Patti Neighmond
Award-winning journalist Patti Neighmond is NPR's health policy correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
Based in Los Angeles, Neighmond has covered health care policy since April 1987. She joined NPR's staff in 1981, covering local New York City news as well as the United Nations. In 1984, she became a producer for NPR's science unit and specialized in science and environmental issues.
Neighmond has earned a broad array of awards for her reporting. In 1993, she received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of health reform. That same year, she received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for a story on a young quadriplegic who convinced Georgia officials that she could live at home less expensively and more happily than in a nursing home. In 1990, Neighmond won the World Hunger Award for a story about healthcare and low-income children. She received two awards in 1989: a George Polk Award for her powerful ten-part series on AIDS patient Archie Harrison, who was taking the anti-viral drug AZT; and a Major Armstrong Award for her series on the Canadian health care system. The Population Institute, based in Washington, DC, has presented its radio documentary award to Neighmond twice: in 1988 for "Family Planning in India" and in 1984 for her coverage of overpopulation in Mexico. Her 1987 report "AIDS and Doctors" won the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism, and her two-part series on the aquaculture industry earned the 1986 American Association for the Advancement of Science Award.
Neighmond began her career in journalism in 1978, at the Pacifica Foundation's DC bureau, where she covered Capitol Hill and the White House. She began freelance reporting for NPR from New York City in 1980. Neighmond earned her bachelor's degree in English and drama from the University of Maryland, and now lives in Los Angeles.
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When NPR reported on research that sheds doubt on the value of fish oil and vitamin D supplements, people had a lot of questions. So we went back to the experts to get you some answers. -
After years of debate, a major government funded study failed to find any overall benefit of taking widely used supplements to protect against heart disease or cancer. -
There's no benefit to delaying pushing after receiving epidural anesthesia and reaching full dilation. A delay increases the risk of complications, particularly for the mother, a large study finds. -
When you go to the doctor in pain, you'll probably be asked to rate your discomfort on a scale of 0 to 10. But doctors say there may be a better way to assess pain. -
A survey of fitness professionals who keep track of how we exercise suggests 2018 is likely to find more of us trading fitness gadgets for high-intensity interval training and group classes. -
The jury's been out on whether low blood levels of vitamin D increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Researchers say a new review involving more than 12,000 people strongly suggests the answer is yes. -
Noting a sharp rise in colorectal cancer among younger people, the American Cancer Society now suggests that healthy adults get their first screening five years earlier — at age 45. -
A study of patients with low back pain finds that those who got physical therapy first needed fewer pricey scans and surgeries and had "significantly lower out-of-pocket costs" for treatment overall. -
Scientists have long been fascinated with whether dramatically restricting the amount of food we eat can help us live longer. New research suggests it might, but the question is, is it worth it? -
As early as your mid-40s, especially if you're sedentary, your heart muscle can show signs of aging, losing its youthful elasticity and power. But moderately strenuous exercise can change that.
