Biomedical writer Aimee Cunningham is on her second tour at Science News. From 2005 to 2007, she covered chemistry, environmental science, biology and materials science for Science News.  Between stints Aimee was a freelance writer for outlets such as NPR and Scientific American Mind. She has a degree in English from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. She received the 2019 Award for Excellence in Science and Medical Journalism from the Endocrine Society for the article "Hormone replacement makes sense for some menopausal women."

All Stories by Aimee Cunningham

  1. Health & Medicine

    How doctors can help demystify birth control amid online confusion

    There’s a larger takeaway from some social media content about hormonal birth control side effects: People aren’t getting the information they need.

  2. Agriculture

    50 years ago, scientists ID’d a threat to California wine country

    Fifty years after scientists identified the cause of Pierce's disease, which damages vineyards, there still isn't a cure.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Wildfire smoke may cause tens of thousands of premature deaths

    A modeling study of California wildfires from 2008 through 2018 estimates that smoke exposure was responsible for as many as 55,700 premature deaths.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Extreme heat will put millions more older adults at risk in the future

    By 2050, as many as an additional 246 million adults 69 and older could experience temperature extremes that exceed 37.5° Celsius.

  5. Health & Medicine

    College students want to help during an opioid overdose but don’t know how

    A survey of college students reported many are comfortable calling emergency services for an overdose, but fewer know how to intervene with naloxone.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Irregular bone marrow cells may increase heart disease risk

    Over time, bone marrow stem cells develop key genetic errors and pass them on to immune cells. This may increase the risk of developing heart disease.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Immune cells’ intense reaction to the coronavirus may lead to pneumonia

    Immune cells that patrol lung tissue may play a role in the progression of a coronavirus infection to pneumonia, lab studies show.

  8. in Washington, D.C., to represent each U.S. COVID-19 death at the time. People could dedicate flags to their loved ones. “For some families, it felt as if it was the funeral they never had,” says social anthropologist Sarah Wagner, who took part in running the exhibit.

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    Health & Medicine

    Four years on, the COVID-19 pandemic has a long tail of grief

    Researchers are studying the magnitude and impact that grief from the COVID-19 pandemic has had and will have for years to come.

  9. Health & Medicine

    The United States was on course to eliminate syphilis. Now it’s surging

    Science News spoke with expert Allison Agwu about what’s driving the surge and how we can better prevent the disease.

  10. Health & Medicine

    A 25-year-effort uncovers clues to unexplained deaths in children

    When Laura Gould’s daughter died in 1997, there was almost no research in unexpected deaths in children older than one. Gould helped change that.

  11. Health & Medicine

    The teen brain is especially susceptible to the harms of THC

    Marijuana that’s higher in THC and concentrated cannabis products may pose even higher risks of addiction and psychosis.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Flint grapples with the mental health fallout from the water disaster

    The water crisis started almost a decade ago. Residents of Flint, Mich., are still healing from the disaster — and caring for their own.