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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People under stress are more likely to have health problems, according to a poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. That's true for caregivers, too. -
Half of Americans say they've had a major stressful event in the past year, according to a poll by NPR, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Here's how it hurts.
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As victims of the Boston Marathon bombings leave the hospital or prepare to, their stories are beginning to pour out. Celeste Corcoran and her daughter, Sydney, both suffered grievous leg injuries. Their accounts give a fuller toll of the attack and the challenges that lie ahead.
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India's Supreme Court says drug maker Novartis can't hold onto its patent for the pricey cancer drug Gleevec simply by tweaking its chemical formula. That means generic drug makers can keep making a form of the drug at a tenth of Novartis's price. Consumer advocates call it a major advance for access to generic drugs. The drug industry says it will chill companies' willingness to produce innovative products.
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Women who took aspirin at least a couple of times a week for five years or more cut their risk of melanoma by 30 percent. The new study adds to the mounting pile of research suggesting that cheap, common aspirin lowers the risk of many cancers, including colon, breast, esophagus, stomach, prostate, bladder and ovarian cancer.
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Two out of three Americans living with hepatitis C infection are baby boomers, and many will never know the source of their infection. Drugs to treat the disease have many side effects, but dozens of new ones are in the pipeline.
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The 2012 mammography debate was a continuation of a controversy touched off three years ago when a government task force said women under 50 don't need regular mammograms. And one recent analysis found that regular screenings haven't reduced the rate of advanced breast cancers.
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The mold is so rare as a cause of human illness that nobody knows its incubation period. That makes it hard to predict when the outbreak will be over.
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A steroid drug administered to relieve back pain has been contaminated by the spores of a common leaf mold. Five deaths have been reported so far.
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A recent study found 1 in 10 American men and 1 in 14 women has had a kidney stone. Being obese or diabetic seems to raise the risk of getting them. Now lasers are becoming the treatment-of-choice for kidney stones in academic medical centers.
