The Department of Medicine would like to welcome two new communication specialists to the family. Kendall Daniels and Morgan Duerden will be providing a number of roles and services for the Department and its Divisions. Their focus will be telling patient and physician stories, highlighting clinical research and supporting internal and external communications through websites, newsletters and social media. Overall, the goal is to increase the visibility of the amazing work all of you are doing.
Please email us with any story ideas or shout outs that you may have about others: domcomms@med.unc.edu
Kendall Daniels earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Virginia Tech in 2019 with a major in Professional and Technical Writing and a minor in Medicine and Society. A few days after graduation, she accepted a Communications Assistant position at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Life Sciences Institute, where she wrote on global change, infectious disease, coastal studies, and translational plant science research. In 2022, Kendall decided that she wanted to focus more on medicine and health, which brought her to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill’s Department of Medicine. She is currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, where she is pursuing an M.A. in Science Writing. In the off chance that she is not writing, you can find Kendall exploring towns (and eating) throughout Virginia and North Carolina, trekking through nature preserves and state parks, and brushing up on her French.
Morgan Duerden graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. She spent two years in Texas working for an ABC affiliated TV station as a Multi-Media Journalist. There, she gained experience interviewing medical experts about the latest COVID-19 information, stayed up to date on local and state legislation and highlighted the unique personalities of people in the Texas panhandle. Morgan is skilled in videography, editing and managing digital media platforms. While she enjoyed the news industry, her focus had turned more to health and medicine. Morgan worked closely with the communications team at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center to get updated news out to the public. This is when she decided to transition her career to communications which brought her to UNC. Her passion has always been writing. In elementary school she had multiple journals full of stories that she enjoyed sharing with her classmates any opportunity she got. When not in the office, Morgan is walking on a nearby trail with her Australian Shepherd or enjoying the sunshine North Caroline often offers. Morgan is a pescatarian and is all ears for good restaurants in the area.