Arnst leaving Xconomy for foundation

Catherine Arnst, the New York editor for Xconomy and the business news site’s East Coast biotechnology editor, is leaving for a non-profit job.

Arnst announced on her Facebook page that she has accepted the position of media director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as of Feb 11.

“Have really enjoyed working for Xconomy and its great team, but this is an incredible opportunity, for an incredible organization,” said Arnst.

Arnst was senior writer for medicine at BusinessWeek for 13 years, where she wrote numerous cover stories and wrote extensively for the magazine’s website, including contributing to two blogs. She followed a broad range of issues affecting medicine and health and held primary responsibility for covering the battle in Washington over health care reform.

Arnst has also written for the Boston Globe, U.S. News & World Report and The Daily Beast, and was director of content development for the health practice at Edelman Public Relations for two years.

Prior to joining BusinessWeek she was the London-based European Science Correspondent for Reuters News Service. She won the 2004 Business Journalist of the Year award from London’s World Leadership Forum, and in 2003 was the first recipient of the ACE Reporter Award from the European School of Oncology for her five-year body of work on cancer.