Ryan Gabrielson

Reporter

Photo of Ryan Gabrielson

Ryan Gabrielson is a reporter for ProPublica covering health care.

Previously, his reporting on the justice system exposed major flaws in forensic science evidence long relied on in the criminal courts, the U.S. Supreme Court’s factual errors and deadly conditions inside local jails.

In 2009, while a reporter at the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Arizona, he and Tribune colleague Paul Giblin won a Pulitzer Prize for a series that exposed how immigration enforcement by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office undermined investigations and emergency response. His stories for the Center for Investigative Reporting on violent crimes at California’s board-and-care institutions for the developmentally disabled were a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2013.

Gabrielson's work has received numerous national honors, including two George Polk Awards, a Livingston Award for national reporting, the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting and a pair of Sigma Delta Chi Awards. He was a 2009-2010 investigative reporting fellow at UC Berkeley. A Phoenix native, Gabrielson studied journalism at the University of Arizona.

Help ProPublica Investigate the World of Subprime Car Loans

More and more people are struggling to pay back loans on their used cars. Our journalists want to hear from the people who know the industry best.

Wall Street Bet Big on Used-Car Loans for Years. Now a Crisis May Be Looming.

The used-car market’s hot streak may be ending as borrowers struggle to make payments and regulators say some auto lenders are “setting up consumers to fail.”

The Shadowy Financial Empire Built Around Liberty HealthShare Is Showing Signs of Strain

Beers family members built a “conglomerate” by selling a Christian alternative to traditional health insurance. They’re now scrambling for cash, even though they received millions in PPP loans that were later forgiven.

Roadside Drug Tests Used to Convict People Aren’t Particularly Accurate. Courts Are Beginning to Prevent Their Use.

Field test kits provide the evidence most commonly used to secure convictions in drug cases in the U.S. One judge called the tests “arbitrary and unlawful guesswork.”

How Obamacare Enabled a Multibillion-Dollar Christian Health Care Cash Grab

Capitalizing on the pressure to pass the Affordable Care Act, a conservative lobbyist created an exception for faith-based health coverage, opening the door for “bad actors.”

A Christian Health Nonprofit Saddled Thousands With Debt as It Built a Family Empire Including a Pot Farm, a Bank and an Airline

Despite a history of fraud, one family has thrived in the regulatory no man’s land of health care sharing ministries, where insurance commissioners can’t investigate, federal agencies turn a blind eye and prosecutors reach paltry settlements.

St. Jude Stashed Away $886 Million in Unspent Revenue Last Year

New documents show that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s reserves grew to $7.6 billion, as other children's cancer nonprofits struggled to raise cash.

St. Jude Fights Donors’ Families in Court for Share of Estates

The high-profile children’s hospital uses donor money to engage in long and costly legal battles over wills. Here’s how St. Jude has created one of the most lucrative charitable bequest programs in the country.

St. Jude Hoards Billions While Many of Its Families Drain Their Savings

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital promises not to bill families. But the cost of having a child at the hospital for cancer care leaves some families so strapped for money that parents share tips on spending nights in the parking lot.

“Don’t You Work With Old People?”: Many Elder-Care Workers Still Refuse to Get COVID-19 Vaccine

Amid a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” more than 40% of the nation’s nursing home and long-term health care workers have yet to receive vaccinations.

Counties at Highest Risk for COVID Harm Often Have Lowest Vaccination Rates

The vaccine rollout was meant to prioritize vulnerable communities, but four months of data shows healthier — and often wealthier — counties have been faster to vaccinate.

Ayúdenos con nuestros reportajes sobre la vacuna contra COVID-19

El desarrollo y la distribución de una vacuna afectará a todos los habitantes del planeta. Ayúdenos a identificar historias importantes para poder contarlas.

Why We Can’t Make Vaccine Doses Any Faster

President Biden has promised enough doses for all American adults by this summer. There’s not much even the Defense Production Act can do to deliver doses before then.

How Many Vaccine Shots Go to Waste? Several States Aren’t Counting.

The CDC says health facilities should report unused and spoiled COVID-19 vaccines, but many are failing to do so. At a time when there aren’t enough shots to meet demand, significant numbers may be going in the trash.

How Operation Warp Speed Created Vaccination Chaos

States are struggling to plan their vaccination programs with just one week’s notice for how many doses they’ll receive from the federal government. The incoming Biden administration is deciding what to do with this dysfunctional system.

Vaccinating Black Americans Is Essential. Key States Aren’t Doing the Work to Combat Hesitancy

States and the federal government also don’t reliably collect data so we won’t have a good idea of whether the vaccine is reaching these critical populations.

Most States Aren’t Ready to Distribute the Leading COVID-19 Vaccine

A review of state distribution plans reveals that officials don’t know how they’ll deal with the difficult storage and transport requirements of Pfizer’s vaccine, especially in the rural areas currently seeing a spike in infections.

A police officer wielding a baton but hiding and shielding his face with a sheet of paper with legislation on it.

How Cops Who Use Force and Even Kill Can Hide Their Names From the Public

Marsy’s Law ensures crime victims the right to privacy. But police departments across Florida and the Dakotas have repeatedly used it to hide the names of officers who use force on the job. And the law may be spreading, too.

Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Who Decides When Vaccine Studies Are Done? Internal Documents Show Fauci Plays a Key Role.

Dr. Anthony Fauci will see data from government-funded vaccine trials before the FDA does. One caveat: Pfizer’s study, which is ahead of the others, isn’t included in his purview.

How to Tell a Political Stunt From a Real Vaccine

There is a small chance that Pfizer’s vaccine trial will yield results by Nov. 3. But it could still take weeks for FDA review. Here’s everything that has to happen and how to tell a political stunt from a real vaccine.

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