Chiacchia was born in Hackensack, NJ. He earned a PhD in biochemistry, at the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1991. He has been published in four different genres: Science Fiction, Medical Writing,^[1] Search and Rescue Science, and Journalism. Ken began his career as a medical science writer at Harvard Medical School in 1993. Currently he is a medical science writer and editor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.^[2] Chiacchia is a member of both the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America^[3] and the National Association of Science Writers.^[4] He has been a news reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's North Hills section with over 50 published stories.^[5] Ken had a recent story that was the cover page article for the Pittsburgh City Paper.^[6]

He is also a dog handler in Allegheny Mountain Rescue League, a Pittsburgh-based volunteer organization that assists authorities in civilian lost-person searches.^[7] His work has been noted in local newspapers.^[8] He has written on the science of olfaction for search and rescue workers.^[9] In 1993, Chiacchia joined the Pittsburgh Worldwrights Writers' Workshop founded by Pittsburgh science-fiction and fantasy writer Mary Soon Lee^[10][11] and continued by Pittsburgh author Barton Paul Levenson and others. Chiacchia won the 2008 Kamin Science Center Journalism Award.^[12]

Fiction

• "A Matter of Gravity." The Martian Wave, March 2001....Reprinted in Wondrous Web Worlds 2 (anthology), June 2002.
• "Medical Command." Alternate Realities, July–August 2001.
• "Apology for a Red Planet." Neverworlds, October 2001.
• "A Technical Fix." Cicada, March–April 2002.
• "Epidemic." Ideomancer, July 2003.
• "Tribute." Oceans of the Mind, September 2003.
• "And Yet It Moves." Paradox, November 2003....to be reprinted in Cicada.
• "The Rescue Contract." Cicada, January–February 2004.
• "Resistance." Oceans of the Mind, January 2005.
• "Victim." From the Trenches anthology, November 2006.
• "House Trainer." The Hub, October 2007.
• "The Humanoid Element." Cicada, January–February 2008.
• "And Yet It Moves." Cicada, January–February 2009 pp. 13–17

Poems

• "Graveyard." The Pedestal, October 2004.
• "Victim." The Pedestal, October 2004.
• "Casualty." On Our Way to the Battle: Poetry from the Trenches (chapbook), November 2006....Reprinted in the Rhysling Anthology (Rhysling Award nominee), May 2007.

Awards

• 2008 Kamin Science Center Journalism Award.^[13]

• "House Trainer" ^[14]
• "And Yet It Moves" ^[15][16]
• "Victim" ^[17][18]
• "Resistance" ^[19]
• "Tribute" ^[20]

• "Replanting Cranberry The Pittsburgh region's poster child for sprawl is putting down new roots." Pittsburgh City Paper, December 3, 2009 (Cover Page)^[6]
• ”In Search of Human Scent.”^[9]
• "Who Goes There? The Body's System for Generating Individual Scent" Advanced Rescue Technology, June/July 2004, pp. 45–50.^[9]
• ”Getting it right: Evaluating standards and practices for future training.”^[9]
• "8 Things Hackers Hate About You:"^[21]
• "Brain Waves," University of Chicago Magazine, Nov./Dec. 2007.
• "Insanity Defense," Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 2001.

• Chiacchia KB. Quantitation of the class I disulfides of the insulin receptor. [Journal Article. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.] Biochemical & Biophysical Research Communications. 176(3):1178–82, 1991 May 15. UI: 2039503
• Chiacchia KB. Reoxidation of the class I disulfides of the rat adipocyte insulin receptor is dependent upon the presence of insulin: the class I disulfide of the insulin receptor is extracellular. [In Vitro. Journal Article. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.] Biochemistry. 27(13):4894-902, 1988 Jun 28. UI: 3048393
• Chiacchia KB. Drickamer K. Direct evidence for the transmembrane orientation of the hepatic glycoprotein receptors. [Journal Article. Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.] Journal of Biological Chemistry. 259(24):15440-6, 1984 Dec 25. UI: 6150936