2003 Science in Society Journalism Awards

Radio

Joe Palca

Stem Cells series:

• part 1
• part 2
• part 3

National Public Radio

Description:

In the radio category, the judges awarded Joe Palca of National Public Radio the top prize for his three-part series “Stem Cells.” Palca contrasted the U.S. climate for this type of biomedical research with what is happening in Britain. The judges said Palca “deserves special recognition for his fresh approach to a well-worn subject.” One part of the series told the tale of two embryologists, one who left Britain to work at a state-of-the-art U.S. lab operated with private funds and the other who left the United States for Britain to work in what he sees as a more receptive environment. “The juxtaposition of the two scientists, and of their countries, worked well as a device for telling two sides of a politically charged story — and putting a human face on them.” And by visiting labs on both sides of the Atlantic, “Palca helped put the current debate over a ban on stem-cell research into a larger context.”

Biography:

Joe Palca is a senior science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. In addition to his science reporting, Palca is backup host for Talk of the Nation Science Friday.

Palca began his journalism career in television in 1982, working as a health producer for the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC. In 1986, he left television for a seven-year stint as a print journalist, first as the Washington news editor for Nature, and then as a senior correspondent for Science magazine.

He comes to journalism from a science background, having received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz where he worked on human sleep physiology.

In October of 1999, Palca took a one-year leave from NPR to become a Kaiser Family Foundation Media Fellow. He spent the year studying human clinical trials.

Palca has won numerous awards, including the National Academies Communications Award, the Science in Society Award of the National Association of Science Writers, the American Chemical Society James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Prize, and the Ohio State Award.

Palca was president of the National Association of Science Writers from 1999-2000.

He lives in Washington, D.C, with his wife and two sons.

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