Writer and Media Representative, Georgia Institute of Technology

After graduating with a degree in media and broadcast, Vanessa landed a job with the Today show as a producer. She spent five years with the breakfast program, which saw her working across the country and the world on various entertainment, news and lifestyle stories. Vanessa has a great interest in food, fitness, beauty, health and home. Before leading the travel team, she was a lifestyle reporter for news.com.au.

Helen Briggs is a multi-media journalist at BBC News and a journalist fellow at the Reuters Institute for Journalism at Oxford University for Michaelmas term term 2014. Helen is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster, with wide-ranging experience of national and international news across online, radio and TV. She has reported for the BBC on everything from space launches to decoding the human genome. She has interviewed eminent scientists and policymakers as well as government ministers and Nobel Prize winners.During her time at the BBC, Helen has worked as health editor of the BBC News website, science producer on Radio 4’s Today Programme and science reporter for the BBC World Service. Before joining the BBC, she worked as a presenter, news reader and reporter for local radio and network radio news.Outside the BBC, Helen teaches journalism at the University of Westminster as a visiting lecturer. She is also a published scientist and author.She holds a Master of Philosophy (medical faculty) and Bachelor of Science degree (Biochemistry and Genetics) from Newcastle University.

John Birmingham is a columnist for the Brisbane Times. He is also an award winning magazine writer and the author of Leviathan, the Unauthorised Biography of Sydney, which won the National Award for Non-Fiction. He amuses himself in his down time by writing novels which improve with altitude.

I like Kansas City sports and Star Trek. Also I’m a writer and that’s fun.

Trevor is a graduate of the University of Birmingham Medical School and completed his residency in several hospitals in the United Kingdom, becoming senior registrar in the West Midlands from 1989-1993. He practiced as a consultant pathologist in the UK before emigrating to Western Australian in 2001 where he was appointed as a consultant anatomical pathologist at Royal Perth Hospital.In 2003 he joined Cutaneous Pathology, later to become Healthscope Pathology. In 2012, Trevor joined Clinipath Pathology after the two companies merged. Whilst with Healthscope Pathology he held the role of Medical Director, developing strong ties with referring clinicians including dermatologists, plastic surgeons and general practitioners.During his 25 years in pathology Trevor has specialised in dermatopathology for the last 10 years. He has a keen interest in education and regularly conducts evening meetings for dermatologists, as well as teaching dermatopathology to registrars and medical students.Trevor has been convenor of the Dermatopathology Quality Assurance Program for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia for 9 years and is a reviewer for numerous pathology and dermatology journals. He is the treasurer of the Australasian Dermatopathology Society.Trevor has written nearly 80 publications and current research interests include Merkel cell carcinoma and AFX. He is a pathology assessor for the WA Melanoma Advisory Service.

Steph joined the news.com.au team in Sydney after moving from the Gold Coast and its warm weather. She has been a journalist for more than a decade, kicking off her career as a fledgling student reporter in high school for the Gold Coast Bulletin, where she then did her cadetship. She has won awards for her health reporting and admits to being a bit of a science nerd, particularly when it comes to animal stories that often only she is excited about.

Jordan Baker is Education Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald

Nicholas Bakalar is a New York-based writer. He worked for almost 20 years as an editor for Doubleday, HarperCollins, and other houses, acquiring both fiction and nonfiction books. He is the author or co-author of twelve books on subjects ranging from health and medicine to sports, humor, and literature. He writes regularly on a variety of scientific subjects for The New York Times and has published articles in National Geographic News, Discover, and Wildlife Conservation.

Kate Aubusson is Health Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald