Pien Huang Pien Huang is a correspondent on the Science desk. She was NPR's first Reflect America Fellow, working with shows, desks and podcasts to bring more diverse voices to air and online.
Pien Huang
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Pien Huang

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Pien Huang
Wanyu Zhang/NPR

Pien Huang

Correspondent, Science Desk

Pien Huang is a reporter on the Science desk, covering public health and health disparities. She also guest hosts on NPR news programs, and narrates the Moments in History series on the NPR One app.

She joined NPR in 2019 as the newsroom's first Reflect America Fellow, working with shows, desks and podcasts to bring more diverse voices to air and online. Her reporting, with NPR's visuals team, on tracking COVID-19 data won a 2022 Edward R. Murrow award.

She's a former producer for WBUR/NPR's On Point and a 2018 Environmental Reporting Fellow with The GroundTruth Project at WCAI in Cape Cod, covering the human impact on climate change. As a freelance reporter, Huang's stories on the environment, arts and culture were featured on NPR, the BBC and PRI's The World.

Huang's experiences span categories and continents. She was executive producer of Data Made to Matter, a podcast from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and has taught podcasting and audio journalism at Northeastern University.

In a detour from journalism, she worked as a project manager for public artist Ralph Helmick to help plan and execute The Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi. Huang has traveled with scientists looking for signs of environmental change in Cameroon's frogs, in Panama's plants and in the ocean water off the ice edge of Antarctica. She has a degree in environmental science and public policy from Harvard.

Story Archive

Tuesday

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff and supporters protested cuts to the agency outside its headquarters in August. Over this past weekend, hundreds more employees were fired. Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg/Getty Images hide caption

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Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Monday

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new recommendations for COVID vaccination that require a consultation with a health professional first. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Thursday

The basics of road safety might seem obvious, but they can save your life. DON'T cross the street where drivers might not expect you. DO use sidewalks, bike paths and safe pedestrian crossings. DO make yourself visible with bike lights. DO look up from your phone when walking.
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Photo Illustration by Beck Harlan/NPR

Saturday

Here's how RFK Jr.'s hand-picked vaccine advisory committee is starting to reshape vaccine policy

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Friday

ACIP member Retsef Levi speaks during a meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on September 18, 2025 in Atlanta, Ga. The federal vaccine advisory group, recently appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., made recommendations on the COVID vaccine. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images hide caption

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Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

RFK Jr.'s vaccine panel backs away from asking states to require an Rx for a COVID shot

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CDC advisers expected to vote on hepatitis B, COVID vaccine recommendations Friday

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Thursday

Martin Kulldorff, chairman of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, speaks during a Thursday meeting of the panel in Chamblee, Ga. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images hide caption

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CDC’s new advisers debate changing guidance on childhood vaccines

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Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meet at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta in June. Ben Hendren/Bloomberg/Getty Images hide caption

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Ben Hendren/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Federal advisory committee will meet Thursday to recommend policies for vaccines

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Monday

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice will have five additional members when it convenes Thursday in Atlanta. Ben Hendren/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Ben Hendren/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Wednesday

Activists gather during a vigil in Lafayette Park for nurses who died during the COVID-19 pandemic on January 13, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Monday

Sports drinks and instant electrolyte powders have long been of interest to athletes – and are now popular for general wellness too. skaman306/Getty Images hide caption

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Saturday

COVID vaccines used to be available for drop-in patients at many pharmacies. Now with federal policy changes, availability is more limited and may depend on state-by-state guidance. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Thursday

State COVID vaccine plans

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Wednesday

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Drowning prevention program comes to a halt at the CDC

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Tuesday

Road safety for pedestrians and cyclists

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Wednesday

Bullet holes are seen in windows at the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Headquarters following an August 8 shooting that killed a DeKalb County Police Department officer. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images hide caption

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After the CDC shooting, federal workers demand more protections from RFK Jr.

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Monday

CDC staffers react to Friday shooting

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Monday

Sports drinks and instant electrolyte powders have gotten popular for general wellness, not just for athletes. Vitaliy Krivchikov/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption

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Vitaliy Krivchikov/iStockphoto/Getty Images

What’s the deal with electrolyte drinks — do you need them to stay hydrated?

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Tuesday

Monday

Medical groups are concerned that RFK Jr. may dismiss a panel of primary care experts

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Sunday

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks on during a news conference at the USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., on July 14. Top medical groups are alarmed by a report that Kennedy may remove another advisory panel. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Medical groups are concerned that RFK Jr. may dismiss a panel of primary care experts

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Friday

The implications of the Trump administration's aggressive new vaccine policies

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Monday

The intended and unintended consequences of wolf reintroduction programs

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