Ryan joined the Los Angeles Times in 2008 and has covered high-profile people and institutions, including the Catholic Church and Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, for the publication. She was part of the team that won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for their coverage of a University of Southern California gynecologist accused of sexually abusing hundreds of patients. Previously, Ryan worked at Court TV and the Asbury Park Press.