Scott Hensley
Scott Hensley edits stories about health, biomedical research and pharmaceuticals for NPR's Science desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has led the desk's reporting on the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Hensley has worked on award-winning investigations in collaboration with journalistic partners.
He was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with the Center for Public Integrity in 2018 that exposed drug industry influence on the choices of preferred medicines by Medicaid programs. The work won the 2019 Gerald Loeb Award for audio reporting.
In 2017, Hensley was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with Kaiser Health News that showed how the pharmaceutical industry exploits government incentives intended to encourage the development of treatments for rare diseases. The stories won the 2019 digital award from the National Institute for Health Care Management.
Hensley has been editing in his current role since 2019. He joined NPR in 2009 to launch Shots, a blog that expanded to become a digital destination for NPR health coverage.
Before NPR, Hensley was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal. He was the founding editor of The Wall Street Journal Health Blog, which focused on the intersection of health and business. As a reporter, he covered the drug industry and the Human Genome Project.
Hensley served on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists from 2012 to 2020.
He has a bachelor's degree in natural sciences from Johns Hopkins University and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.
Before becoming a journalist, Hensley worked in the medical device industry. He remains, now and forever, a lover of Dobermans, lacrosse and Callinectes sapidus.
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Before the FDA even weighed in, President Biden said his administration planned to make booster shots available this week. Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said the advisers' decision is "not the end of the story." -
Pfizer says data supports its request for Food and Drug Administration approval of a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine about six months after the second dose in people 16 years and older. -
The approval replaces the emergency use authorizations granted last December and could make it easier for employers, the military and universities to mandate vaccination. -
This is the first new drug approved for Alzheimer's disease since 2003. It's the first to show significant progress against the sticky brain plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. -
Updated study results say the vaccine is 76% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% effective against severe disease. Independent monitors had been concerned about a previous report. -
The Food and Drug Administration typically follows the advice of its expert advisers. A quick agency decision on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected given the state of the pandemic. -
An FDA advisory panel meets to discuss emergency use approval of the coronavirus vaccine. -
The president, who is being treated for COVID-19, has been downplaying the severity of the disease. He said falsely that, compared with the flu, COVID-19 is "in most populations far less lethal." -
The president says 50,000 could die from the flu. So far this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, it's at least 23,000 with an upper estimate as high as 59,000. -
How do Americans experience and cope with pain that makes everyday life harder? We asked in the latest NPR-IBM Watson Health Poll.
