Karen Blum is a Baltimore-based freelance writer who covers health, medicine and science for a variety of outlets. Her articles have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, AARP.org, Anesthesiology News, Pharmacy Practice News, Clinical Oncology News, Rheumatology News, Ophthalmology Management, and Medscape.com, among others. She also has written newsletter and magazine articles, blog posts and marketing communications pieces for clients including Johns Hopkins Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, the National Eye Institute, Drexel University, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the American Society for Microbiology. She is the health information technology topic leader for the Association of Health Care Journalists and writes blog posts about health IT topics for them.
Before hanging her freelance shingle, Blum spent 10 years as a media relations officer for academic medical centers including The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Wearing those hats, she interacted with hundreds of journalists from around the world, managed press conferences and wrote many press releases and speeches. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Blum has never yet missed a deadline and prides herself on excellent customer service with assignment editors.