Expanding Our Health and Science Coverage

From the mysteries of the cosmos to the origins of life. From gender-related care for minors to the challenges of a rapidly aging population. From dizzying changes in health policies to the inner workings of the health care system. Our Health and Science desk produces journalism that enriches our report and helps our readers understand the world around us.

We're proud of this work and pleased to announce that we're expanding our commitment to coverage in these areas.

Our goal is to enhance the way we cover scientific discovery and the natural world, increasing the number of people involved in that coverage and amplifying its impact through visuals and other forms of storytelling. At the same time, we are also growing our health coverage and moving it closer to desks that focus on health policy, the business of health, and wellness.

This will involve investment and organization changes in two key areas:

One, we're announcing a new department head to succeed the great Celia Dugger, who led Health and Science so adeptly before her retirement late last year. We've asked Bill Wasik, a visionary editor and creator of some of Sunday Magazine's most impactful work, to take on that new role, with particular focus on enhancing core science coverage. Bill will add new beats and guide the desk, which we are renaming Science, to focus on research, discovery and debates across the major scientific disciplines.

Bill will work with the deep bench of expert science journalists already on the desk to orient more fully around discovery and knowledge, focusing on major breakthroughs on new beats like biotech and A.I. research - where we will be making hires - as well as existing beats such as the cosmos, the space race, physics and genetics and the frontiers of medicine. He'll also emphasize a wider array of formats and storytelling approaches to showcase this coverage.

Two, we will create health coverage teams in Business and in Washington and expand our coverage on Well, with some reporters and editors on Health and Science moving onto these teams. These changes will strengthen our coverage of health policy and politics, the business of health care, and personal health in people's everyday lives.

As part of this effort, we'll open up new reporting roles in Business to add to our beat reporting expertise on hospitals, insurers and pharmaceutical companies, the complex industry that makes up a massive part of the U.S. economy.

Let us say a few more words about Bill as he takes on this new mission in Science.

As editorial director of the Sunday Magazine, Bill has been a critical partner to Jake Silverstein during a period of impressive innovation and journalistic excellence. He thinks big and inspires others to do the same.

In particular, he has always brought a special expertise to stories about science and technology. At the Magazine, he was the lead editor of a 2016 special report on "The New Anatomy of Cancer" and oversaw landmark climate projects like "Losing Earth " and "The New World: Envisioning Life After Climate Change." He's edited numerous important stories charting the development of artificial intelligence, from a prescient 2016 story on "The Great A.I. Awakening" to a 2022 piece that anticipated the rapid advances neural networks would soon make.

Jake offered this about Bill: "Bill is a brilliant editor who will leave an enduring legacy at the Magazine, both in terms of the work he's produced and the careers he's shaped. The lucky staff of the Science desk will soon discover what a great leader he is."

Bill also has a track record of injecting Magazine-style journalistic ambition into our core news report.

Please join us in congratulating Bill on his new role. And join us as well in thanking Hilary Stout and the full team on Health and Science for producing important, enlightening coverage that distinguishes our report every day.