Joe Palca
Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. He is currently focused on the eponymous series, "Joe's Big Idea." Stories in the series explore the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors. Palca is also the founder of NPR Scicommers – A science communication collective.
Palca began his journalism career in television in 1982, working as a health producer for the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC. In 1986, he left television for a seven-year stint as a print journalist, first as the Washington news editor for Nature, and then as a senior correspondent for Science Magazine.
In October 2009, Palca took a six-month leave from NPR to become science writer in residence at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Palca has won numerous awards, including the National Academies Communications Award, the Science-in-Society Award of the National Association of Science Writers, the American Chemical Society's James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Prize, and the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Writing. In 2019, Palca was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism.
With Flora Lichtman, Palca is the co-author of Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us (Wiley, 2011).
He comes to journalism from a science background, having received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he worked on human sleep physiology.
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Johnson & Johnson reported on Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine appears safe. Clinical trial results are expected to be published later this month.
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Mathematical models can help public health officials decide how best to deploy the COVID-19 vaccine when it is in short supply.
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The U.K. has authorized emergency use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine. In the U.S., Pfizer and Moderna are now distributing their vaccines. Other vaccine candidates may be available soon.
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A look at the week's COVID-19 and vaccine news, including new information from the variant out of the United Kingdom.
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An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration met on Thursday to review Moderna's application for emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine. NPR discusses the latest.
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An advisory panel meets Thursday to give the FDA guidance about granting an Emergency Use Authorization for Moderna's vaccine. If granted, it would be the second COVID-19 vaccine available in the U.S.
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The Food and Drug Administration has made public drugmaker Moderna's application for emergency authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine. NPR explores what researchers think of the application.
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An advisory committee of independent experts met on Thursday to consider an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. NPR discusses the committee's deliberations and recommendations.
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The Food and Drug Administration released its analysis of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. An independent committee will meet with the agency Thursday to discuss emergency use of the vaccine.
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Researchers found that a certain class of antibodies in a monkey's blood predicted protection from COVID-19. If that hold true for humans, a blood test may show whether a vaccine candidate is working.
