Click here to download a PDF of Dr. Karon’s CV.
WRITING AND SCIENTIFIC EXPERIENCE
Karon Medical Writing, LLC
Owner, July 2012-present
• Clients include BioVeteria Life Sciences LLC, Hitt Medical Writing LLC (through which Dr. Karon
has completed projects for Medscape.com, Pfizer Inc., Genentech Inc., RealCME,
among others), Legacy Health, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• Projects include writing and editing manuscripts, needs assessments, slide kits, website content, and
medical news articles
Wisconsin Watch
Student reporter, February-June 2011 and September 2011-May 2012
• Reported, wrote, and edited in-depth articles on topics such as health marketing claims; mental health
services at University of Wisconsin campuses; and Wisconsin government
• Helped report and fact-check articles on state government functions
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Student reporter, June-August 2011
• Reported and wrote nine articles for this Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper
• Topics included shortages in dental care for limited-income pregnant women; lack of transportation to
medical appointments for Medicaid patients; and regulation of health providers in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Infectious Disease Epidemiologist, 2009-2010
• Helped write and edit full-length manuscript on the 2009 Influenza A H1N1 epidemic that was
subsequently published in Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Helped lead surveillance of H1N1 influenza cases, hospitalizations, and deaths during the second phase
of the pandemic in Wisconsin
• Created weekly print and online reports on H1N1 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths
• Helped investigate and write report on an outbreak of legionellosis in cancer patients associated with
exposure to a hospital wall fountain
• Created poster comparing Google Flu Trends with emergency department syndromic disease
surveillance. Presented at the International Society for Disease Surveillance conference
• Researched and developed tabletop training exercise on foodborne disease outbreak investigations for
local health departments
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Epidemic Intelligence Service Fellow, 2007-2009
• Wrote a manuscript on a giardiasis outbreak that was published in Epidemiology and Infection
• Used SAS to analyze dataset of 21,000 coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) infections in California
during 2000-2007 and wrote front-page Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report article on results
• Led four outbreak investigations: drug-resistant TB in persons with HIV coinfection; rapidly-growing
mycobacterial infections in cosmetic surgery patients; and campylobacteriosis and Guillain-Barre
syndrome associated with drinking raw milk; and giardiasis in scouts
• Presented two of these outbreak investigations during the opening session of the 2009 CDC Epidemic
Intelligence Service Conference, and at local California epidemiology conferences
• Analyzed the molecular epidemiology of 8,405 TB cases reported in California during 2005-2007.
Created and presented poster at the International Disease Society of America conference
• Created fact sheet on hand, foot and mouth disease that was translated into 24 languages
• Helped edit manuscript on risk factors for lead exposure in Nigeria
Freelance editor, 2005-2007
• Provided substantive and copy editing for two dissertations (topics: archaeologic excavations in
Chiapas, Mexico, and feminist themes in French and English literature)
• Performed substantive and copy editing for graduate projects and papers on the epidemiology of
infectious and chronic diseases, and on the effect of income disparities on community public health
• Edited personal statements and resumes for college and graduate school applications
EDUCATION
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Master of Arts in Journalism May 2012 (G.P.A.: 4.0)
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, 2007 (G.P.A.: 3.6)
Master of Public Health, 2006 (G.P.A.: 3.9)
Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, Pa.)
Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology, concentration: Environmental Science), magna cum laude, 1998
(G.P.A.: 3.7)
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
Truelove SA, Chitnis AS, Heffernan RT, Karon AE, Haupt TE, Davis JP. Comparison of patients
hospitalized with pandemic 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection during the first two pandemic
waves in Wisconsin. J Infect Dis Jan 2011. Available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
21278213
Karon AE, Hanni KD, Mohle-Boetani JC, Beretti RA, Hill VR, Arrowood M, Johnston SP, Xiao L,
Vugia DJ. Giardiasis outbreak at a camp after installation of a slow-sand filtration water treatment
system. Epidemiol Infect. 2010 Jun 29:1-5. Available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
20587126
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Increase in Coccidioidomycosis — California, 2000–
2007. MMWR 2009;58:105–109. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/
mm5805a1.htm
Karon AE, Archer JR, Sotir MJ, Monson TA, Kazmierczak JJ. Human multidrug-resistant Salmonella
Newport infections, Wisconsin, 2003–2005. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2007 Nov.
Available at http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/13/11/1777.htm
SKILLS
AMA and AP styles; Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts; Windows 8 and Mac OSX. MS Office;
Adobe; Google Refine, Charts and Fusion Tables; WordPress; SAS; Epi Info
AWARDS
Finalist, student Investigative Reporters and Editors award, 2012
Award for veterinary student who did the most to advance the school’s reputation, 2007
McPherson Award for community service and academics, Bryn Mawr College, 1998
McCormack Award for ethnographic research, Bryn Mawr College, 1998
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Medical Writers Association
Association of Health Care Journalists
National Association of Science Writers