Summer 2000 Issue
Wall Street Journal Reporter Will Direct Knight Journalism Fellowships at CDC
Carol Gentry, a reporter on the health desk for the Wall Street Journal, has been tapped to direct the CDC Foundation’s Knight Journalism Fellowship program at CDC.
Gentry will oversee administration of the program, which allows six mid-career journalists to spend four months experiencing public health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at local health departments. The first class of Knight Fellows will train alongside CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officers beginning in July.
“Carol Gentry is an excellent choice to direct this new program,” says Charlie Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “She brings a deep knowledge of public health and health care, as well as an appreciation and understanding of the needs and interests of journalists. We know the program will flourish under her leadership.”
A veteran of health and medical reporting, Gentry has received numerous awards for news, investigative and feature journalism. Prior to joining the Journal in 1997, she served as commentator for National Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” senior medical reporter for the St. Petersburg Times and in various reporting and editing positions for other publications.
Gentry spent two years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Bogota, Colombia, teaching in rural areas and conducting social work in squatter camps. She is a former Kaiser Foundation Fellow at Harvard University, where she also earned a master’s in public administration degree.