Rae Ellen Bichell
Rae Ellen Bichell is a reporter for NPR's Science Desk. She first came to NPR in 2013 as a Kroc fellow and has since reported Web and radio stories on biomedical research, global health, and basic science. She won a 2016 Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award from the Foundation for Biomedical Research. After graduating from Yale University, she spent two years in Helsinki, Finland, as a freelance reporter and Fulbright grantee.
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The health care industry is obsessed with consumer satisfaction. But national patient surveys still don't get at an important question: Are hospitals delivering culturally competent care? -
With kids back in school, business is picking back up for professional delousers. But how are kids getting head lice if they're physically distancing in the classroom? -
Obstetrical emergency departments are a new aspect of some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask baby Gus' parents about their $2,755 ER charge. -
The CDC sent in a team to investigate a delta variant hotspot in Mesa County, Colo. That didn't stop tens of thousands of people from flocking to the state's largest country music festival. -
A college student never learned the cause of intense pain that drove her to an ER, but her bill totaled $18,735.93. She and her mom, a nurse practitioner, were outraged after dissecting the charges. -
Billy Barr has lived alone in a cabin in a Colorado mountain ghost town for almost 50 years. He offers advice on how to find and maintain happiness in isolation. -
Scores of counties across the U.S. have no local newspaper, and some that do say they're not being well-served by them. Longmont, Colo., is considering one possible solution: newsrooms in libraries. -
The Mountain West has some of the highest rates of depression and suicide. Researchers think the mountains, with a lack of oxygen at high altitude, could be interfering with people's mental health.
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From pre-Incan to Viking-inspired to a George Washington porter, these beer scientists devote their resources toward re-creating age-old flavors. And sometimes that leads to some sticky situations. -
The ancient disease is still around — and killed a couple in Mongolia just this month. Here's a look at the history — and persistence — of the plague.
