Hi, I’m Alan.

I tell stories about science.

Me, safely contained I’ve been a freelance science journalist since 1997, with a primary beat that includes microbiology, biotechnology, medical research, public health, and science policy. My writing has appeared in Science, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Medicine, the award-winning website and magazine of the New York Academy of Sciences, and many other news outlets and research publications. I also co-host the top-ranked science podcast “This Week in Virology.”

In the course of my job I’ve interviewed Nobel laureates, prominent politicians, institute heads, and a pizza deliveryman. Stories have taken me to places as far-flung as Moscow, Aspen, Mexico City, and Binghamton. While most of my work has focused on the biological sciences and health, I’ve covered topics ranging from nanotechnology to stock market crashes. If you’re looking for someone to dive deep into a complex topic and come up with a digestible summary on a deadline, drop me a note.

I have a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Towson State University in Maryland, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Columbia University in New York, where I studied poliovirus cellular entry in the laboratory of Vincent Racaniello.

Because I’ve worked extensively for the news sections of major research journals, I have an inexcusably high citation index, despite not having done any actual experiments in over 20 years. If you’re looking for my scientific papers, the “computed author sort” of my name on PubMed does a pretty good job bringing them to the top.

I’ve lived in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. If I don’t sound like the Alan Dove you’re looking for, try checking my “Disambiguation” page to find some of the other folks with this name.

My science blog is The Turbid Plaque, where I post essays nobody was willing to pay me for, as well as brief summaries of recent news on my beat. You can also find me on Youtube, where I post videos on rare occasions. My personal blog covers some of my nerdy hobbies and other off-hours projects.