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.
-
It's related to herpes. And it infects most of the world — about half of Americans, nearly all the developing world. But don't go out and get infected. The virus has a dark side, too.
-
A child stricken with the deadliest form of the disease can quickly fall unconscious and die. A doctor in Michigan has dedicated her life to figuring out how this happens. At last, she has the answer.
-
Ebola is especially deadly for children and babies. About 80 percent of those infected have died. But one man knew instinctively that love and affection could make a difference.
-
It happened to Roald Dahl's daughter in 1962. It still happens today, in the U.S. and around the world. In rare cases, measles becomes an incurable disease.
-
Many of us take antibiotics when we get tummy troubles in developing countries. Scientists say this opens the door for a dangerous visitor in the GI tract. These microbes can stick around for months.
-
A handful of ecologists knew for years that West Africa was at risk for an Ebola outbreak. Now they're figuring out where else in the world the virus could be hiding. Many signs point to Asia.
-
While some Americans worried that Ebola would spread around the U.S., a new mosquito-borne virus flew right in. It sickened more than 2,000 Americans and nearly a million people across the Caribbean.
-
It's called "breakbone fever" because that's how bad you feel when you get it. There's no cure. But scientists have found powerful antibodies that could lead to the development of a simple vaccine.
-
Dr. Thomas Frieden visits West Africa this week to assess the fight against Ebola. His goal? Figure out how to keep the disease from turning into a permanent problem.
-
In parts of southern Africa, HIV has picked up mutations that slow down its ability to grow inside a person's blood. That's a good sign. But will it be enough to make a difference in the epidemic?