Tara Parker-Pope

Hi. I’m Tara Parker-Pope, columnist for The New York Times. I’m the founding editor of Well, an award-winning consumer health site. My goal every day is to empower readers with science-based advice and help them make their own decisions about living well every day.

I love my job!

I created this website to collect some of my favorite and most-requested articles all in one place. You can also find links to my live events, The Well Minute and other work. My stories appear regularly online in the Well section and in print in Science Times. I’ve also written for The New York Times magazine.

Awards

Emmy Award
In 2013, I was part of the winning team that won an Emmy award for the Well video series “Life, Interrupted,” which chronicled the challenges of a young cancer patient in her 20s.
GLAAD Media Award - Outstanding Newspaper Article
My 2010 article, “Kept from a Dying Partner’s Bedside,” was cited by President Obama as influencing his decision to issue new rules for hospitals in their treatment of same-sex couples. That article won the 2010 Outstanding Newspaper Article from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation — this is my most-treasured award!
Other Honors:
2011 Front Page Award - News Women’s Club of New York The Well Blog
2004 Front Page Award - News Women’s Club of New York “How to GIve Your Child a Longer Life”
Online News Association
Association of Health Care Journalists
North American Menopause Society
Second Century Award for Excellence in Health Care - Columbia University School of Nursing
2019 Health Transformer Award — Medical Marketing & Media

Before The Times

Prior to joining The Times in August 2007, I was the long-time Health Journal columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and also worked as a correspondent in the paper’s London and Dallas bureaus. My first journalism jobs were in Texas, at the Houston Chronicle and the Austin American Statesman. I’ve written for O Magazine, Reader’s Digest, More Magazine, Ladies Home Journal and American Legion Magazine, and have made appearances on All In with Chris Hayes, The Today Show, Charlie Rose, Anderson Cooper, CNN, Dateline NBC, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America and several NPR, WNYC and other radio programs.

Books

I’ve written three books, including “For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage” (Dutton, May 2010), “The Hormone Decision,” (Rodale, 2007), and “Cigarettes: Anatomy of an Industry from Seed to Smoke,” (New Press, 2002). My work is also featured in the 2008 edition of “Best American Science Writing,” “The New York Times Reader: Health and Medicine,” and “The Wall Street Journal Guide to the Business of Life.”

Education & Personal Life

Ask me about volleyball! I’m a devoted fan of volleyball and helped start the Pennsylvania super-club East Coast Power Volleyball, where I managed programming, website content, college recruiting and communications from 2013 to 2020. Go Power!

I was also an early board member and supporter of Dress for Success, which started in New York City and provided out-of-work women with job interview suits, shoes and makeup. I sorted clothes, counseled women and created the Success Stories newsletter celebrating the women we served and the companies who made it possible.

I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in sociology and learned the basics of reporting from my classmates at the Daily Texan. (Hook ‘Em Horns!) I once ran a very slow marathon — a guy wearing an Eiffel Tower costume beat me! I’m a devoted graduate of the Hoffman Process and a strong believer in the power of meditation to change your life. I was born in Arizona (Sedona is one of my favorite places), and have lived in Okinawa, Japan, Taiwan, Texas (Austin, Houston, Dallas), Ohio (Beavercreek), London, Pennsylvania (Bucks County) and New York (Brooklyn, Manhattan). I am the proud parent of a college-age daughter, and now live on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, with my aging pets — Sunshine (cat) and Maddie (dog).