Richard Knox
Since he joined NPR in 2000, Knox has covered a broad range of issues and events in public health, medicine, and science. His reports can be heard on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation, and newscasts.
Among other things, Knox's NPR reports have examined the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa, North America, and the Caribbean; anthrax terrorism; smallpox and other bioterrorism preparedness issues; the rising cost of medical care; early detection of lung cancer; community caregiving; music and the brain; and the SARS epidemic.
Before joining NPR, Knox covered medicine and health for The Boston Globe. His award-winning 1995 articles on medical errors are considered landmarks in the national movement to prevent medical mistakes. Knox is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Columbia University. He has held yearlong fellowships at Stanford and Harvard Universities, and is the author of a 1993 book on Germany's health care system.
He and his wife Jean, an editor, live in Boston. They have two daughters.
-
As horrific as Haiyan has been, the disaster likely won't reach the same level of death and injury as the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 or Haiti's 2010 quake, disaster specialists say. Better communication systems in the disaster area are one reason why. -
The cancellations are making some people angry and many anxious. Opponents of the health law feel vindicated. They all cite the conflict between the cancellation notices and President Obama's repeated promise that people who like their existing health coverage could keep it.
-
More than 12 million Americans buy health insurance on their own, and many are getting cancellation notices because their individual coverage does not meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act. This is causing anxiety and anger — especially since most of these people can't get onto the healthcare.gov website to figure out their options for 2014.
-
A monkey virus that's a stand-in for HIV plummeted to undetectable levels when animals got potent antibodies of a type recently discovered in some humans. A single antibody injection was enough to do the job. -
The news that a baby born HIV-positive in Mississippi stayed HIV-free even though her mother stopped giving her anti-retroviral drugs sparked skepticism earlier this year. But a new report says that the girl is still virus-free at age 3. This could jumpstart a global study on super-early treatment of HIV-positive newborns. -
A cholera outbreak in Mexico has been traced to the same strain that first appeared in Haiti three years ago. It has appeared in the Dominican Republic and Cuba, too. So far nearly 9,000 people have died in the four countries, and health authorities think it will spread farther in the Americas. -
The majority of new HIV infections among gay men in the U.S. these days occur within committed couples. So researchers are piloting a strategy that's been successful in Africa. Gay couples in several cities have tried it and say the benefits are unexpected. -
A cholera outbreak in Haiti was likely triggered by United Nations peacekeeping forces stationed there after a 2010 earthquake. A human rights groups wants the U.N. to take responsibility for the cholera outbreak and to compensate Haitian families. -
A decades-long effort to prevent one of the world's leading scourges has resulted in a vaccine with only modest efficacy. Still, the shot has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives each year. So its developers are seeking regulatory approval in 2014. -
When medical research is published in a peer-reviewed journal, the presumption is that the study has been reviewed for accuracy. The advent of open-access journals has made it easier to be published.
