Katia Savchuk

Magazine Journalist at Freelance

Freelance magazine journalist. Words @NewYorker, @atavist, @Forbes, @MotherJones, @marieclaire, @PacificStand, @washingtonpost, etc. Member @sfgrotto.

Articles

A prescription for produce improves health, new research finds

Mar 4, 2025 | scopeblog.stanford.edu | Katia Savchuk |Gordy Slack |Erin Digitale

When Davron Jones' therapist prescribed fruits and vegetables, he was skeptical. The 52-year-old Alameda, California, resident was struggling with depression and alcohol addiction, as well as diabetes and a heart condition. His therapist, who worked at a community health clinic in nearby Oakland, thought improving his nutrition could help.
What's the deal with microplastics, the material that 'never goes away'?

Jan 29, 2025 | scopeblog.stanford.edu | Katia Savchuk |Ruthann Richter |Erin Digitale

They're in the water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the air we breathe. They've pervaded every ecosystem in the world, from coral reefs to Antarctic ice. And they've infiltrated the human body, lodging themselves in everything from brain tissue to reproductive organs. Microplastics -- plastic fragments up to 5 millimeters long -- are inescapable.
New Research Could Help Nonprofits Attract Millions of Online Donors

Nov 19, 2024 | gsb.stanford.edu | Katia Savchuk

When you’re checking out at an online store, it’s increasingly common to get a prompt inviting you to toss in a few bucks to a good cause. Your decision to give (or not) may feel like a reflection of how generous you’re feeling in the moment. Yet how you respond to these “microgiving” requests — including how much you donate — is also influenced by the information and options you see on the screen.
"AI Will Be As Common In Healthcare As The Stethoscope." - Forbes India

Nov 19, 2024 | forbesindia.com | Katia Savchuk

Every year, an estimated 800,000 Americans die or are permanently disabled after a medical misdiagnosis. More than a million die as a result of complications from manageable chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Dr. Robert Pearl, former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, has traced these dismal outcomes to a toxic culture among doctors and a broken healthcare system that puts corporate profits above patients’ well-being.
How to spot societal tipping points in real time

Oct 21, 2024 | newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu | Katia Savchuk

Social scientists are using new methods to study pivotal societal turning points in real time. What they are learning could shape how policymakers address democratic backsliding, environmental crises, and other key challenges of our time. Some events like the French Revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Fidel Castro seizing power in Cuba fundamentally transform societies and how people within them live.
From ballet to medicine, a love of stories has driven this bioethicist

Sep 26, 2024 | scopeblog.stanford.edu | Katia Savchuk |Gordy Slack |Paul Costello

Tyler Tate, MD, Stanford Medicine's newest pediatric bioethicist, has no shortage of stories to tell about his unusual upbringing. Like how he ate a mostly vegan diet until age 10 -- memorably hosting a birthday party where his mother baked a regular cake for his friends and a sweet potato cake for him. Like how he was homeschooled through high school in St. Louis, Missouri, while spending up to six hours a day on extracurricular pursuits.
How mixing music and medicine keeps this doctor grounded

Aug 21, 2024 | scopeblog.stanford.edu | Katia Savchuk |Rachel Tompa |Helen Santoro

The eyes of Tamara Dunn, MD, light up when she talks about her passions. The eclectic Stanford Medicine hematologist has many of them, but two that rise above the rest: practicing medicine and performing music. Both have been part of her life for nearly as long as she can remember. As the daughter of a dentist surrounded by Black physician family friends, she grew up wanting to be a doctor. And she found her knack for the stage at age 9, singing and acting.
One researcher's quest for the unknown, from stars to neurons

Jul 23, 2024 | scopeblog.stanford.edu | Katia Savchuk |Hadley Leggett |Helen Santoro

Growing up on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania, Sean Quirin was surrounded by the familiar -- the land, once flush with apples and peaches, had been in his family for nearly two centuries. But as he slept outside in the grass on summer nights, what captivated him was the unknown: the vast tableau of stars above. The future Stanford Medicine researcher knew he someday wanted to explore uncharted territory, perhaps even brush against the limits of human understanding.
Generative AI Can Boost Productivity Without Replacing Workers

Jul 23, 2024 | forbesindia.com | Katia Savchuk

Since generative AI went mainstream a year ago, it has inspired an equal measure of hype and fear. Boosters of tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E predict that they will transform our economy, while skeptics worry about their potential to produce inaccurate or harmful results and ultimately replace workers. But until recently, no one had tested what really happens when companies unleash generative AI at scale in real workplaces.
Shades of pain: Understanding diversity in pain management

Jun 13, 2024 | scopeblog.stanford.edu | Katia Savchuk |Hanae Armitage |Erin Digitale

A baby who can't stop crying. An autistic teen who starts acting out. A woman who complains of a headache. At first glance, these individuals seem to have nothing in common. But each may be expressing the same thing -- "I'm in pain" -- in their own way. Many of us assume that all pain is created equal -- an objective fact that everyone feels and communicates similarly and that doctors treat uniformly.