Chris DeFrancesco '94 (CLAS)

Chris DeFrancesco has been writing for UConn Health since 2007. He is a proud graduate of UConn’s journalism program. As an undergraduate in Storrs he was one of the play-by-play voices of UConn men’s and women’s basketball on WHUS-FM, a writer for the Daily Campus, and a campus shuttle bus driver. He’s been a freelance writer, editor of two weekly newspapers (Bloomfield Journal and Windsor Locks Journal), and most notably a reporter and anchor on WTIC NewsTalk 1080. He is a four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcasters Association Walt Dibble Award for Personal Excellence in Radio. His work also has earned recognition from the Connecticut pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Chris is an elected officer in his union (UHP Local 3837) and serves on the board of the Newington Children’s Theatre Company, Connecticut’s longest-running youth theatre program. He lives in Newington with his wife, Caroline, daughter, Audrey, and their dogs, Spot and Alex.


Author Archive

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Podcast: Fall and Winter Respiratory Ailments Await

UConn Health infectious diseases experts Nancy Dupont and Dr. David Banach on recognizing, treating, and avoiding illness

Dr. Adrian Salmon looking at a computer monitor

‘Mouth Taping’ Not the Answer for Better Sleep

‘I do not recommend that practice at all,’ says Dr. Adrian Salmon from UConn Health’s Sleep Disorders Center

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Podcast: What Aerosmith Can Teach Us About Vocal Injury

Hear experts from UConn Health Voice and Speech Clinic explain fractured larynx and other voice problems they see and how to treat and prevent them

mosquito on human skin at sunset

Monitoring Mysterious ‘Sloth Fever’

Dr. Kevin Dieckhaus offers insight on oropouche virus from UConn Health’s International Traveler’s Medical Service

Dr. Timothy Lishnak examines a model patient

Why Whooping Cough Now?

Resurgence of pertussis is relative, says Dr. Timothy Lishnak from UConn Health’s family medicine faculty

A phone screen showing information about mpox next to the World Health Organization logo.

Mpox ‘Global Emergency’ Not an Imminent Threat in US

Dr. Kevin Dieckhaus monitors from UConn Health’s International Traveler’s Medical Service

Volunteer and employee interact at information desk

Altruistic Teens Help UConn Health Grow Volunteer Program

With 33 high school students, volunteer participation is highest since before pandemic

two men hoisting bicycles over their heads on a beach

Back From Biking Coast-to-Coast

Dental students continue 19-year UConn Health tradition of cycling cross-country for a cause

Dr. Ketan Bulsara speaking in academic rotunda

Prestigious Scientific Honor Society Inducts UConn Health’s Neurosurgery Chief

Dr. Ketan Bulsara joins Sigma Xi, the world’s largest multidisciplinary honor society for scientists and engineers

A woman and man hike through woods, with a warning sign about ticks on the trail ahead of them.

Tick Bite? Don’t Panic

UConn Health’s Dr. Henry M. Feder Jr. on what to expect — and what to question — this tick season