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.
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The only person known to have been cured of AIDS got a bone marrow transplant, so when two AIDS patients in Boston appeared to be free of the virus after transplants, scientists hoped they were cured, too. But the HIV virus has returned in both. -
The first in a new class of drugs that can cure the viral infection that is the leading cause of liver failure and liver cancer is poised for a marketing green light from the Food and Drug Administration. More than 3 million Americans have hepatitis C, but most don't know it. -
The administration is pledging $100 million toward a project to stop HIV infections once and for all. There's growing optimism among scientists that it may be possible to get patients' immune systems to control HIV without drugs, or even to eliminate the virus from the cells of infected people someday. -
A fresh analysis finds that the death toll from the H1N1 swine flu in 2009-10 was severely underestimated. The Americas were hit much harder than Europe or Australia. And the deaths occurred in a much younger population than normally affected by the flu.
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For decades, knowing your cholesterol number was the first step in preventing heart disease and stroke. Heart specialists would shift away from specific cholesterol targets under new guidelines. A risk-based approach tailored to each patient would become the new norm. -
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.
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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.
