Yuki Noguchi
Yuki Noguchi is a correspondent on the Science Desk based out of NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C. She started covering consumer health in the midst of the pandemic, reporting on everything from vaccination and racial inequities in access to health, to cancer care, obesity and mental health.
Since joining NPR in 2008, Noguchi has also covered a range of business and economic news, with a special focus on the workplace — anything that affects how and why we work. In recent years, she has covered the rise of the contract workforce, the #MeToo movement, the Great Recession and the subprime housing crisis. In 2011, she covered the earthquake and tsunami in her parents' native Japan. Her coverage of the impact of opioids on workers and their families won a 2019 Gracie Award and received First Place and Best In Show in the radio category from the National Headliner Awards. She also loves featuring offbeat topics, and has eaten insects in service of journalism.
Noguchi started her career as a reporter, then an editor, for The Washington Post.
Noguchi grew up in St. Louis, inflicts her cooking on her two boys and has a degree in history from Yale.
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For many cancer patients, daily life can feel full of risky choices involving work, family, friends and money. Nearly every option pits the risks of catching the coronavirus against other downsides. -
Face coverings are key to stopping spread of the coronavirus, but also slow communication, especially for people who don't hear well. Volunteers and companies suggest some transparent alternatives.
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It's not that young adults aren't worried about the pandemic, psychologists say, but they are at far greater risk of dying by suicide. Finding ways beyond screens to foster social bonds is crucial.
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Unrest over social injustice spotlights the acute need for, and the high historical barriers to, mental health treatment for Black people facing layers of emotional pain.
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Alcohol and drug consumption have increased recently, but fewer patients have sought treatment. Most treatment centers face possible closure even as they anticipate a post-pandemic surge in need.
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Loosened quarantine restrictions have given some people an opportunity to flee violence at home, but cyberstalking and high unemployment have also made it harder to completely escape after moving out.
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With states starting to reopen, bans on "nonessential" surgeries are beginning to lift, too. But there's a huge backlog of cases that have only gotten more urgent and heartbreaking for many patients.
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The disruption in the illegal opioid trade had varying impacts around the country. As stay-at-home orders lift, that creates different risks of overdose that public health is trying to manage.
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Suicide rates typically drop during natural disasters and other crises but then spike in the months or years after. So mental health specialists are looking to build psychological resilience now.
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Suicide rates often drop after disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, only to increase months later. Public health officials are trying to get ahead of an expected uptick related to COVID-19.
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The Anchorage practice where Candace Grenier has worked for two decades shut down. Even when things reopen, she worries people will forgo dental cleanings out of concern about the coronavirus.
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People are calling crisis hotlines in greater numbers, complaining of more complex struggles. What these lines are seeing offers a window into the emotional struggles Americans face.
