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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There's evidence that certain vaccines boost the body's defense against many kinds of illness. Scientists are investigating whether this benefit extends to protection from COVID-19.
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Some parents swear by it. They say it's the only way they and their babies get any sleep. Others parents say it's harmful. So what does the science say? Here we separate fiction from fact.
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The world is seeing more and more new diseases, and the U.S. is no exception. We're living in a hot spot for tick-borne diseases. Some are deadly. The key to stopping them may be an unlikely critter.
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Lyme disease is spreading, and this summer is shaping up as a whopper. Why has the tick-borne illness gotten so bad? The answer traces back to something the colonists did more than 200 years ago.
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Cases of Ebola continue to mount in West Africa in the largest outbreak of the disease ever recorded. Public health officials are concerned the viral disease could spread farther.
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The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the deadliest in history. And it's spreading in a city with an international airport. So what's the risk of a sick traveler bringing the virus to the West?
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It started in February in West Africa. It has surged in the past few weeks, and now it has killed more than 300. The death toll is the highest of any outbreak since Ebola was detected in 1976.
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Since the deadly MERS virus was detected two years ago, scientists have struggled to figure out how people catch it. A new study confirms that camels are a key source.
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There are songs that just make people want to get up and shake their booty. Why? Scientists say the most enticing rhythms have something missing — beats that your body can't help but fill in.
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We love raw seafood but can't stand uncooked fowl or pork. Why? A big part of it is the effective lack of gravity in water, a scientist says. Weightlessness gives fish muscles a smooth, soft texture.