Dr. Atkinson joined KSR in the fall of 2002 after 22 years in the field of medical information and medical education. She has both a degree in medicine and in journalism, and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. She remains editor of HealthNews, the consumer health newsletter launched by the Massachusetts Medical Society and now published by Belvoir Media Inc. Further, Dr. Atkinson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health at the Weill Cornell Medical College.

Dr. Atkinson was a founder as well as President and CEO of Reuters Health Information, Inc., a whole owned subsidiary of Reuters PLC. Within 3 years of taking the helm, she led the medical news 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. Her years as a medical correspondent for the CBS Morning News and NBC’s Today show, as well as her countless appearances as a keynote speaker, have made her widely known and respected. She brings to KSR a unique blend of business experience, media savvy, educational acumen, and medical expertise.

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 shared in 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.