Sara Willa Ernst is a reporter with The Cancer Letter. She joined the publication in 2025.


Before joining The Cancer Letter, Sara reported on health in Texas both as a freelance journalist based in Austin and the health reporter at the NPR station in Houston, where she produced two investigative podcasts "Hot Stops" and "Below the Waterlines." The latter won her two regional Murrow awards in 2023.


Her bylines have appeared in publications such as NPR, The Texas Standard, WHYY's The Pulse, WBUR's Here and Now, Austin Free Press and the Austin Chronicle.


She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor's degree in Communications Studies in 2018.
Latest Stories
Cancer Policy
NCI officials were notably absent from the annual meeting of the Association of American Cancer Institutes and the Cancer Center Administrators Forum in Washington, DC, due to the government shutdown that started on Oct. 1. 
Science advocates organize march in DC to demand impeachment of RFK Jr.
Cancer Policy
Scientists, health care professionals, and supporters will take to the streets on Nov. 5, calling for Congress to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from his position as Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
Federal official claims that temporary order blocking RIFs doesn’t apply to HHS
Cancer Policy
A court filing by Thomas Nagy Jr., deputy assistant secretary for Human Resources and chief human capital officer at HHS, claims that his department can proceed with the 982 RIFs it issued two weeks ago, despite a judge’s temporary order freezing the notices issued by two dozen federal agencies since the government shutdown that began on Oct 1. 
Cancer Policy
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 15, ordering the Trump administration to reverse the wave of layoffs that the administration is using as a pressure tactic intended to force the Democrats to accept cuts to popular health programs and reopen the government.
NIH announces restrictions on human biospecimen sharing with China and other foreign adversaries
Cancer Policy
NIH has published a policy that prohibits U.S. researchers and NIH grant recipients working with human biospecimens to share this data with “countries of concern.” That list includes China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. 
Cancer Policy
Governor Gavin Newsom Oct. 6 signed into law SB 351—a piece of legislation that prohibits hedge fund and private equity groups from interfering with the medical decisionmaking of physicians and their patients. 

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