Michaeleen Doucleff
Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. For nearly a decade, she has been reporting for the radio and the web for NPR's global health outlet, Goats and Soda. Doucleff focuses on disease outbreaks, cross-cultural parenting, and women and children's health.
In 2014, Doucleff was part of the team that earned a George Foster Peabody award for its coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. For the series, Doucleff reported on how the epidemic ravaged maternal health and how the virus spreads through the air. In 2019, Doucleff and Senior Producer Jane Greenhalgh produced a story about how Inuit parents teach children to control their anger. That story was the most popular one on NPR.org for the year; altogether readers have spent more than 16 years worth of time reading it.
In 2021, Doucleff published a book, called Hunt, Gather, Parent, stemming from her reporting at NPR. That book became a New York Times bestseller.
Before coming to NPR in 2012, Doucleff was an editor at the journal Cell, where she wrote about the science behind pop culture. Doucleff has a bachelor degree in biology from Caltech, a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Berkeley, California, and a master's degree in viticulture and enology from the University of California, Davis.
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Most Americans will, at some point, suffer back pain, but there are a few cultures where back pain hardly exists. (This piece originally aired on June 8, 2015 on Morning Edition.)
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Scientists are making impressive progress in creating a vaccine for Zika. And they're using a new technology that makes vaccine development faster than ever. -
So far, data suggest that Zika doesn't pose the same risk of neurological defects to babies and children as it does to fetuses in the womb. But doctors don't know the long-term effects of the virus. -
Scientists tracked nearly 600 pregnant women in Colombia, who were reportedly infected with Zika during their third trimester. None of these women gave birth to a baby with apparent problems. -
A few months ago, health officials published a map that made it look like a big part of the U.S. was at high risk for Zika. Now they've released a new map that paints a very different picture.
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The first question: Should you go at all? The next question: If you do go, how do you protect yourself? -
There's a heated battle about the Olympics in Rio. Some health experts are calling for the games to be moved because of Zika. Others say attending the games doesn't pose a threat. -
Health officials have warned for years that the world is not ready for the next big pandemic. Leaders at the World Health Organization are meeting this week to try to change that.
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Long-lasting hormone contraceptives are now the most recommended form of birth control for young women. And many women say the fact that they can reduce or eliminate periods is a big plus. -
Mosquito season is just getting underway in the U.S., and some areas have the mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus. Pregnant women in places like Florida and Texas are at greatest risk.
