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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Leading physicians' groups don't agree about when and how often women with an average risk for breast cancer should get a screening mammogram. But your history can help guide you and your doctor. -
NewsLast year, public health officials were taken by surprise when new strains of the flu virus appeared. Not so this year and they advise everyone six months or older to get vaccinated against the flu.
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Good CPR requires 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute. If you go too fast or too slow it's not as effective. Researchers say using a metronome helps medical providers maintain the right pace.
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Residents of North Carolina's "Stroke Belt" headed out with cameras to document why the area is notorious for high rates of heart disease and stroke. They aim to come up with community solutions.
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NewsPediatricians need to do more to get the right health care for children in foster care, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Those children often miss out on both routine and acute care. -
NewsWomen have precious few choices when it comes to treating menopause symptoms, an expert panel says. Cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnosis top the list. -
Some adults at risk of heart attack or stroke can indeed benefit from taking a daily aspirin, a federal panel says. And it may also lower colorectal cancer risk. But the treatment has risks, too. -
Too much sleep, too little sleep or disrupted sleep may put people at risk for heart disease. A study finds a link between poor quality sleep patterns and a buildup of calcium in the arteries. -
NewsMath anxiety is much like other fears, say scientists who scanned the brains of third-graders. One-on-one tutoring soothed the fear circuit in anxious kids' brains and improved performance, too. -
Kids on club teams have an advantage in making the high school team. But many families are being priced out by the high cost of league fees, equipment, and travel that club sports require.
