Lauren Pastrana is the Evening News Anchor at CBS News Miami where she co-anchors the 5, 6, 7 and 11pm newscasts. The 2x Emmy Award-winning journalist joined CBS News Miami in April 2012 as a reporter, served as the station's morning news anchor for 5 years, and moved to evenings in 2020. She has been nominated for 8 Emmy Awards and won two for her reporting on Alzheimer's Disease and her coverage of the Florida Panthers' historic Stanley Cup victory. She has also won several Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Awards and Society of Professional Journalists Awards for her work. A Miami-native, Lauren believes everyone has a story to tell and she loves to share them in her hometown.
Lauren has helped lead CBS News Miami's coverage of historic events, including countless hurricanes, Presidential elections, the 2016 Republican National Convention, the death of Fidel Castro, the Parkland tragedy, the FIU bridge disaster, the coronavirus pandemic, the social justice protests of 2020, the Surfside condo collapse, the arraignment of former President Donald Trump in Miami and multiple professional sports championships, including the Super Bowl. She produced, wrote and hosted two CBS News Miami specials titled "Illuminating Alzheimer's" to shed light on a disease impacting millions of Americans, including her own family. Lauren has also focused her reporting on first responder mental health and other health and wellness issues affecting the South Florida community. She was featured in an episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show" where she highlighted the "best of" Miami for a national audience. When she's not on air, she can often be found hosting various charitable events. She has served as the Mistress of Ceremonies for the Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk, Lexus Corporate Run, A Safehaven for Newborns Gala, Walk the Talk for Epilepsy and the Walk to End Alzheimer's, to name just a few.
Before joining CBS News Miami, Lauren was a reporter and anchor at WINK-TV, the CBS affiliate in Fort Myers. She got her start in radio as a news anchor and reporter at NewsRadio 610 WIOD in Miami. She also spent a season as an in-stadium reporter at Miami Dolphins games. Lauren attended high school at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida. While at UF, she was awarded the Four-Year Scholar Award, a distinction bestowed to those who graduate at the top of their class.
In Gainesville, Lauren anchored and reported for WUFT-TV and was part of the team responsible for launching a Spanish-language web-based news service targeting Alachua and the surrounding counties titled AM850: Noticias en Español.
In her free time, Lauren enjoys reading, watching baseball and hanging out with her husband, son Jordan and daughter Gianela.