Selena Simmons-Duffin
Selena Simmons-Duffin reports on health policy for NPR.
She has worked at NPR for ten years as a show editor and producer, with one stopover at WAMU in 2017 as part of a staff exchange. For four months, she reported local Washington, DC, health stories, including a secretive maternity ward closure and a gesundheit machine.
Before coming to All Things Considered in 2016, Simmons-Duffin spent six years on Morning Edition working shifts at all hours and directing the show. She also drove the full length of the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014 for the "Borderland" series.
She won a Gracie Award in 2015 for creating a video called "Talking While Female," and a 2014 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award for producing a series on why you should love your microbes.
Simmons-Duffin attended Stanford University, where she majored in English. She took time off from college to do HIV/AIDS-related work in East Africa. She started out in radio at Stanford's radio station, KZSU, and went on to study documentary radio at the Salt Institute, before coming to NPR as an intern in 2009.
She lives in Washington, DC, with her spouse and kids.
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Many of the millions of Americans who lost their jobs in recent weeks also lost their health insurance. Others lacked a health plan even before COVID-19 hit. Here's a start to finding help.
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What's behind the "14 days of self-quarantine" guidance after exposure to someone with COVID-19 or after travel from a place with a high number of cases? Think of yourself as a potential incubator.
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Aetna, Cigna and Humana now say they will waive most treatment costs associated with COVID-19 that would normally be picked up by patients enrolled in their health plans. Will other firms follow suit?
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There is $100 billion for hospitals and health care providers, money for vaccine research and the national stockpile, but patients could still face high costs if they get sick.
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To stop COVID-19, retired doctors are signing up to take clinical shifts. Specialists, including dentists, could move to front line care. And med students are fielding calls in overwhelmed clinics.
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Here's what it will take for medical facilities across the nation to handle the coming surge of COVID-19 patients.
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Whether your mild or moderate symptoms mean you have a cold, the flu, or COVID-19 doesn't change the medical advice right now. Stay home, rest, and call or email your doctor if symptoms worsen.
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Experts weigh in on the coronavirus response in the U.S. and how some early missteps may have affected public trust.
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The Obama and Trump administrations have used their power to shape legal interpretations of "sex discrimination" in very different ways. Here's a rundown on what's changed for LGBTQ rights in the U.S.
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The last few days have seen dramatic developments related to the spread of COVID-19. NPR's health policy reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin breaks down the recent updates.