Jon Hamilton
Jon Hamilton is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. Currently he focuses on neuroscience and health risks.
In 2014, Hamilton went to Liberia as part of the NPR team that covered Ebola. The team received a Peabody Award for its coverage.
Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Hamilton was part of NPR's team of science reporters and editors who went to Japan to cover the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Hamilton contributed several pieces to the Science Desk series "The Human Edge," which looked at what makes people the most versatile and powerful species on Earth. His reporting explained how humans use stories, how the highly evolved human brain is made from primitive parts, and what autism reveals about humans' social brains.
In 2009, Hamilton received the Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award for his piece on the neuroscience behind treating autism.
Before joining NPR in 1998, Hamilton was a media fellow with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation studying health policy issues. He reported on states that have improved their Medicaid programs for the poor by enrolling beneficiaries in private HMOs.
From 1995-1997, Hamilton wrote on health and medical topics as a freelance writer, after having been a medical reporter for both The Commercial Appeal and Physician's Weekly.
Hamilton graduated with honors from Oberlin College in Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in English. As a student, he was the editor of the Oberlin Review student newspaper. He earned his master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, where he graduated with honors. During his time at Columbia, Hamilton was awarded the Baker Prize for magazine writing and earned a Sherwood traveling fellowship.
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Diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's spread through the brain like "a forest fire." A new study from researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research suggests how the fire starts — and how it might be stopped. -
Pixar's animated fantasy takes viewers inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl named Riley. Psychologists say the film offers an accurate picture of how emotions and memories help make us who we are. -
Ventilators can be lifesaving for some critically ill patients, but they're no panacea. The experience so far with COVID-19 is that the majority of patients put on ventilators don't survive. -
"Case fatality rates have been very confusing," says Dr. Steven Lawrence, an infectious disease expert. Here's why. -
A hospital in Seattle has set up a drive-through coronavirus testing clinic in its garage. The idea is to quickly test workers who have symptoms without putting other staff or patients at risk. -
Brain scans show that when people listen to songs, an area in the left hemisphere decodes speech-like sounds while one on the right processes musical information. -
Scientists say certain brain wave patterns can predict whether a person is likely to respond to a common antidepressant, or would do better with non-drug therapy. -
Brains affected by autism appear to share a problem with cells that make myelin, the insulating coating surrounding nerve fibers that controls the speed at which the fibers convey electrical signals. -
Brain organoids grown in the lab look a lot like developing human brains. But a new study finds some important differences that could affect how scientists use them. -
Forty mice spent more than a month in orbit to test two approaches to strengthening muscle and bone in microgravity conditions. The results could help people with muscle and bone diseases.
