National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy

Robert Whitaker

Robert Whitaker has been reporting on science and medicine for over 20 years. He first worked as a science/medical writer at the Albany Times Union, in Albany New York. He then worked for a period as director of publications at Harvard Medical School, and in 1994, he co-founded a company called CenterWatch, that covered the business aspects of the clinical testing of new drugs. He sold CenterWatch in 1998, partly in order to write Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill. His articles on the mentally ill and the drug industry have won several awards, including the George Polk award for medical writing, and the National Association of Science Writer's Award for best magazine article. A series he co-wrote for the Boston Globe on psychiatric research was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

His latest book, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, published in 2010, investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of adults and children disabled by mental illness skyrocketed over the past fifty years? 

Mad In America was named by Discover Magazine as one of the best science books of 2002; the American Library Association named it one of the best history books of that year.

Robert Whitaker’s third book, On The Laps of Gods, (2008) won the 2007 Anthony J. Lukas work-in-progress award.

The Mapmaker’s Wife was named by the American Library Association as one of the best biographies of 2004. The book was translated into Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Hebrew, and Korean.

   Journalism Awards:

2000 Finalist for The Goldsmith prize for Investigative Reporting

1998 George Polk Award for Medical Reporting

1998  Finalist for Pulitzer Prize, Public Service

1998  National Association  of Science Writers, Best Magazine Article

1998  National Institute of Health Care Management Journalism Award

1994  New York State AP Award, first place, Depth Reporting

1994  American Aging Association Excellence in Journalism Award

1994  Hearst Writing Contest Award, first place, Enterprise Reporting

1992  New York State Publishers Award, first place, Community Service

1992  New York State AP Award, second place, Depth Reporting

1992  Hearst Writing Contest Award, first place, Community Service

1989  New York State Publishers Award, first place, State Coverage

1987  New York State AP Award, second place, Business Coverage

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