Dr. Holly Atkinson, M.D.
In informative, humorous and inspiring presentations, she empowers participants to ask hard questions and demand responsible answers. Shedding new light on the latest medical news, she guides audiences through the challenges that consumers face today including the best preventive medicine, women’s health issues, and the glut of medical information reported in the media.
A physician and award-winning medical journalist, Atkinson is editor in chief of HealthNews, the consumer health newsletter originally launched by the Massachusetts Medical Society, publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine. She is also Assistant Professor of Public Health, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, as well as President, Physicians for Human Rights, a non-profit human rights organization.
She has extensive experience as a broadcast medical correspondent, including assignments with NBC, CBS, and PBS, and served as vice president of programming and medical affairs for Lifetime Medical Television. She was a founder and CEO of Reuters Health, a leading provider of professional and consumer health news.
Atkinson tells it like it is and sends her audiences home with the ability to be more intelligent about exercising their health care options. Audiences find her highly informative, humorous, and inspirational.
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Dr. Atkinson has over 20 years experience in medical information and education, including continuing medical education and consumer education. She is editor of HealthNews, the consumer newsletter launched by the Massachusetts Medical Society, publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine. She is also Chairwoman, iVillage Health Initiatives and the resident physician on iVillageHealth.com, one of the leading consumer health sites on the Internet. In addition, she is Assistant Professor of Public Health (courtesy), Department of Public Health at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
Dr. Atkinson brings a unique blend of experience and skill to her work; she has business acumen, media savvy, editorial proficiency and medical expertise. She has degrees in both medicine and journalism, and broad international business experience. She has worked in print, broadcast television and web-based technologies for both the medical professional and consumer audiences.
Previously, Dr. Atkinson was a founder as well as President and CEO of Reuters Health Information, Inc. Within three years of taking the helm, she led the company to profitability and international recognition. Prior to joining Reuters, Atkinson was at Lifetime Medical Television for 10 years where she oversaw, as Senior Vice President of Programming, all of the continuing medical education programs aired on the network.
Dr. Atkinson was a member of the original team who launched JournalWatch, a monthly summary of important medical research findings developed for the practicing physician by Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS). The first issue was launched over 15 year ago, and today, JournalWatch has grown into several subspecialty newsletters widely distributed throughout the US and abroad. After writing for JournalWatch for 7 years, the MMS asked her to help launch a consumer health newsletter. She has been Editor of HealthNews for over 10 years.
Atkinson is an award-winning medical journalist and one of the leaders in medical education of the American public. She is a gifted and noted public speaker who has engaged national audiences on a wide range of medical topics for over 18 years. She has extensive experience as a medical correspondent, including assignments with NBC and CBS News, Lifetime Medical Television, and the PBS health show BodyWatch. She is author of the best-selling book Women and Fatigue.
Dr. Atkinson devotes considerable time to a number of non-profit organizations and charities. She is President of Physicians for Human Rights, an organization that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its effort to eradicate landmines. In 1995, Dr. Atkinson conducted a medical mission to Bosnia where she documented the health effects of landmines on the civilian population.
Dr. Atkinson has a MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and a MS degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
