STAT announces pioneering new trust-in-science reporter, new D.C. reporter

Nick and Margaret are emblematic of what we look for in building our staff: reporters with authority and hustle, who are known for producing fair-minded and provocative stories that you can’t read anywhere else.”

Rick Berke, STAT’s co-founder and executive editor

BOSTON — STAT, the leading media company focused on health and medicine, has announced the selection of two new reporters: Nicholas Florko and Margaret Manto.

Florko will pioneer a new beat covering declining trust in science and producing explanatory and accountability journalism that helps readers understand where and why trust is breaking down as well as the consequences of that skepticism. 

Manto will join STAT’s powerhouse team in Washington, D.C., to report on the Food and Drug Administration, including the agency’s oversight of the biopharma industry. 

Florko was an award-winning reporter at STAT before serving for two years as a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covered a wide range of health stories, including lobbying by the candy industry in Washington, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ role in the Make America Healthy Again movement, and the persistent allure of smoking in the modern era. His sharp insights not only regularly make for entertaining reads but also provide a public service — helping readers make smart personal health decisions, for example, or understand why America’s food safety system so often falls short. 

During his earlier six-year tour at STAT, Florko produced a series of impactful stories, including a searing investigation chronicling the deaths of hundreds of incarcerated people from hepatitis C despite the availability of effective treatments. In his last role at STAT, he was the publication’s first-ever commercial determinants of health reporter — a beat that had him exploring the myriad ways that corporate financial interests are shaping the health of Americans. 

As a reporting fellow at NOTUS over the last two years, Manto quickly established a track record of breaking news across the Washington health policy landscape. Among her most notable stories was her award-winning scoop on the shaky foundations of a report issued by the MAHA Commission, led by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Manto has a knack for sussing out compelling, unique stories even on widely covered events — such as her recent exclusive on Katie Miller’s past correspondence with Anthony Fauci. 

Manto began her professional life as an MIT-trained biologist, working as a researcher. As a journalist, she has cultivated a diverse network of sources inside the federal government, the pharmaceutical industry and health advocacy groups.

“Nick and Margaret are emblematic of what we look for in building our staff: reporters with authority and hustle, who are known for producing fair-minded and provocative stories that you can’t read anywhere else,” said Rick Berke, STAT’s co-founder and executive editor. Coverage of the FDA and the biopharma industry are core to STAT’s mission, he noted. Of Florko’s new assignment, Berke said, “No other news organization has a role like this. As a newsroom focused exclusively on health, medicine and life sciences, we are uniquely positioned to cover this terrain, and to do so with nuance, evidence and authority.”

STAT created the trust-in-science beat with the support of the Dana Foundation, Greenwall Foundation, John Templeton Foundation and Boston Foundation. 

Even before the establishment of Florko’s new role, themes of trust have been central to STAT’s journalism. Earlier this month, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health named Helen Branswell, STAT’s infectious diseases correspondent, as recipient of the 2026 Kovler Prize for Trust in Life Science Journalism. Established in 2024, this $25,000 prize recognizes an individual who has significantly increased the public’s awareness and understanding of life sciences through a distinguished body of journalistic work.

“At a time when trust in science cannot be taken for granted, accurate and understandable reporting is not just good journalism. It’s a public service that empowers people to make better decisions about their own health,” said Judy Lansing Kovler, Ph.D., a member of the FNIH board of directors. 

Branswell’s recognition comes as STAT continues to receive other top honors. Last week, reporter Eric Boodman won his fifth national Edward R. Murrow award, for writing excellence, for stories about the human toll of government funding cuts, and patients with contested illnesses. 

Join STAT at the 2026 STAT Summit in Boston on Oct. 14-15.

This October, STAT’s award-winning reporters will interview the people behind some of the year’s most talked-about headlines, from executives and policymakers to scientists and patient advocates, to examine the state of health care. Join us live in Boston for the 2026 STAT Summit.

Featuring Biogen’s Christopher Viehbacher, Roivant’s Matt Gline, the National Academy of Medicine’s Monica Bertagnolli, Katelyn Jetelina, better known as Your Local Epidemiologist, Anthony Fauci, Representative Jake Auchincloss and more.

Learn more here and view the preliminary agenda. Interested members of the media can request a press pass to attend.