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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Chronic stress can lead to heart disease, cancer and other health problems. A study shows it doesn't matter if the stress comes from major life events or minor hassles. Time to take a deep breath? -
Many students go to college expecting to drink, and all too often the college culture encourages it. That makes students more vulnerable to sexual assault, car accidents and other dangers. -
Half of Americans say they've had a major stressful event in the past year, according to a poll by NPR, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Here's how it hurts. -
Research finds when hospitals initiate rapid response programs to treat stroke victims, response time is cut and fewer patients die. The stroke patients also have fewer significant disabilities.
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Patients undergoing chemotherapy need to eat to stay strong. But the drugs can cause nausea and damage taste buds. New flavors and spices can help a lot, a chef says. -
A recent study finds that a casino's expansion was associated with an increase in family income in its community. In turn, that increase in household income helped lead to a decrease in childhood obesity.
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Only one third of teenage girls have gotten the recommended three shots of HPV vaccine to protect against cervical cancer. Doctors are trying to figure out what will get them in the door.
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A poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds that nearly 1 in 5 Latinos say diabetes is the major health concern for themselves and their family. In East Los Angeles, where obesity and diabetes are common, community activists are committed to turning the problem around. -
There's evidence that many standard treatments for back pain — including surgery, spinal injections and painkillers — are often ineffective and can even worsen and prolong the problem. -
The notoriously short night's sleep that many tired adolescents get isn't all about surging hormones and too much homework, according to a sociologist who looked at shifting sleep patterns from ages 12 to 15. Teens who report good relationships with family and schoolmates tend to sleep better.
