Rae Ellen Bichell
Rae Ellen Bichell is a reporter for NPR's Science Desk. She first came to NPR in 2013 as a Kroc fellow and has since reported Web and radio stories on biomedical research, global health, and basic science. She won a 2016 Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award from the Foundation for Biomedical Research. After graduating from Yale University, she spent two years in Helsinki, Finland, as a freelance reporter and Fulbright grantee.
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After a decline throughout the '90s, suicide rates have reversed course. Suicide has increased in almost every age group over the past 15 years.
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A Texas man who had traveled to Venezuela passed the Zika virus to his male partner through sex. CDC officials say that people should be aware that Zika can be transmitted through semen.
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U.S. health officials say they are now convinced that Zika virus can target the developing brain before birth, leading to a severe type of microcephaly and other brain abnormalities. -
The Obama administration requested $1.9 billion in emergency funds to prepare for Zika, but Congress has yet to respond. Now the White House plans to divert funding intended for Ebola. -
The organ donor and both recipients in the procedure this month were all HIV-positive — a first in the U.S. Using HIV-positive organs for some patients could enable a thousand more transplants a year. -
Evidence has ping-ponged over the decades on the effects of hormone therapy on a woman's arteries. The latest study suggests a brief stint on hormones might be helpful — if given at the right time. -
In engineering the cell, researchers paired away nearly all genes that weren't essential to life. It might eventually serve as a basic framework for different sorts of cellular factories, they say. -
Every year, little clusters of Nipah virus break out in Bangladesh. And it wasn't from the usual cause — drinking raw sap from date palm trees. So what's up? -
Quitting abruptly is more effective, a study finds, even for people who'd rather phase it out gradually. -
Getting an accurate diagnosis is a big hurdle in the current outbreak of Zika virus. There are three kinds of tests for Zika, and each has problems. Scientists are working hard to improve diagnosis.
