Nina Agrawal Is Joining Well

We're thrilled to announce that Nina Agrawal is joining Well as a reporter covering some of the most common and challenging chronic illnesses worldwide, including cancer and diabetes.

Nina's byline may be familiar to Times readers: As a freelance reporter, she led the reporting for Well's spring allergy package, telling readers how to stay safe in extreme heat and explaining how to spot the signs of heat exhaustion. She's also written for Metro about Venezuelan immigrants helping other recent arrivals to New York, and exploring why applying for asylum is much harder in New York than anywhere else in the country.

Nina was previously a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, where she broke national higher-education news during the pandemic, monitored the largest county government in the country and covered wildfires and other disasters. In addition to news, she wrote explainers, service stories and narratives, including one about an alarming trend of suicide among firefighters.

She has also covered the New York region for the L.A. Times, writing about the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war on the Brighton Beach community, the rise of a progressive district attorney in Philadelphia, and how the Natural History Museum's T. rex fossil gets its teeth brushed.

Nina impressed us with her explanatory reporting skills and her sharp eye for human stories, which are essential to covering a beat like chronic disease. She also has a talent for turning up surprising service, even on subjects that might feel familiar to readers.

Nina attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a pre-med student and majored in English. She is fluent in Spanish, and earned graduate degrees in journalism and international affairs from Columbia University.

Nina will be joining the Well desk Sept. 9. Please join us in giving her a warm welcome.