Nicole Leonard

Reporter

Nicole Leonard is a health and science reporter for WHYY News. She joined the newsroom in 2022 after covering health care for Connecticut Public Radio. Before that, she was the health reporter for the Press of Atlantic City.

Nicole’s coverage has focused on addiction and the opioid epidemic, mental health, and health policy. She is an alum of Boston University and grew up in New Jersey.

More from the Contributor

The Huber family (from left), Cash, Jena Stone, and Phil, and big sister Ava (not pictured) at home in Wilmington. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

The Pulse

Health

Hope, devastation, and finally, a treatment: One family’s road to gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

A family in Wilmington, Delaware, faced a looming deadline to get their son a new gene therapy treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

2 years ago

Listen 8:27

A doula places their hands on a pregnant person's stomach.

Health

Philadelphia doula program could promote recovery and prevent drug overdose deaths, study finds

Philly’s Community Doula Support Program launched in early 2020 in response to rising drug overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum people.

2 years ago

Listen 1:13

Providers hand out FIT take home screening kits for colon cancer.

Health

Temple doctors expand access to stool-based colon cancer screening to reduce racial disparities in Philly

Temple Health physicians are expanding a program to increase access to stool-based screening kits, an alternative to colonoscopies.

2 years ago

Listen 1:09

Jaqueline Benitez, who depends on SNAP benefits to help pay for food, shops for groceries at a supermarket

Health

USDA secretary says federal funding for WIC program falls short of amount needed to meet rising demand in local communities

The Biden administration is requesting that Congress appropriate $7.5 billion for WIC in the 2024 fiscal budget, up from $6 billion last year.

2 years ago

Cells in an Alzheimer’s affected brain, with abnormal levels of the beta-amyloid protein clumping together to form plaques, brown, that collect between neurons and disrupt cell function

Health

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America brings its ‘Educating America Tour’ to Philadelphia this week

The Philadelphia tour date is scheduled for Nov. 15 in Center City. The educational conference is designed for professionals and caregivers.

2 years ago

Politics & Policy

Philly judge orders confiscation of potentially fraudulent Democratic endorsement ballots under investigation

Flyers that mimicked official Democratic City Committee ballot endorsements were doctored to omit 3rd council district candidate Jamie Gauthier.

2 years ago

Health

Affordable Care Act health insurance open enrollment launches in the Delaware Valley. Here’s what you need to know

The final deadline for ACA open enrollment is January 15 in Pennsylvania and Delaware, and January 31 in New Jersey.

2 years ago

Listen 1:07

Health

Camden County launches virtual reality training program to teach people how to use Narcan for drug overdoses

The virtual reality training program is a nine-minute video that can be viewed on virtual reality headsets, Android smartphones, and online.

2 years ago

Listen 1:21

Marsella Elie, a canvasser for Philly Counts, gives opioid overdose reverse drug Narcan to a North Philadelphia resident as part of an initiative with the city’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity to get harm reduction resources into homes in areas heavily hit by the opioid crisis. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Health

Philly adopts new door-to-door canvass approach to prevent drug overdose deaths

The new Philly Counts project aims to reach 100,000 doors in city “hot spots” of drug overdose deaths in Black and brown communities.

2 years ago

Listen 4:29

Health

Philly-area parents search for RSV antibody shots as winter approaches

The newborn RSV antibody shots offer protection against severe illness for at least five months, but they may not be widely available until next year.

2 years ago

Listen 4:22