Jon Hamilton
Jon Hamilton is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. Currently he focuses on neuroscience and health risks.
In 2014, Hamilton went to Liberia as part of the NPR team that covered Ebola. The team received a Peabody Award for its coverage.
Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Hamilton was part of NPR's team of science reporters and editors who went to Japan to cover the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Hamilton contributed several pieces to the Science Desk series "The Human Edge," which looked at what makes people the most versatile and powerful species on Earth. His reporting explained how humans use stories, how the highly evolved human brain is made from primitive parts, and what autism reveals about humans' social brains.
In 2009, Hamilton received the Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award for his piece on the neuroscience behind treating autism.
Before joining NPR in 1998, Hamilton was a media fellow with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation studying health policy issues. He reported on states that have improved their Medicaid programs for the poor by enrolling beneficiaries in private HMOs.
From 1995-1997, Hamilton wrote on health and medical topics as a freelance writer, after having been a medical reporter for both The Commercial Appeal and Physician's Weekly.
Hamilton graduated with honors from Oberlin College in Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in English. As a student, he was the editor of the Oberlin Review student newspaper. He earned his master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, where he graduated with honors. During his time at Columbia, Hamilton was awarded the Baker Prize for magazine writing and earned a Sherwood traveling fellowship.
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People who can no longer move or speak may soon have a new option: an implanted device that links their brain to a computer. -
The Trump administration terminated a $53 million NIH grant to study how impaired blood flow in the brain can lead to dementia. The lead scientist fought the decision, and got the money back.
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A study of mice and people looks at how the brain takes an experience, like being cut off in traffic, and responds with an emotion, like road rage. -
Joe Walsh is the first Alzheimer's patient to be treated with an experimental nasal spray designed to reduce inflammation in the brain. -
A study offers a glimpse of how the brain turns experience into emotion. In mice and humans, puffs of air to the eye caused persistent changes in brain activity, suggesting an emotional response.
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Researchers think an experimental anti-inflammatory drug for people with multiple sclerosis might help Alzheimer's patients. And they've already tried it on a man named Joe.
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The first Alzheimer's blood test cleared by the Food And Drug Administration is poised to change the way doctors diagnose and treat the disease. -
Two studies of wild chimps point to the evolutionary roots of human language. The studies found that chimp communication often relies on rhythmic structures and call combinations. -
Two new studies hint at the evolutionary roots of human language. The studies found that chimps use rhythmic structures and complex call combinations to communicate.
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A survey of 1,700 Americans 45 and older found that 79% would want to know if they were in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
