Helen Branswell, an infectious disease reporter who covered outbreaks from SARS to COVID-19, died Tuesday at age 69, STAT reported. She died in a hospital in Ottawa, and the cause was complications from cancer, her sister, Brenda Branswell, told STAT. CBC News also reported her death.

Branswell was a longtime reporter at the Canadian Press and joined STAT at its founding in 2015, STAT reported. She worked in Boston before moving home to Canada last year to be closer to family in Ottawa.

She was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, STAT reported. She came to the health beat by chance, while working in Toronto for the Canadian Press during the city's 2003 SARS outbreak.

Her early reporting on COVID drew a large following, STAT reported. "Hopefully this is nothing out of the ordinary. But a @ProMED_mail posting about 'unexplained pneumonias' in China is giving me #SARS flashbacks," she wrote on Dec. 31, 2019.

She won the George Polk Award for Public Service and the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting, STAT reported. She was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist with two colleagues for their early COVID stories.

"Throughout her career, Helen demonstrated an unwavering commitment to evidence, science, and truth, helping the public understand some of the most complex and consequential health challenges of our time," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, wrote in an email, STAT reported. CBC News reported that he posted a similar tribute on X.

"She always asked the one question nobody else asked, and it just happened to be the most important one," said Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, STAT reported. CBC Radio's Dr. Brian Goldman called her "one of the best medical journalists of her generation," CBC News reported.

"She loved her work," Brenda Branswell said, STAT reported. "She thought her job was a gift."

Branswell is survived by her five siblings and eight nieces and nephews, STAT reported.

What we know: Branswell died Tuesday in Ottawa at 69 of complications from cancer.
What we don't: Plans for a funeral or memorial have not been reported.