Maria Godoy
Maria Godoy is a senior science and health editor and correspondent with NPR News. Her reporting can be heard across NPR's news shows and podcasts. She is also one of the hosts of NPR's Life Kit.
Previously, Godoy hosted NPR's food vertical, The Salt, where she covered the food beat with a wide lens — investigating everything from the health effects of caffeine to the environmental and cultural impact of what we eat.
Under Godoy's leadership, The Salt was recognized as Publication of the Year in 2018 by the James Beard Foundation. With her colleagues on the food team, Godoy won the 2012 James Beard Award for best food blog. The Salt was also awarded first place in the blog category from the Association of Food Journalists in 2013, and it won a Gracie Award for Outstanding Blog from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation in 2013.
Previously, Godoy oversaw political, national, and business coverage for NPR.org. Her work as part of NPR's reporting teams has been recognized with several awards, including two prestigious Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Silver Batons: one for coverage of the role of race in the 2008 presidential election, and another for a series about the sexual abuse of Native American women. The latter series was also awarded the Columbia Journalism School's Dart Award for excellence in reporting on trauma, and a Gracie Award.
In 2010, Godoy and her colleagues were awarded a Gracie Award for their work on a series exploring the science of spirituality. She was also part of a team that won the 2007 Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for Excellence in Reporting on Drug and Alcohol Issues.
Godoy was a 2008 Ethics fellow at the Poynter Institute. She joined NPR in 2003 as a digital news editor.
Born in Guatemala, Godoy now lives in the suburbs of Washington, DC, with her husband and two kids. She's a sucker for puns (and has won a couple of awards for her punning headlines).
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Girls in the U.S. are getting their first menstrual period about 6 months earlier on average than they did in the 1950s and '60s. And the number of girls starting their period before age nine has doubled. Researchers say parents can help prepare their kids for early puberty. -
ADHD is an ongoing and expanding public health concern, according to researchers studying the disorder. One million more U.S. children were diagnosed in 2022 compared to 2016, a new study shows. -
Childhood myopia, or nearsightedness, is growing rapidly in the U.S. and around the world. Researchers say kids who spend two hours outside every day, are less likely to develop the condition. -
The voluntary industry guidelines come amid a dramatic rise in accidental pediatric ingestions of melatonin. At the same time, more and more kids are using melatonin on purpose as a sleep aid. -
Researchers have learned a lot about blended families since the 1970s — when The Brady Bunch painted a perfect picture of stepsiblings getting along. Some of their advice might surprise you. -
The majority of American voters, including Republicans, support protecting access to abortion for women who are experiencing pregnancy-related emergencies, such as miscarriages, a KFF poll finds. -
Why are so many frozen embryos created? And how is the Alabama Supreme Court ruling likely to affect IVF in the future? Here's what you need to know. -
The slow-moving Chinese martial art tai chi is known to increase flexibility and balance. Now, research suggests it's more effective at reducing blood pressure than more vigorous forms of exercise. -
Kids who have dogs get significantly more physical activity, compared to kids who don't. Researchers followed 600 children over three years, and found young girls got the biggest exercise boost. -
From neonatal and primary care to emergency medicine, kids got lower-quality care than their white peers, researchers found. Disparities include longer waits and less pain medication for broken bones.
