Jon Hamilton
Jon Hamilton is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. Currently he focuses on neuroscience and health risks.
In 2014, Hamilton went to Liberia as part of the NPR team that covered Ebola. The team received a Peabody Award for its coverage.
Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Hamilton was part of NPR's team of science reporters and editors who went to Japan to cover the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Hamilton contributed several pieces to the Science Desk series "The Human Edge," which looked at what makes people the most versatile and powerful species on Earth. His reporting explained how humans use stories, how the highly evolved human brain is made from primitive parts, and what autism reveals about humans' social brains.
In 2009, Hamilton received the Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award for his piece on the neuroscience behind treating autism.
Before joining NPR in 1998, Hamilton was a media fellow with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation studying health policy issues. He reported on states that have improved their Medicaid programs for the poor by enrolling beneficiaries in private HMOs.
From 1995-1997, Hamilton wrote on health and medical topics as a freelance writer, after having been a medical reporter for both The Commercial Appeal and Physician's Weekly.
Hamilton graduated with honors from Oberlin College in Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in English. As a student, he was the editor of the Oberlin Review student newspaper. He earned his master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, where he graduated with honors. During his time at Columbia, Hamilton was awarded the Baker Prize for magazine writing and earned a Sherwood traveling fellowship.
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With COVID-19 becoming a critical focus in hospital intensive care units, nurses, doctors and other caregivers have had to shift gears to protect staff and save patients.
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COVID-19 appears to thicken the blood of many patients, making them vulnerable to clots that can damage the lungs, kidneys and brain.
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David Williams, 54, spent eight days on a ventilator after he got COVID-19. Weeks after being discharged from the hospital, he still needs an oxygen tube and a walker.
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Dr. Wayne Riley, president of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, and an NPR science correspondent answer more questions about the racial disparity in how the coronavirus is impacting patients.
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Dr. Wayne Riley, president of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, and an NPR science correspondent answer questions about the racial disparity in how the coronavirus is impacting patients.
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Dr. Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer more listener questions about proper social distancing.
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Dr. Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer listener questions about social distancing.
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Dr. Meilan Han, a pulmonologist at the University of Michigan hospital, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer more questions about how the coronavirus affects the respiratory system.
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Dr. Meilan Han, a pulmonologist at the University of Michigan hospital, and NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton answer questions about ventilators and the way COVID-19 affects lungs.
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Ventilators can be lifesaving for some critically ill patients, but they're no panacea. The experience so far with COVID-19 is that the majority of patients put on ventilators don't survive.
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"Case fatality rates have been very confusing," says Dr. Steven Lawrence, an infectious disease expert. Here's why.
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A hospital in Seattle has set up a drive-through coronavirus testing clinic in its garage. The idea is to quickly test workers who have symptoms without putting other staff or patients at risk.