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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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. -
After weeks of internal debate, House Republicans have released their plan for the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. It faces challenges from within the GOP, from interest groups — and the public. -
Rep. Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon, has represented the northern Atlanta suburbs since 2005. In recent years, he has led Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. -
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. -
The recommendations from the Food and Drug Administration represent a major expansion in testing blood for Zika. The agency had earlier advised testing only in areas with an active outbreak. -
The latest poll on your health from NPR and its partners finds that most people think their workplace is supportive of actions to improve health. But gaps suggest there is room for improvement.
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The germs caused a urinary tract infection in a Pennsylvania woman that was difficult to treat. The bacteria were resistant to the drug often used as the last-ditch treatment, but another one worked. -
NPR polls found significant differences in the quality of health care experienced by Americans, depending on income. A webcast at 12:30 p.m. ET Wednesday will examine the disparities.
