Indian American journalist gets prestigious US prize

NEW YORK: A senior Indian American working with the Wall Street Journal has been awarded the 2007 Victor Cohn Prize for excellence in medical science reporting.

New York-based Geeta Anand was chosen for her powerful series of stories displaying extraordinary narrative technique, emotional power and sharp and intelligent analysis.

The $3,000 prize was established in 2000 in memory of late Washington Post medical reporter Victor Cohn by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW), a non-profit organisation of journalists and scientists committed to improving the quality of science news reaching the public.

The prize will be presented to Anand in Washington October 21 at the annual awards banquet organised jointly by the CASW and the National Association of Science Writers.

In articles for the Journal, the 36-year-old has turned her skills on the crisis confronting a biotech company when it was asked to provide an experimental drug for a dying child; on the issues raised by the use of a $600,000-per-year biotechnology drug; and on how rare diseases can become huge money makers for drug companies, IndoLink, an ethnic Indian newspaper, reported.

The judges noted her 'admirable display of narrative power' and said she
'combined the perspective of a business journalist with the heart of a sensitive and empathetic reporter'.

"Anand's stories turn complicated business and medical issues into engaging human tales that hold the reader spellbound all the way," the judges said.

Anand, a native of Mumbai, India, graduated from Dartmouth College.

She was Indian national champion and record holder in 1982 in the women's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke. That year, she represented India in the Asian Games in New Delhi and the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.

Anand's first job, in 1989, was at Cape Cod News, a free weekly newspaper on Cape Cod where she covered town government in Hyannis for two years. After that she went to the Boston Globe where she spent four years covering politics. During her time at the Globe, she was Boston City Hall bureau chief.

In 1998, she moved to the Wall Street Journal's New England regional edition. In January 2001, she moved to the main edition of the Journal to cover biotech and some drug industry stories.

Anand lives in Manhattan with her husband, Greg Kroitzsh, and children, Aleka, 3, and Tatyana, 5.