Who am I ?

I was born and raised in Medellin, Colombia, but now live in Galveston, Texas, with my wife and our two sons.

Having spent most of my high school years reading novels and short fiction—both the classics and contemporary Latin American writers—I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a writer.

I went to journalism school with the idea of becoming a novelist. There, however, I was immersed in every non-fiction genre and my novelist aspirations were soon overpowered. Although never inclined to the basic sciences until college, I got interested in science journalism.

In 2002, I left my country and came to the United States to become a science writer.

A year and a half later I graduated from Texas A&M University with a master's degree in science and technology journalism. In January 2004, right after graduation, I landed a job at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston as a science writer and editor. I have been working there full time since then, writing about vaccines and immunizations—both for the web (www.immunizationinfo.org) and print publications.

I have co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and a book about vaccine safety concerns . I also do some freelance work (writing, editing [English and Spanish] and web design) and am actively involved with the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA).