Editorial Team

The Editorial Team works with its Medical Review Board and experienced medical writers to provide Health Union's Community Team with reliable, easy-to-understand information about a host of chronic health conditions. Our goal is to provide you and your loved ones with evidence-based health information you can use.

Heather Morse, Senior Director, Editorial Team

Heather has focused her career on editing, writing, and all things content creation. She is driven to deliver accessible medical information that educates, cultivates understanding, and empowers patients and caregivers. With more than 2 decades of experience, Heather has a proven track record of leveraging editorial strategy to meet business goals.

Sara Henneberger, Principal Production Editor

Sara is a communications professional with experience in editorial management, content development, production, and marketing. She has worked in higher education, public health, and media. As part of Health Union’s Editorial Team, she strives to provide clear, accurate information that supports and empowers people in their healthcare decisions.

Jordan Reed, Lead Medical Writer

Jordan has over a decade of experience creating compelling and unique content for both businesses and publications. She enjoys breaking down complex health topics so that they are more approachable and digestible for a consumer audience. Previously she was a senior editor with New York-Presbyterian and helped launch their award-winning content platform.

Professional medical writers and editors

Billina Augustian, PA-C

Billina Augustian is a physician assistant (PA-C) with over 10 years of healthcare experience. She completed her physician assistant training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She believes everyone deserves access to understandable and accurate medical information that helps them make informed decisions about their health. Her writing is guided by her experiences as a clinician, patient, and caregiver.

T. DeLene Beeland, MS

DeLene is a medical and science writer with a master of science degree in interdisciplinary ecology. DeLene enjoys distilling complex information into articles that empower nonexperts, patients, and their caregivers with vetted information. She enjoys using her writing to support the growth of accessible online communities where patients can explore and learn.

Lizzette Cruz, MS, RN

Lizzette has more than 8 years of experience in cardiovascular clinical research. She started as a research nurse and now oversees a cardiology clinical research program. Her current role includes administrative and operational oversight of clinical trial start-up, regulatory, conduct, and quality management. Lizzette is also a nurse writer who specializes in health and wellness writing.

Juliette Daily, PhD

Juliette has a PhD in applied mathematics. While working on her thesis on plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, she learned the importance of communicating scientific research to the general public, where it can often have the greatest impact. She is excited to carry this mentality over to writing for Health Union.

Ayesha Ejaz

Ayesha received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of Chicago. Her research uses fluorescence spectroscopy to trap and observe single biomolecules. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and playing board games.

Allyson Ellis

Allyson completed a BA in religion with an English concentration from Luther College, followed by a master of divinity degree from Iliff School of Theology. She wrote extensively for both degrees, continuing to apply those skills while leading United Methodist congregations. She joined Heath Union as a moderator and freelancer in 2017. Her particular interests include grief and life transitions and navigating daily life with chronic illness.

Katharine Henn

Katharine has a bachelor's degree in neuroscience and chemistry and is currently working toward her PhD in neuroscience at UC Berkeley. Though she loves hands-on experiments, she also has a passion for scientific communication, especially writing and teaching. She enjoys discussing science with people of all backgrounds and perspectives. As someone who lives with an autoimmune condition, she aims to provide clear, concise information that is both accessible and empowering to patients.

Casey Hribar, MD, MBA

Casey earned her MD, MBA, and bachelor's degree in biology and interpersonal and organizational communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in laboratory research and at UNC Hospitals, as well as spent time in France studying biochemistry at the University of Joseph Fourier. Casey has also given academic presentations and has several publications in peer-reviewed, scientific journals and popular consumer resources.

Sarah Hudgens

Sarah has worked as an editor in the medical advertising and scholarly publishing industries for many years. Through close reading, research, and problem-solving, she enjoys helping writers craft clear and useful content for readers seeking knowledge about health topics. Ultimately, she hopes to empower people to make educated decisions about their healthcare.

Jessica Johns Pool

Jessica has been writing consumer-facing healthcare content for over 25 years. She has developed websites, patient education materials, annual reports, social media messages, newsletters, and more for large hospital systems, physician practices, and pharmaceutical companies. She is passionate about bringing plain language principles to healthcare communications to improve accessibility and better outcomes for all.

Mikayla Morell

Mikayla Morell is a medical writer and editor residing in Philadelphia, PA. Her background as a medical scribe, phlebotomist, and home health aide gave her the opportunity to see healthcare from both a physician's perspective and a patient's point of view. While working in healthcare, Mikayla saw a need for health education. Patients were eager to understand and know more about their own health. This led her to transition to medical writing, where Mikayla could educate and inform her readers with content that is accessible and informative.

Alyson Powell Key

Alyson is a health and technology writer. She has more than a decade of experience writing content and leading content strategy for universities, nonprofits, and privately owned companies. Before transitioning to her current role, Alyson was a television news journalist in the Midwest and South.

Jennifer Landau, MA, MS

Jennifer has published more than a dozen books on a wide range of topics, including endometriosis, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and the health impacts of widespread pesticide use. Her work has been featured in Autism Parenting Magazine, Literary Mama, and Together Well, among other outlets. A former teacher and longtime editor, she has a master of arts in writing from New York University and a master of science in education from Fordham University.

Diane Mabeley

Diane is a freelance medical writer specializing in patient education. She has a passion for making complex medical information understandable to the public, patients, and healthcare professionals. She has written website content, brochures, newsletters, and articles. Diane earned a BA in biology from Colorado College and is completing graduate courses in medical writing and editing from the University of Chicago. She has 5 grown children and lives in Texas with her husband, Tim, and her ragdoll cat, Ruthie.

Brooke Morton

Brooke is a freelance health writer with more than a decade of experience. She has covered a variety of topics, from endometriosis to breast cancer. She is passionate about community and believes that connecting people with like-minded support can be immeasurably healing in dealing with chronic illnesses.

Katie Murphy, MSN, RN

Katie is a registered nurse with experience in both acute and chronic disease management. Before becoming a nurse, Katie was a respiratory therapist. Katie has a passion for making health topics easily understood in a nonintimidating way. She has worked in health content development and editing for years and enjoys supporting those with chronic disease.

Maisie Nguyen, PharmD

Maisie integrates her pharmacist expertise with her 15+ years of experience in editing copy across multiple industries and therapeutic areas to cultivate meaningful content that connects with patients and clinicians. Maisie leverages her doctor of pharmacy education and years of practice as a clinical pharmacist to bring insight to her work as a medical editor, successfully editing written works ranging from scientific manuscripts to patient educational booklets.

Molly O’Brien

Molly has covered health, technology, environmental, crime, sports, social justice, lifestyle, transportation, and political news as a journalist. Living with chronic migraine, Molly knows the importance of a supportive community. She aims to bring compassion and empathy to Health Union while providing solid, credible information and good journalism.

Jessica Gullett Rubino, PhD

Jessica is a published scientist with an extensive medical background. Before earning her doctorate in biochemistry, she was an emergency medical technician in rural Texas. She has also worked in hospitals and healthcare clinics. Her formal education, research experience, and life experience helped her understand that good communication is key to connection and informed choices. She loves breaking down complex science into digestible pieces so that science is accessible to all.

Kate Schmier, MFA

Kate Schmier is a former editorial staffer in the health and medicine department of Good Housekeeping. She has also held various editorial roles at a nonprofit addiction and mental health treatment center, a scientific research institute, and a healthcare technology company. Her work has been featured by CNN, NPR, and others. She holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College.

Deborah Stein

Deborah is a board-certified Editor in the Life Sciences with over a decade of experience translating complex material for various audiences. Her background includes extensive work in humanitarian development and healthcare. Deborah is passionate about preserving her authors' voices while delivering clear information that readers can act on.

Leah Steinberg, DO

Leah recently completed her medical studies at the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is passionate about patient advocacy and plans to pursue the ob-gyn field. She is currently involved in research regarding barriers in accessing medical care and reproductive health. She is excited to be a part of the Health Union team because she believes that education leads to empowerment and autonomy.

Matt Zajac, PhD

Matt graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from The College of New Jersey and a PhD in chemical biology from the University of Chicago. While he loves conducting experiments in the lab, Matt also has always had a passion for scientific communication, especially through teaching and writing. He hopes to use his career to combine these interests and help make complicated scientific or medical topics more approachable for the general public.