Science journalist based in India
Pratik Pawar is a freelance journalist who covers stories about science, global health, medicine, and science policy. He is interested in understanding and covering the role inequality and socio-political realities play in furthering health crises, particularly in the Global South. His work has been published by Nature, Science, The Atlantic, and Undark magazine, among other outlets. He is currently based in Bangalore, India.
Pratik was an early-career science writing fellow at The Open Notebook in 2022. Before that, in 2020, he won the EurekAlert! Fellowship for International Science Reporters awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was also a recipient of the S. Ramaseshan Science Writing Fellowship awarded by the Indian Academy of Sciences in 2019.
Prior to writing, Pratik earned a Master’s degree in biotechnology from the D Y Patil School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics in 2018. If you would like to chat about a story or just say hi, drop him an email.
The world's stockpile of cholera vaccine is empty—but relief is on the way
A dramatic shortage of the oral vaccine may ease in the years ahead as more companies enter the market. Science magazine, January 2024
The World Is Not Prepared for Another Cholera Wave
More than forty countries reported cholera outbreaks in 2022. Researchers say that public health officials have all the tools necessary to stop cholera. So why has it been so hard to prepare for outbreaks? Undark Magazine, August 2023.
Tracking Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
With a flurry of vaccines and other therapeutics coming to the market, the need to understand the virus and its burden is more imminent than ever. Nature, September 2023.
It Took 35 years to Get a Malaria Vaccine. Why?
At a time when COVID-19 vaccines were developed and authorized in less than one year, the delay for malaria raises an obvious question: Why did a vaccine for a leading global killer take so long to arrive? Undark Magazine, May 2022.
Republished by: The Atlantic,
Smithsonian Magazine,
Popular Science,
Mother Jones
Drug-Resistant Malaria Is Emerging in Africa. Is the World Ready?
Resistance to the drug artemisinin was confirmed in Africa. Without better surveillance, it is hard to track the threat. Undark Magazine, January 2022.
Republished by: NPR,
The Wire Science,
Salon,
Gavi's VaccinesWork
How COVID-19 Created a Perfect Storm For a Deadly Fungal Infection in India
Amidst the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, numbers of rare but dangerous black fungal infections have skyrocketed. Science News, June 2021
India aims to invigorate science with hefty new funding agency
Proposed National Research Foundation would spend $6 billion over 5 years, but is drawing mixed reactions. Science, July 2023
How China is capturing attention with landmark research
From ancient sea species to clues on comets, papers coming out of the country are regularly making headlines. Nature Index, August 2023
Climate change may be leading to overcounts of endangered bonobos
A changing climate in Congo is affecting how scientists count bonobos’ nests, possibly skewing estimates of the great ape population. Science News, July 2021
Strict biodiversity laws prevent Indian scientists from sharing new microbes with the world
“The claim on this wealth is meaningless if we cannot document it.” Science, October 2020
How to Find and Publish Stories about Global Disease Outbreaks
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