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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U.S. health officials say they are now convinced that Zika virus can target the developing brain before birth, leading to a severe type of microcephaly and other brain abnormalities. -
The Obama administration requested $1.9 billion in emergency funds to prepare for Zika, but Congress has yet to respond. Now the White House plans to divert funding intended for Ebola. -
The organ donor and both recipients in the procedure this month were all HIV-positive — a first in the U.S. Using HIV-positive organs for some patients could enable a thousand more transplants a year. -
Evidence has ping-ponged over the decades on the effects of hormone therapy on a woman's arteries. The latest study suggests a brief stint on hormones might be helpful — if given at the right time. -
In engineering the cell, researchers paired away nearly all genes that weren't essential to life. It might eventually serve as a basic framework for different sorts of cellular factories, they say. -
Every year, little clusters of Nipah virus break out in Bangladesh. And it wasn't from the usual cause — drinking raw sap from date palm trees. So what's up? -
Quitting abruptly is more effective, a study finds, even for people who'd rather phase it out gradually. -
Getting an accurate diagnosis is a big hurdle in the current outbreak of Zika virus. There are three kinds of tests for Zika, and each has problems. Scientists are working hard to improve diagnosis. -
In January, one person died and five others were hospitalized during a test of an experimental drug in western France. Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. -
Republicans say the NIH should switch funds from Ebola research to fighting Zika virusi, instead, but NIH officials balk. And a company prepares to test genetically engineered mosquitoes in Florida.
