Eric Bender

86 Greenlawn Avenue, Newton, MA 02459

857.231.0483     benderwrite@gmail.com     ebender.co   

 

Profile

 

Award-winning writer/editor and experienced communications professional focused on translating advances in science, technology and medicine for all audiences. Deep experience in:

 

·        Storytelling

·        Social media

·        Strategic communications

·        Fundraising content

 

Experience

 

Communications Consultant, Newton, MA, 2002 to present

Write, edit and create videos on advances in science, technology and medicine for publications and research institutions. Sample accomplishments:

·         Wrote scientific news releases for Joslin and Boston University.

·         Developed series of video snapshots of major Joslin research programs.

·         Wrote feature articles on medical research and public health for Nature.

·         Acted as top editor for Nature special reports.

·         Wrote profiles of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers.

·         Launched weekly blog for MIT Museum.

·         Started Twitter account for Joslin that gathered wide following.

 

Senior Managing Editor for Science and Medical News, American Association for Cancer Research, Boston, MA, 2011 to 2014

Initiated news coverage for Cancer Discovery, association’s flagship scientific journal.

·         Assigned and edited more than 400 well-received stories providing details and context on progress in cancer research for highly demanding audience of researchers.

·         Built pool of expert freelance science writers.

·         Ran daily news coverage of major scientific conferences.

·         Generated custom news site that is integrated with scientific publishing system.

 

Senior Communications Associate, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, MA, 2009 to 2011

Oversaw media relations and development publications.

·         Created powerful fundraising tool providing an in-depth summary of Joslin science, helping to boost giving at both individual researcher and institutional levels. 

·         Produced short videos to present scientific accomplishments, recruit clinical volunteers and enhance patient marketing.

·         Launched and optimized social media initiatives that included Twitter, Facebook and the Joslin blog, helping to triple joslin.org web traffic and boost patient engagement.

 

 Associate Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, 2005 to 2009

Handled media relations, publications and public education events.

·                     Overhauled media relations, increasing coverage in top outlets worldwide.

·                     Created development publications and web content that aided in record fundraising accomplishments.

·                     Reconceptualized and edited Whitehead’s Paradigm magazine (example: wi.mit.edu/files/wi/pdf/83/paradigm-2007-fall.pdf).

·                     Developed a Whitehead 25th anniversary website with videos and oral histories, plus an anniversary exhibit at the MIT Museum seen by more than 80,000 visitors.

·                     Bolstered Whitehead’s web presence with videos, animations and podcasts.

 

Manager of Publications, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, 2004 to 2005

·                     Edited award-winning issues of Whitehead’s Paradigm magazine.

 

Editor in Chief, Technologyreview.com, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 2000 to 2002

Pioneered and ran award-winning MIT website covering technology advances, hiring and training a four-person news staff.

·                     Launched site from scratch in three months and built traffic to a million visits per month within a year.

·                     Published several stories daily with well-reported analyses of developments in biological science and technology, nanotechnology and other emerging technologies.

·                     Began production of leading-edge enhancements including “how-it-works” animations.

 

Executive Editor, PC World Magazine, Boston, MA, 1994 to 2000

Led editorial departments and launched major projects for world’s most widely read computer publication.

·                     Built award-winning online news group based in Boston and San Francisco, with managing editor and six reporters plus contributors around the world.

·                     Ran the magazine’s print news, which received high scores in monthly quantitative readership studies and won nine business-press and consumer-press awards.

·                     Created much of PC World's first online content and aided redesign for several iterations of pcworld.com, one of the world’s highest-traffic content sites.

·                     Proposed and created print cover stories, columns and special reports, increasing monthly readership ratings.

 

Education

 

·                     Boston University, Boston, MA. M.S. in journalism, majoring in science communication.

·                     Goddard College, Plainfield, VT. B.A., majoring in English and biology.