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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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research finds wearing a surgical mask underneath a cloth mask — a concept known as double masking — can vastly improve the protection for the wearer.
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A study raised concerns about its effectiveness against the coronavirus variant sweeping through the country — although the data is too preliminary for definitive conclusions. -
From double-masking to getting a tighter seal, these suggestions and simple at-home hacks can make your mask a better barrier against the surging delta variant. -
As more contagious coronavirus variants spread in the U.S., some public health experts say it's time to wear two masks. A cloth mask with a surgical mask on top should give more protection, they say.
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Research suggests the vaccine prevents disease only 50% of the time. But it could still have a big impact. And many countries are betting on it. -
Many nations are betting on a vaccine made in China to immunize their populations. Clinical trial data from Brazil shows it is only 50% effective — less than the 78% previously reported. -
Kenya's president pledged to stamp out the practice by 2022. But since the pandemic began, activists say more girls are being cut — and married off afterward. -
A movement sparked by medical students is pushing to eliminate the use of race to estimate kidney function, saying it reinforces racist thinking. Some argue the change could cause unintended harm. -
Researchers analyzed the lingering harms of of decades-old racist lending policies known as redlining. Their project lets you explore the current impacts on maps of 142 cities. -
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, one of the co-chairs of the Biden coronavirus advisory board, detailed plans for reaching minority communities with a vaccine and for messaging around pandemic safety.
