Reuters names Gershberg as global industry editor for health care and pharma

Reuters announced Friday the appointment of Michele Gershberg as global industry editor for health care and pharmaceuticals.

The new position formalizes Gershberg’s central role in running coverage of the novel coronavirus and of the global pharmaceutical business.

“Michele’s shrewd news judgment and exemplary leadership skills have been on brilliant display across our organization from the earliest days of the COVID pandemic, as she ran coverage of one of the biggest stories of our age,” said Amy Stevens, editor for business coverage, in a statement. “When reporters late last year began to take note of a rise in mysterious pneumonia cases in China, Michele immediately began marshaling stories from her U.S. health team about the disease and nascent efforts to understand its spread. She then reached out to reporters in bureaus worldwide, helping them to shape and deliver Exclusives, Insights, Special Reports and other stories that have continued to distinguish Reuters. As an editor with a true reporter’s sensibility, Michele not only brings a deep understanding of science and business to her role, but also a keen sense of how to motivate and inspire her colleagues,”

Gershberg joined Reuters in 2000 in the Jerusalem bureau and covered everything from foreign currency trading to the failure of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2003, she moved to the New York bureau as a media reporter, writing about the rise of online advertising and the growing influence of Google and Facebook.

Since 2009, she has run the U.S. health team, coordinating coverage on the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, as well as outbreaks of Ebola and Zika. The team won a Reuters 2018 Journalist of the Year Award for their stories on the pharmaceutical business, including the growing outrage over U.S. drug prices. Honors include an award from the American Association of Cancer Research for a narrative Special Report describing her young son’s diagnosis with a brain tumor, and the hunt for a treatment.

Gershberg graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in philosophy and English literature.