Joe Neel
Joe Neel is NPR's deputy senior supervising editor and a correspondent on the Science Desk.
As a leader of NPR's award-winning health and science team, Neel directs coverage of breaking news in health and science, ranging from disease outbreaks and advances in medical research to debates over health reform and public health.
Joe also plays a key role in overseeing the Science Desk's award-winning enterprise reporting. Among his current projects and responsibilities, Neel supervises the Monday "Your Health" segment on Morning Edition. He also directs several ongoing editorial partnerships. One, a partnership with Kaiser Health News and public radio member stations, focuses on health care in the United States. Another is a polling project on health issues with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Neel has played a key role in expanding the network's coverage of global health and development issues. He is currently focused on domestic health issues, including cutting-edge biomedical research and developments in the health industry, such as the Affordable Care Act.
In 2008, he launched NPR's "Your Health" podcast and helped launch and grow "Shots," NPR's health blog, in 2010.
In addition to his responsibilities at NPR's Science Desk, Neel also regularly serves as newsroom manager, overseeing the network's overall news coverage.
During his tenure as editor, NPR's health reporters and correspondents have won numerous awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the National Academy of Sciences Communication Award, the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society for Professional Journalists, the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting on Congress, the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Journalism Prize, and the Association of Health Care Journalism award. Neel was awarded the prestigious Kaiser Family Foundation Media Fellowship in 2007.
Neel started filing stories about medicine and health as a freelancer for NPR in 1994 and joined the staff two years later.
He earned bachelor degrees from Washington University in St. Louis in both biology and German literature and language. He also studied biology at the Universitaet Tuebingen in Germany.
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Latinos reported substantial discrimination across their lives, including interactions with the police, being slurred because of their race or ethnicity and in health care settings.
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A third of black Americans say they avoid calling the police when in need because of fear of discrimination. And nearly half say they or a family member have been treated unfairly by the courts.
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How do African-Americans experience discrimination in daily life? A new poll is examining the extent of discrimination against six major ethnic and racial groups in America today.
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NPR is launching a deep exploration of how Americans experience discrimination in daily life. One key result: The sense that their own group suffers discrimination crosses racial and identity lines.
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Researchers say the test, which measures gene activity, can help avoid "overtreating" tumors that are not life-threatening. It might allow some patients to avoid radiation and chemotherapy. -
The version of the American Health Care Act passed by the House eliminates taxes on corporations and wealthy people and shrinks Medicaid coverage. A chart breaks down who would be affected and how. -
A new study finds that people who are overweight, but not obese, have shorter life spans. It's the opposite of a 2013 study that got a lot of attention by finding a few pounds might be good for you. -
High-quality, affordable child care can be difficult to find. A webcast looked at the issues and a poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
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Almost all parents rate their child care as very good or excellent, according to a new NPR poll. But researchers say that's off base, and that just 10 percent of child care is high quality.
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A letter from Donald Trump's personal physician says he is in "excellent physical health" and weighs 236 pounds, which, at a height of 6'3" puts him at the high-end of what is considered overweight.
