Editorial Team
John Sterling | Editor in Chief
John joined GEN as an assistant editor in 1984 and became chief editor in 1989. He holds a B.S. in Biology from The City College of New York and a Master of Arts in journalism from the University of Minnesota. John also was a graduate student at Hunter College where he majored in biological anthropology, focusing on the morphological and genetic aspects of human evolution.
He is an active member of the National Association of Science Writers, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the American Association of Anthropological Genetics. He has received journalism fellowships from the University of Minnesota, the University of Maryland, and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech University. He is a frequent and authoritative guest speaker and panel moderator at international biotech conferences. John served as co-chair of the program committee for the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s annual conference in Chicago in 2010.
John is a former intercollegiate ice hockey player and still lives and dies with the New York Rangers.
Kevin Davies, PhD | Editorial Director | @kevinadavies
Kevin has more than three decades’ experience in science publishing as an editor, journalist, author and publisher. He is the founding editor of Nature Genetics and Bio-IT World magazine and also served as Editor-in-Chief of Cell Press and publisher of Chemical & Engineering News. He joined the GEN team in 2017 and was promoted to Editorial Director in 2023. In addition to working with GEN, Kevin spearheaded the launch in 2018 of The CRISPR Journal. In 2022, he led the launch of GEN Biotechnology, the new marquee peer-review journal that bears the GEN logo.
Kevin is the author (or co-author) of five popular science books including Cracking the Genome, The $1,000 Genome, and an updated version of DNA: The Story of the Genetic Revolution (with James D. Watson and Andrew Berry). In 2017, Kevin won a Guggenheim fellowship in science writing to support a new book, Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing, published in September 2020.
Kevin holds a degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University and a PhD in Human Genetics from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London. He held postdoctoral fellowships at MIT and Harvard Medical School before joining the editorial staff at Nature. He is based in Washington DC and still clings to a British accent.
Julianna LeMieux, PhD | Deputy Editor in Chief | @julemieux1
Julianna received her PhD in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from Tufts University School of Medicine, where she studied Streptococcus pneumoniae, followed by a postdoc at MIT, working on the nematode C. elegans. She then spent several years teaching as an assistant professor, during which she realized her passion for science communication. She has been writing ever since and joined the editorial team at GEN in 2018.
She served as a faculty member in the Citizen Science program at Bard College both on campus and at the Taconic Correctional Facility through the Bard prison initiative. She currently teaches microbiology at City College of New York.
Julianna lives in New York and loves exploring the city with her family. She crossed the finish line of the NYC marathon in 2017 and 2018.
Corinna Singleman, PhD | Managing Editor
Corinna joined the GEN and IPM teams in 2024 as a passionate science communicator. She earned her PhD in Biology from The Graduate Center, CUNY, studying the impacts of PCBs and TCDD contamination in the Hudson River on endangered Atlantic surgeon and zebrafish. Her strong educational background in STEM and continuous commitment to educating and informing a broad audience have equipped her with the ability to translate complex concepts into clear, accessible content. She uses this experience to bridge the ever-widening gap between the scientific community and the rest of the world by teaching, writing, and working on projects that directly impact others. Corinna is dedicated to promoting effective communication that fosters collaboration across diverse teams and organizations.
In her free time, Corinna enjoys hiking, foraging, kickboxing, creating art, and spending time with her family.
Kevin Mayer | Senior Editor
Kevin joined GEN in 2013 after a spell at ScienceNY.com, a blog about popular science events in New York City. Previously, Kevin covered technology-based economic development, contributing columns to Trade & Industry Development and serving in various editorial capacities at Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC), which promotes the democratization of telephony development via PC technology.
Kevin has extensive experience in educational publishing. At Grolier/Scholastic, he contributed updates to print and online science references while augmenting the physical science coverage of an online textbook. Whether adding chapters, timelines, or special features, Kevin strove to create content that was not only comprehensive and informative but also engaging.
After graduating from Union College with a B.S. in Chemistry, Kevin did some environmental work but soon gravitated towards publishing. His first job was at Plenum (before it was acquired by Kluwer). He has also worked at the New York Academy of Sciences on biomedical proceedings.
Alex Philippidis | Senior Business Editor | @alexwestchester
Alex specializes in biopharma business news and industry issues for GEN. He joined GEN in 2011 after four years at GenomeWeb, where he covered research institutes, and spent three years following biotech economic development as editor of the weekly newsletter BioRegion News. Alex reports a variety of news stories for GEN and Inside Precision Medicine and compiles the popular A-Lists series.
Alex previously worked for more than 20 years for various newspapers covering business, science, the Navy, and general-interest news. He has been interviewed and quoted by news outlets including the New York Times and the BBC. He enjoys solving crossword puzzles, watching classic TV game shows, and traveling with his family.
Uduak Thomas | Senior Editor | @UduakThomas9861
Uduak joined GEN in 2023 as a senior editor after working as a consulting science writer and editor. Before that she worked as a writer and editor for a New York City-based think tank and as an editor at GenomeWeb where she wrote extensively about bioinformatics and computational biology news and trends in industry and academia for several years. Her writing has also been featured in the IEEE Bits Magazine. She has a BA from Calvin University and an MA from New York University. Outside of work, she can be found listening to podcasts or audiobooks, watching debates on everything from politics to pop culture, playing word games, and going on long walks with her dog.
Jonathan Grinstein, PhD | Senior Editor | @grinsteinj
Jonathan Grinstein’s wonder for the human mind and body led him to an undergraduate education in Neural Science and Philosophy and a doctorate in Biomedical. He has 10 years of experience in experimental and computational research, during which he was a co-author on research articles in journals such as Nature and Cell. Since then, Jonathan hung up his lab coat and has explored positions in science writing and editing. Jonathan’s science writing work has featured in Scientific American, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), and NEO.LIFE.
Christina Jackson | Associate Editor
Christina joined GEN in 2019. After working five years in animal care, she decided to pursue her passion of English literature and writing. She holds a BA in English from Lehman College.
Christina enjoys playing video games, watching anime, and spending time with her family and friends.
Katherine Vuksanaj | Online Editorial Manager
Katherine joined GEN in July 2014, having previously worked at Business Week magazine for eight years as an online production manager. She’s been involved in the publishing industry for nineteen years.
Katherine enjoys the beach, movies, and family time.
Fay Lin, PhD | Senior Editor – GEN Biotechnology | @xiaofei_lin
Fay holds a B.A. in Biology from New York University (NYU) and a PhD in Biochemistry from The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her doctoral research developed mathematical models to understand immune response at the molecular level. She maintains a strong passion for computational biology.
Fay’s interest in science communication sparked when she won the Audience Choice Award at UCLA’s Grad Slam (or 3 minute thesis) in 2019. Since that time, Fay has collaborated with multiple media outlets for science communication and outreach, including Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), BioTechniques, and Inside Higher Ed. In 2020, she started the video series and podcast, ‘Grad Chat’ by PhD Balance, to showcase the human stories of current and former academics.
Fay is a huge mental health advocate who has given keynote seminars and panel appearances at an international level at various academic institutions, societies and conferences, including ComSciCon Flagship and American Chemical Society (ACS).
Fay is based in Los Angeles and enjoys time outdoors in the California sun.
Production Team
James Lambo | Art Director
James has worked with the GEN team since 1997 and joined the staff as art director in 2006. Before then he was an art director for a calendar company on the west coast. He enjoys the fast-moving challenges of magazine publishing and has embraced new skills including digital video production.
James comes from an artistic family—both his sisters and both parents are professional watercolorists—but James prefers working in oils. James has a BA in Graphic Design from Pratt Institute.
Robert M. Reis | Production Editor
Rob has been involved with trade publishing for more than 30 years. Having previously worked in the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. medical journal production department and as production editor for the company’s Natural Pharmacy magazine, he joined GEN in 2001.
In addition to his New York University journalism degree, with a specialty in magazine production and editing, Rob is also a published writer and photographer. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and rock climbing and is a long-time country music listener.