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I’m Alice Callahan. My passion is writing stories about science that are accessible, interesting and useful to readers — with a willingness to dive into the complex and an uncompromising commitment to getting the facts right.

I was trained as a scientist, with a PhD in Nutrition (UC Davis, 2008) and postdoctoral training in fetal physiology (University of Arizona). I left the lab bench to pursue a career in health and science writing. I’m currently a reporter on the Well desk for The New York Times. I live in Eugene, Oregon, with my spouse and two kids.

I’m also the author of The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year, published in 2015 by Johns Hopkins University Press, with a fully up-to-date second edition published in 2021. The book grew out of my popular blog about evidence-based parenting and was intensely researched but written for a lay audience. It was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and praised as one of Science News’ favorite books of 2015.

My freelance health and science writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Undark, Knowable Magazine, FiveThirtyEight, Slate, Lifehacker, Everyday Health and Portland Monthly, among other outlets.