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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For nearly a century, jazz musicians have debated what gives songs that propulsive, groovy feel that makes you want to move with the music. The secret may lie in subtle nuances in a soloist's timing. -
False information targeting the Latino community is surging. Much of it is designed to galvanize voters or discourage pregnant women from seeking care. -
Religious rules guiding Catholic health care systems often mean their doctors can't prescribe contraceptives or perform tubal ligations. And sometimes that leaves patients with few other options. -
Emergency contraceptives and abortion pills are not the same thing, though people often confuse them. Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, it's vital to know the difference — and your options. -
To best protect against unintended pregnancy, emergency contraceptives like Plan B or Ella need to be taken within five days of unprotected sex, but a large number of pharmacies don't stock the pills. -
In the U.S., people of color have been more likely to die at younger ages, especially among lower-income communities. That's had a ripple effect on finances, education and physical and mental health. -
Sure, you don't have to wear a mask on airplanes, buses and ride shares anymore, but you still might want to depending on the circumstances. Here's what experts say about the risks. -
Health officials argue the protection of the COVID vaccine booster wanes over time and say some people need a second booster. But other infectious disease experts say three shots are enough for now. -
Boosting ventilation and filtration not only lowers the risk of transmission, it's also linked to higher test scores and better health. But making upgrades is more complex than it sounds. -
Recent research and anecdotes suggest some people are testing negative on rapid tests even after they have symptoms, then later testing positive. Here's what researchers think is going on.
