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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A resurgence in COVID-19 cases is testing the endurance of health care workers who care for the sickest patients, most of whom are unvaccinated. -
Surveys show that support for COVID-19 vaccines is rising among Black and Latinx populations, now that tens of millions of Americans have safely received the shots. -
Friday marked the busiest day for the nation's airports since COVID-19 put the brakes on air travel almost a year ago. But the number of travelers remains far below 2019 levels. -
The two countries joined a number of other European nations that have temporarily suspended the shot after several people reportedly developed blood clots after receiving it. -
Severe cases of COVID-19 can injure the brain in ways that affect memory, thinking and mood for months after the infection is gone, new research hints. It may even raise the risk of Alzheimer's. -
A synthetic version of the psychedelic drug ibogaine appears to relieve depression and addiction without producing hallucinations or other dangerous side effects — at least in rodents. -
Government scientists estimate that the true number of coronavirus infections is eight times the reported number of 12.5 million, meaning "most of the country remains at risk," the team reports. -
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a treatment for progeria, a genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly. Zokinvy is the first drug approved by the agency for the disorder.
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People who get more deep sleep appear less likely to develop Alzheimer's. That may be because this phase of sleep allows the brain to clear out waste products. -
Psilocybin, the hallucinogenic substance found in "magic" mushrooms, appears to relieve the symptoms of major depression.
