I am a senior writer at UC Davis College of Engineering.

Previously I was a reporter for Capital Public Radio covering health issues around California and at the state Capitol. I also filed stories regularly for National Public Radio. I had been covering the health beat since 2006 and reported on policy and access issues, mental health and how culture and health intersect.

Before joining Capital Public Radio, I started out as a talk show producer in my hometown of Kansas City for NPR affiliate KCUR. I also was a freelance writer and photographer for The Kansas City Star and then worked as a staff writer for an area newspaper. But, I eventually found my way back to radio to be a dedicated health reporter and talk show co-host at KCUR before moving west.

A series I did on a hidden world of illegal prescription drugs sold at swap meets and botanicas won a national Edward R. Murrow Investigative Reporting award as well as an award from the Association of Health Care Journalists. The National Association on Mental Illness and Investigative Reporters and Editors recognized my series on abuse and neglect in Missouri’s mental health system that uncovered patient deaths and money mismanagement.

Articles

Sign the Check, Look the Other Way

<p>California sends out about three billion dollars a year to the disabled and elderly so they can buy food and afford housing. But in the second part of our series, Senior Insecurity, Capital Public Radio found there's little oversight of this program.</p> <p>Even though Supplemental Security Income - or SSI - is California's second most expensive health and human services program, the state doesn't track whether it's enough to live on or how people spend their money.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Disabled and Elderly Living on the Edge

<p>California’s second most expensive health and human services program, Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, was designed to help the elderly and disabled afford basic necessities. But for many older Californians it's not meeting that goal.</p> <p>In the first of our two-part series, Senior Insecurity, we’ll look at how the deepest state budget cuts to SSI in a decade have impacted older disabled Californians. A growing number of them can’t&nbsp;afford enough food or are living on the streets.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>