Lori Whitten, Ph.D.

Dr. Whitten is an award-winning writer with more than 25 years of experience reviewing and summarizing biomedical science and health-related research. Dr. Whitten works primarily with Federal contracts that address pulmonary and cardiovascular research, prevention of adolescent alcohol use, the health of women, and behavioral health and wellness. She currently supports the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), accurately captures the proceedings of scientific conferences and workshops, and develops executive summaries for the external community and detailed notes for program staff to help guide strategic decision making. As a medical writer, she has worked closely with program staff members on publications and presentations. For an NHLBI expert workshop, materials prepared by Dr. Whitten served as the foundation for a published article titled “Proceedings from a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Workshop to Control Hypertension” (PMID 35259237). Dr. Whitten was Synergy’s lead writer supporting the Task Force on Maternal Mental Health as it developed the National Strategy to Improve Maternal Mental Health Care and the accompanying report to Congress. In other work focused on women’s health, Dr. Whitten supported manuscript development for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) and co-authored peer-reviewed publications (e.g., “Research on Women’s Health: Ready for the Future” and “Sex as a Biological Variable [SABV]: A Five-Year Progress Report and Call to Action,” both published in The Journal of Women’s Health). She served as an acknowledged medical writer of two articles on maternal health: “The Intersection of Maternal Morbidity and Mortality and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States,” published in Current Women’s Health Reviews, and “Using the Ecological Systems Theory to Understand Black/White Disparities in Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States,” published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Demonstrating her plain language skills, Dr. Whitten served as the writer on the award-winning (Gold MarCom and Communications Award of Excellence) ORWH booklet Maternal Morbidity and Mortality: What Do We Know? How Are We Addressing It? She also penned the Guest Blog Intimate Partner Violence: Raising Awareness, Taking Action. Previously, Dr. Whitten wrote content and developed materials for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), garnering praise with a Silver NIH Plain Language/Clear Communication Award. Her work at NIDA contributed to other prestigious awards, including an AVA Digital Award and a National Association of Government Communicators Award.