, in a remarkably interesting, and easily understandable style; • Engaging people in such a way, that those who were previously feeling overwhelmed, now feel better equipped to handle whatever may come next; • Empowering people with knowledge they can use with increased confidence. Yes? Then, contact Dr. Wendy Leonard: An award-winning medical writer with audience-focused sensibilities. From Alzheimer's disease to cancer to vaccines to zygotes, Wendy is your go-to person. UPDATES • TEDx Speaker: – Zebrafish, Practically People (https://youtu.be/HDHvZk1d0u8) • Award-Winning Science Documentary - Zebrafishfilm.org • PhD Thesis– Vaccine Hesitancy: "Parental Confidence in U.S. Government and Medical Authorities, Measles (Rubeloa) Knowledge, and MMR Vaccine Compliance" • Johns Hopkins Osher Series – Commonly Held Science Myths

Expertise

Writer 25 YearsResearcher 25 YearsBook Author 18 Years

Specialty

Family, Children & Teenagers 25 YearsMedicine 25 YearsHealth 25 Years

Industries

Documentary 25 YearsAcademia - all 25 YearsOnline/new media 20 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • Mocovox.com (Medical News Anchor) (10+)
  • On Target Media, Inc. (10+)
  • Healthy Advice Networks (10+)
  • Revolution Health Group (10+)
  • Xeroproject (10+)
  • Wounded Warrior Trust (10+)
  • Spectramedia Feature Group (6-10)
  • Dr. Chris Portier, scientist (6-10)
  • BeethovenFound.org (6-10)
  • ParentingTeensOnline.com (6-10)
  • NewJerseyNewsroom.com (6-10)
  • NCI (National Cancer Institute) (3-5)
  • National Cancer Center (3-5)
  • Cafe Productions (3-5)
  • Alliance For Lupus Research (3-5)
  • United Nations: Arts for Peace (3-5)
  • Viking Press, Publisher (Dr. Frank Lawlis) (1-2)
  • Thunder Bay Press (1-2)
  • The Atlantic (aka: Atlantic Monthly) (1-2)
  • Skyhorse Publishing Co. (1-2)
  • Aloft Group (1-2)
  • Hestia, Inc (1-2)
  • Hylas Publishing (1-2)
  • Harper-Collins, UK; publisher (1-2)
  • Nickelodeon (1-2)
  • Red Dress Campaign: WomenHeart (1-2)
  • Simumetrix, LLC (1-2)
  • Space Coast Pictures (1-2)
  • Healthline.com (3-5)
  • Film - Zebrafish: Practically People (1-2)
  • NIH - Invited Speaker: Science & The Media (1-2)
  • Invited TEDx Speaker! (1-2)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • Ad Dimensions, Inc. (10+)
  • Bates Creative Group (10+)
  • Health A to Z (www.healthatoz.com) (10+)
  • FCU, Inc. (10+)
  • Medical Market Navigation (10+)
  • RevolutionHealth.com (10+)
  • Right Research, Inc. (10+)
  • SJF Media Consulting Group (10+)
  • The New England Journal of Medicine (3-5)
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) (6-10)
  • Feed The Children (6-10)
  • Huntington (3-5)
  • Coffey Communications, Inc. (3-5)
  • Diverse Office Solutions (DOS) (3-5)
  • AgriSmart (Public Health/Social Justice) (6-10)
  • Allergan Pharmaceutical, International (3-5)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Science (3-5)
  • PACS (People Against Children Starving) (3-5)
  • PersonalizedVitamins.com (1-2)
  • Philip Lief Group (PLG) Publishers (1-2)
  • JED Foundation/American Psychiatric Association (1-2)
  • Allergan (1-2)
  • Cutanea Life Services - MRSA (1-2)
  • The Parkinson's Foundation (10+)

Awards

• MD, DE & DC Press Association Award, 2012 • National Public Service Fellowship Award, Doctoral Program, 2007 • PhD Residency/Academic Competition: President’s Award (1st Place), 2006 • International Silver Inkwell Award (1st Place), 2003 • International Silver Inkwell Award (1st Place) , 2002 • National Press Club Induction, Washington, DC, 1994 • New York Governor Citation of Excellence, 1989

Associations

National Press Club, Washington, DC - inducted in 1994; Member of the American Public Health Association

Other Work History

Nationally recognized as an expert medical writer with an uncanny gift for translating medical jargon and demystifying spurious claims, her work is distributed worldwide through multiple formats, e.g., Medical webcasts, online science, health and medical education portals, newspapers, books, hospital patient education brochures and magazines. In fact, her compelling and persuasive writing style has even been instrumental in helping persuade members of Congress to fund important public health initiatives, e.g., lupus research, diabetes, vaccines. She's also a 4-time published book author, including an anatomy book, a heart-healthy cookbook, a neuroplasticity book, and a cool science factoidpedia covering 23 different fields of science. • TEDx Wilmington Speaker • Johns Hopkins Osher Lecture Series (Keynote speaker) • Infectious Disease Expert (Vaccine Hesitancy, COVID-19, MMR, HPV) • Award-winning Science Documentary Writer (Cannes Film Festival) • NIH Speaker: Communicating Science to the Media

Technical Skills

• 2009 Certified: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research, Protecting Human Research Participants. • Boolean Research Expert • Epidemiologist/Infectious Diseases & Vaccines Expert • Wendy is blessed with the ability to take complicated medical diagnoses and translate them in such a way that people reading her work are often heard saying, Oh, wow! Why didn’t anyone ever explain such critically important information to me THIS way, before? Now I get it! • Wendy is an extraordinarily resourceful researcher: She knows how to efficiently locate the most respected, up-to-date research data, in both the scientific and medical communities. She is also well-connected in the scientific and medical communities, easily garnering expert opinions, insights and interviews.

Foreign Language Skills

Working knowledge of Spanish Working knowledge of Sign Language

Computer Skills

Mac & PC; MS Word; Quark; Excel; PowerPoint, etc.

Equipment

Mac & PC; DSL; Laser Printer

References

• Craig MacEachern, TV Exec: It was my pleasure to hire Wendy as a writer to take complex medical information and explain it for a general television audience. She's an absolute delight to work with: Incredibly resourceful and truly understands how to communicate with lay audiences. • Judith Sachs, Perfect Pitching: An expert in many of the areas we wanted to cover in our parenting magazine, Wendy crafted stories that offered insights beyond the expected. It was a pleasure working with her. • Elijah Wolfson, Healthline.com: A highly talented writer who can translate complex medical data into easily-communicated information, Wendy goes the extra mile to ensure that her work is the best it can possible be. A pleasure to work with. • Dr. Frank Lawlis, Dr. Phil Show: I've discovered the magic of wordsmith Wendy Leonard's! She brought to the task not only her superb writing skills, but also her wealth of psychological research and knowledge. Thank you, Wendy!

General

Medical Reporter/Anchor
(Montgomery Sentinel's Montgomery Under Cover 4/9/2012)
In this segment, called "Wendy's Med Quest", I've gone to a college campus to see what the students do and do not know about STDs. Note: My medical segment is first.
Newspaper Article Examples
(New Jersey Newsroom 5/13/2026)
Attached you shall find 3 live links to the following articles: 1) Does a glass of red wine a day really keep the doctor away? 2) No Virginia, there is no aborted fetal tissue in flu vaccines

. And, for a departure from my usual niche: 3) Credit card scam uses identity theft
Medical Reporter/Anchor
(Montgomery Sentinel's Montgomery Under Cover 3/25/2012)
In this segment, I explain what Wendy's Med Quest is! Note: My piece is third, starting about 4 minutes and 30 seconds in. :-)
Science Fact-O-Pedia
(Skyhorse Publishing 5/13/2026)
Color Yourself Smart: Human Anatomy
(Harper Collins/Thunder Bay Press, Publisher 2/28/2011)
Harper Collins/Thunder Bay Press contacted me (thank you, mediabistro) to write an anatomy book with a particularly cool approach. They wanted it to be engaging ~ as opposed to making eyes glaze over! Target audiences: First year med students, undergrads, EMTs, nurses, precocious teens, and fellow nerds everywhere.
Lupus: What You Need To Know
(Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) 5/13/2026)
Chaired by Robert Wood Johnson IV, the ALR asked me to write a 2-page piece persuading Congress to give lupus research line item funding (as part of a multi-prong effort). They got it.
WomenHeart's All Heart Family Cookbook
(5/13/2026)
Provided only a list of 40 foods, I identified, researched and wrote all of Part I (the first 74 pages). This included discussing the science supporting the cardio-protective nature of those foods in a credible, warm, and conversational voice; plus explain everything from atherosclerosis to yogurt.
Colon Health
(Healthy Advice Networks 5/13/2026)
Here is a sample of my published work, for your review.
Real People. Real Depression.
(Healthy Advice Networks 5/13/2026)
This is the copy as given to my client. Kindly see "Colon Health" below to view what one of my pieces (for this client) looks like after graphics are added and publication is nationally distributed.
Planning A Safe Prom
(ParentingTeensOnline.com 5/13/2026)
A public health article, this piece was crafted to empower parents with actionable family and community health focused information, ideas, and resources. It continues to be reprinted.
Understanding Erectile Dysfunction
(Healthy Advice Networks 5/13/2026)
Discussing delicate issues such as erectile dysfunction requires a special talent for respectful, audience-driven writing. This unique skill is how I originally made a name for myself in the patient education medical writing business.