Scott Hensley edits stories about health, biomedical research and pharmaceuticals for NPR's Science desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has led the desk's reporting on the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Hensley has worked on award-winning investigations in collaboration with journalistic partners.
He was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with the Center for Public Integrity in 2018 that exposed drug industry influence on the choices of preferred medicines by Medicaid programs. The work won the 2019 Gerald Loeb Award for audio reporting.
In 2017, Hensley was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with Kaiser Health News that showed how the pharmaceutical industry exploits government incentives intended to encourage the development of treatments for rare diseases. The stories won the 2019 digital award from the National Institute for Health Care Management.
Hensley has been editing in his current role since 2019. He joined NPR in 2009 to launch Shots, a blog that expanded to become a digital destination for NPR health coverage.
Before NPR, Hensley was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal. He was the founding editor of The Wall Street Journal Health Blog, which focused on the intersection of health and business. As a reporter, he covered the drug industry and the Human Genome Project.
Hensley served on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists from 2012 to 2020.
He has a bachelor's degree in natural sciences from Johns Hopkins University and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.
Before becoming a journalist, Hensley worked in the medical device industry. He remains, now and forever, a lover of Dobermans, lacrosse and Callinectes sapidus.
-
Hungarian-born biochemist Katalin Karikó and American immunologist Drew Weissman found that a chemical change to genetic code called mRNA eliminated... -
At least 58,000 childern younger than 5 years old are hospitalized each year with RSV infections. A Pfizer vaccine given... -
A panel of experts voted 8-6 in favor of Food and Drug Administration approval of the first gene therapy for... -
In a unanimous vote, 17-0, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the agency approve... -
Since 1970, the national colorectal cancer death rate has been cut in half. But progress has lagged in the Lower...
-
Abuse of narcotic painkillers is a national problem. But it turns out that where you live can make a big...
-
The legal wrangling over who should be allowed to buy the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill without a prescription came... -
Health care providers are fighting a Florida law that would ban them from asking patients about the presence of guns... -
The rate at which American women are having babies fell again in 2011, continuing a decline that's been under way...
-
The latest NPR-Truven Health Analytics Health Poll finds that most Americans favor physician-assisted suicide for people with less than six... -
Kids exposed to laundry detergent pods appeared more likely to have vomiting, drowsiness or lethargy than those who were exposed... -
There's ample evidence cholesterol-lowering pills called statins can reduce the risk of a repeat heart attack. But there's fresh debate...