Michaeleen Doucleff
Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. For nearly a decade, she has been reporting for the radio and the web for NPR's global health outlet, Goats and Soda. Doucleff focuses on disease outbreaks, cross-cultural parenting, and women and children's health.
In 2014, Doucleff was part of the team that earned a George Foster Peabody award for its coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. For the series, Doucleff reported on how the epidemic ravaged maternal health and how the virus spreads through the air. In 2019, Doucleff and Senior Producer Jane Greenhalgh produced a story about how Inuit parents teach children to control their anger. That story was the most popular one on NPR.org for the year; altogether readers have spent more than 16 years worth of time reading it.
In 2021, Doucleff published a book, called Hunt, Gather, Parent, stemming from her reporting at NPR. That book became a New York Times bestseller.
Before coming to NPR in 2012, Doucleff was an editor at the journal Cell, where she wrote about the science behind pop culture. Doucleff has a bachelor degree in biology from Caltech, a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Berkeley, California, and a master's degree in viticulture and enology from the University of California, Davis.
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Many doctors in the U.S. say the practice puts an infant at risk of sleep-related death. A close look at the research reveals a different picture. -
An 21st century outbreak could be as nightmarish as the 1918 pandemic, which killed about 40 million. So the Gates Foundation wants to spur the development of a flu vaccine. Don't we already have one? -
One scientist is predicting a risky year for tick-borne Lyme disease in the Northeast, and it's spreading. But don't panic. We've got tips. -
So far, health officials know of 37 confirmed cases of people who contracted Zika from mosquitoes in Miami. But computer models suggest the underlying outbreak in Miami is bigger — and spreading. -
Federal health officials are cautioning pregnant travelers to avoid a Miami neighborhood where at least 14 cases of the virus have been traced to local mosquitoes. What about the rest of Florida? -
Although an increasing number of U.S. hospitals and other birthing centers now encourage women to breast-feed and teach them how, other common practices by staff can hinder moms from sticking with it. -
Hospital admissions caused by bike injuries have more than doubled in the past 15 years across the country. One doctor thinks the "Lance Armstrong effect" could be a reason for the jump. -
There are a few populations in the world where back pain hardly exists. One woman thinks she has figured out why, and she's sharing their secrets. Have Americans forgotten how to stand properly? -
What if microbes could ferment sugar into narcotics, like the way yeasts make beer? That day is quickly approaching. This week scientists report all the steps needed to make morphine in yeast. -
We're not talking about just a smidge. Roughly 10 percent of samples tested contained at least 10 percent cow's milk. Doctors say the diluted milk could be dangerous for babies for several reasons.
