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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A strip club in Hollywood is one of the latest places in the nation seeing increased unionization efforts. Dancers say their occupation is dangerous and they need more protection.
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A woodpecker's brain takes a big hit with every peck against a tree. Yet the animals don't get brain damage. A team of scientists says the reason is the brain's very small size.
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Because people with Down syndrome are very likely to develop Alzheimer's, they are ideal candidates for experimental drugs meant to halt the disease. -
Marmoset monkeys make complex vocalizations. Macaque monkeys don't. And the reason could help explain how the human brain evolved to produce speech.
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Despite a high risk of brain injuries, military personnel rarely develop a disabling brain condition often found in former boxers and football players. -
A team at the University of Pittsburgh is equipping artificial hands and feet with sensors that are linked to a person's own nervous system. Preliminary results, though limited, are promising. -
In mice, the HIV drug maraviroc restored a system that links new memories that are made around the same time. The finding could help treat memory problems in people. -
A new study finds that an HIV drug can reverse memory loss in aging mice. This type of memory helps humans do things like associate a name with a face. It typically starts to decline in middle age.
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A team at Stanford University has reversed memory loss in old mice by flooding their brains with spinal fluid taken from young animals. The finding may hold promise for Alzheimer's research. -
The memory of aging mice improved when they received a substance found in the spinal fluid of young animals and young people. The finding suggests a new approach to treating Alzheimer's disease.
