 Dear Readers, I can’t help but share my excitement over a very big night — actually a very big week — at STAT.
Tonight is the premiere of “Augmented,” a “NOVA” production by STAT and our first full-length documentary. It’s a compelling tale of innovation as well as an inspiring story that has its origins in personal tragedy.
The 90-minute film chronicles the dramatic journey of Hugh Herr, an MIT biophysicist whose legs were amputated at age 17 after a climbing accident. Frustrated by the crude prosthetic limbs he was given, Herr set out to improve on their design, leading him to a career as an inventor of innovative prosthetic devices. Now, Herr is teaming up with an injured climber and a surgeon at a leading Boston hospital to create brain-controlled robotic limbs.
The documentary, a years-long project by director and STAT alum Matthew Orr, will be broadcast tonight at 9 p.m. ET, and will also be available for streaming on all station-branded PBS platforms, including pbs.org/nova and the PBS Video App. We’ll also be hosting a virtual event on Friday to discuss the future of brain-controlled prosthetic limbs.
In its review of the film, the Wall Street Journal said, “It’s science-fiction, except it’s not fiction and the science is made utterly accessible in Mr. Orr’s fascinating program.” The Boston Globe said “Augmented” is “not short on … open-mouthed moments.”
Meanwhile, there’s other big news at STAT. On Tuesday, we unveiled our first annual STATUS List, the most definitive and consequential accounting of leaders and influencers in health and science. As an homage to the number of chromosomes in human DNA, we selected 46 people — some who are well-known as changemakers, and others who are largely unheralded heroes. All have compelling stories to tell.
And we started this week with the announcement that reporters Adam Feuerstein, Matthew Herper, and Damian Garde won a George Polk Award, one of the most prestigious in American journalism, for their investigation on Biogen’s Alzheimer’s treatment, Aduhelm.
Together, they revealed Biogen’s covert lobbying of the Food and Drug Administration, which overruled its scientific advisers to grant approval of Aduhelm despite questionable clinical trial results. Multiple investigations have ensued.
The exposé is available to subscribers to STAT+, our premium subscription service, where you’ll also find most of our exclusive coverage about the life sciences, biopharma, health tech, policy and politics, and, coming soon, hospitals and insurance. I hope you’ll consider a trial subscription.
If you’re interested in joining STAT+ with others, I wanted to let you know we recently launched a new STAT+ subscriber option called Groups. A group subscription provides a cost-effective way to equip your teams (two to 10 individuals) with trusted STAT journalism. Subscribe to STAT+ Thank you for reading STAT, and I hope you enjoy the movie tonight! Feel free to register your raves (or pans) on social media: @statnews @novapbs #AUGMENTED.
Sincerely,  Richard L. Berke
Co-founder & Executive Editor | 
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