Sleep, Obesity and Heart Health
As Americans’ waistlines have expanded, so have the risks to their sleeping patterns and their hearts. If you get less sleep, you’re more likely to be obese. And if you’re obese, you have a higher risk of heart disease, said Dr. Virend Somers of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In a session with National Press Foundation fellows, Somers –…
Sleep and Obesity
By Chris Adams Social media is blamed for a lot of things. Is it also a culprit in America’s obesity crisis? Dr. Virend Somers, a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, led National Press Foundation journalists through several recent breakthroughs in thinking about obesity. His discussion touched on the strengths and weaknesses of the commonly-cited body mass index (BMI) measurement, as well…
Transforming Child Welfare at the County Level
Long before his 30+ year career in social services began, Charles Bradley got a profound insight into the needs of vulnerable youth. It came in the form of a knock on his bedroom window by his high school best friend, Jay. “At age 16 and 17 I never asked what his family situation was in detail, but I knew when…
Conquering Sickle Cell with CRISPR: Victoria Gray’s Story
As a child who loved to read, Victoria Gray identified the pain that stalked her life while still in elementary school. Doctors had diagnosed sickle cell disease when she was three months old, but it wasn’t until Gray found a definition in a book that she understood what was happening to her body. There was pain – lots of it,…
Debbie Drell
Drell briefed National Press Foundation fellows in November 2023: Fueling Diversity in Rare Disease Research.  Debbie serves as the Director of Membership at the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). In this role, she oversees NORD’s membership programs, which support the collective and individual needs of rare disease patient organizations, patients, and advocates through education, research, advocacy and mentorship. She…
Lauren Miller Rogen Speaks Out on Mom’s Alzheimer’s
Lauren Miller Rogen says she can’t remember a time where Alzheimer’s wasn’t a part of her life – her grandfather, grandmother and mother all battled the disease. In 2012, Miller Rogen and her husband, actor-comedian Seth Rogen, founded Hilarity for Charity, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering individuals with Alzheimer’s and caregivers. From Rogen’s stand-up special on Netflix to other charity…
Disruption Plus Resilience Equals Success
When Michael Bolden’s journalism career began, the options were fairly simple: reporter, copy editor, managing editor, photographer, etc. Though he’d had prestigious reporting internships, he accepted a copy editor position as his first newsroom job. It was just the first time in a long, distinguished career that American Press Institute CEO and Executive Director Bolden pivoted to take advantage of…
Responding to Trauma in Immigrant Children
Children who arrive in the U.S. with their families can experience multiple layers of challenges, including mental and emotional trauma, poverty, etc. Monica Romo, a senior program coordinator with the University of Texas at Austin’s Girasol program, trains the staffers of organizations that support immigrant families’ mental health. She explained what constitutes trauma, where it comes from, and how navigate…
As Workplace Mental Health Worsens, Some Companies Step Up
Employee mental health is drawing more news coverage as companies recognize that worker depression and anxiety hurt their bottom line as well. Three experts discuss the new emphasis by the Surgeon General and others on workplace health and mental well-being – and how it’s driving everything from turnover to unionization. [Transcript | Video] 5 takeaways: ➀ Depression is the leading…
How to Write Narrative Journalism and Profiles
Even someone as successful as Washington Post features reporter Dan Zak says he still struggles with the writing process. Here’s some of the advice he shared with NPF’s Paul Miller fellows. [Transcript | Video] 5 takeaways: ➀ Writing is hard and words are crude.  "My process is terribly inefficient, involves procrastination and panic," Zak said. He doesn’t like writing, but…
Making All Of The Pieces Fit
5 takeaways: ➀ Don’t automatically dismiss the “unglamorous” jobs. Before Brakkton Booker left NPR in 2021 to write Politico’s newsletter The Recast, he spent two of his 17 years with the radio network pulling an overnight shift in Los Angeles. Among his responsibilities was ensuring that the West Coast host of "Morning Edition" didn’t fall asleep during the show, which…
Reporting on Kids and the COVID Vaccine
5 takeaways: ➀ COVID is now one of the top 10 causes of death among children. The Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use of the COVID vaccine for children ages 5-11 for a reason: youngsters are increasingly hospitalized with the virus. More than 8,000 young children have been hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19. Children of color are especially vulnerable.…
Writing About Opioids
Video with Unedited Interactive Transcript 5 takeaways: ➀ Explore how opioids changed the geography of America’s addiction problem. The sudden wave of overdoses not just in cities but in suburban and rural area confounded residents and caught some reporters by surprise. Beth Macy, a Virginia journalist and author of “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America,” said…
Digital Therapies for Drug Addiction
Video with Interactive Transcript 5 takeaways: ➀ Phone apps can improve patient outcomes compared to standard treatment. Dr. Lisa Marsch, who directs the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Dartmouth College, described one randomized, controlled trial conducted with adults who met criteria for an opioid use disorder. All patients were offered buprenorphine to stabilize brain neurochemistry. Some patients also received…
Marijuana Use Increases Risk of Psychosis and Other Ills
► Video with Interactive Transcript 5 takeaways: ➀ Marijuana remains the most popular of all illicit drugs. For people 12 and older, about 19% – about 53 million Americans – used an illicit drug in 2018. Of those, 44 million used marijuana. Next was misuse of prescription pain relievers, by 10 million. “It even dwarfs opioids, even though of course…
Dr. Virend Somers
Dr. Virend Somers is a consultant cardiologist in the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases at the Mayo Clinic, with joint appointments in the Division of Nephrology and Internal Medicine and the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering. Somers also directs the Cardiovascular Facility and the Sleep Facility within the Center for Clinical and Translational Science. He holds the Alice Sheets Marriott…
Dr. Jorge Castilla
Dr. Jorge Castilla is the senior emergency coordinator for health emergency response at the World Health Organization. During the course of his 30 years of medical humanitarian assistance experience, Castilla has served in a wide array of positions spanning the globe. He worked as a general physician, district health director and regional director of epidemiology in Colombia. He also served…
Tips for Covering Global Trade
One nation’s “war” is another nation’s “dispute.” And for the media caught in the middle, navigating that tension – and understanding the rhetoric – is vital. That’s been the task for reporters covering the trade disputes among China, the U.S. and several other nations that accelerated with the election of Donald Trump. For most news organizations, trade used to be…
Stress, Pregnancy and Heart Health
The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, with some of the most advanced medical technology. It also has a dismal – and worsening – record on maternal health care. Bottom line: Pregnancy is killing many women, and there are steps that could be taken to reduce maternal deaths. That was the message of Dr. Nandita…
The American Perspective in Hong Kong
For the leader of one of the largest American Chambers of Commerce outside the United States, the first two years of the U.S.-China trade war have been busy and nerve-wracking. Tara Joseph, president of AmCham Hong Kong, detailed for National Press Foundation fellows how the trade war between the United States and China has accelerated interest in all things Hong…
Caregiving for Dementia
Caregiving for a loved one is difficult – but adding dementia to the mix is “caregiving on steroids.” Amy Goyer, family and caregiving expert for AARP, devoted years of her life to caring for her parents, both of whom experienced the effects of Alzheimer’s disease as they aged. She explained that dementia caregiving is more complicated because every case is…
Digging into the DoD
By Chris Adams In exploring the billions of dollars spent by the Department of Defense, some of the most helpful tips are also the simplest. “Pay attention to big blocks of text,” said CQ Roll Call senior writer John Donnelly, who explained how he goes through the budget and appropriations documents produced by congressional staffers. You don’t have to read…
Making Technology Work for Your Reporting
By Sandy K. Johnson All those internet-connected devices in your home? They’re sending data back to their manufacturers in volumes that most people can’t grasp. Gizmodo journalists Kashmir Hill (bio, Twitter) and Surya Mattu (bio, Twitter) set out to explore the privacy implications of those devices by combining Hill’s expertise as a reporter with Mattu’s as an engineer and technologist.…
Gizmodo Journalists Win Tech in Journalism Award
Gizmodo Media Group journalists Kashmir Hill and Surya Mattu have been awarded the National Press Foundation’s 2018 Technology in Journalism Award. Hill and Mattu will receive the honor at NPF’s annual journalism awards dinner on Feb. 13, 2019. Learn more about the dinner and awards here. NPF judges said: “Gizmodo explored the explosion of internet of things connected devices and the…
Challenges and Benefits of Self-Driving Cars
On city streets in Pittsburgh, and San Francisco, and several other cities around the nation, cars move themselves with a human minder – but not a human driver. That’s the state of autonomous vehicles in 2018, and it’s one that experts predict will rapidly escalate to a time when cars whiz down the highways with their disengaged passengers snoozing, reading…
Going Long: From “The Invisibles” to “Black Panther”
By Jesse Schneider From a very early age, Jesse J. Holland knew he wanted to be an author. In 1994, while working as a full-time journalist at The Associated Press, he began searching for the right time to make his dream of writing a book a reality. What he found instead was a dose of reality. “Pro tip,” he deadpanned,…
Approaches to Mental Health in the Workplace
By Colin Stoecker Kristen Davis loves her work with patients who have brain injuries and transgender people who hope to transform their voices at the Speech and Hearing Center at George Washington University. “I can relate through the troubles I’ve had with my own brain,” she said. Davis, 30, is getting a master’s degree in speech pathology from GW and…
‘Shock and Awe’ – How to Dig up the Real Story
By Chris Adams Think big – and ask the obvious questions. That’s the lesson for Paul Miller fellows from some of the nation’s top investigative reporters who gave tips on picking and executing what is often the trickiest work to do. The journalists have written or edited stories that won Pulitzers, Polks, Emmys and other top awards. They’ve written for…
What It’s Like to Cover Your First Political Convention
Editor’s Note: Tracie Mauriello, a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, made her debut reporting on national political conventions in 2012. Tracie, a former Paul Miller fellow, wrote a series of blog posts for NPF about her experiences. We're sharing them for first-time 2016 convention-goers. By Tracie Mauriello ​Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 Preparations In just a few hours, I’ll be headed to…
Kids and Obesity
By Chris Adams The rapid increase in obesity of the past few decades may have hit a plateau for some groups of children, although researchers are still trying to understand if this bit of good news is real or merely a short-term pause, according to a Mayo Clinic expert. Dr. Seema Kumar, a pediatric endocrinologist at Mayo, led a group…
Obesity and Exercise
By Chris Adams Dr. James Levine of Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University detailed the growing body of research that shows how continual movement throughout the day can have a major impact on body weight. Called NEAT – “non-exercise activity thermogenesis” – such movements are basically what people do when they’re not sleeping or exercising: sitting, standing, walking and fidgeting.…
When The Only Option is an NGO
Freelance Reporters Confront Ethics Issues Abroad By Sandy K. Johnson It’s become commonplace for journalists to “embed” with military units or non-governmental organizations in order to cover unfolding events where unilateral travel is difficult or impossible. It’s how U.S. journalists got into Iraq and Afghanistan after war broke out – traveling, eating and sleeping alongside soldiers. And it is the…
Don’t Unwittingly Star in Your Own Reality TV
If you work in front of any wireless cameras that connect to the Internet, you are vulnerable. IP camera attacks are a real and growing problem at home and work. The cameras you use to keep an eye on your newsroom, the garage, your home office, a sleeping baby, or family dog have known exploits that could allow a miscreant…


1