Caroline Chen

Reporter

Photo of Caroline Chen

Caroline Chen covers health care for ProPublica. She has written about public health, hospitals, drugmakers and clinical trials, highlighting disparities in patient access, broken funding models and abuses of power.

Her 2020 coverage of the coronavirus pandemic included investigations into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s early failures to contain the outbreak, vaccine inequities and distortion of COVID-19 data. Her work was part of ProPublica’s coverage recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service.

Her 2019 stories on a heart transplant program in New Jersey that prioritized metrics over patient care won the Livingston Award for local reporting. Her story on racial disparities in cancer clinical trials with Riley Wong in 2018 won the June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism in online/multimedia reporting.

Her writing has appeared in publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and NPR. Previously, she worked at Bloomberg News, where her coverage included the unraveling of blood test maker Theranos and the 2014 Ebola outbreak. She received her master’s degree from the Toni Stabile Program for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, where she was awarded a Pulitzer traveling fellowship.

The Enraging Deja Vu of a Third Coronavirus Wave

Health care workers don’t need patronizing praise. They need resources, federal support, and for us to stay healthy and out of their hospitals. In many cases, none of that is happening.

Most States Aren’t Ready to Distribute the Leading COVID-19 Vaccine

A review of state distribution plans reveals that officials don’t know how they’ll deal with the difficult storage and transport requirements of Pfizer’s vaccine, especially in the rural areas currently seeing a spike in infections.

Electionland de ProPublica: El estado del Día de las Elecciones de 2020

En una elección histórica marcada por una pandemia, el voto por correo y la desinformación, los funcionarios electorales se esfuerzan por adaptarse. Esto es lo que los reporteros nacionales de ProPublica están viendo en todo el país. El artículo será actualizado a lo largo del día

ProPublica’s Electionland: The State of Election Day 2020

In a historic election shaped by a pandemic, mail-in voting and misinformation, election officials are scrambling to adapt. Here’s what ProPublica’s national reporters are seeing across the country. This post will be updated throughout the day.

Leader of Newark Beth Israel’s Troubled Heart Transplant Program Departs

Dr. Mark Zucker was put on administrative leave after ProPublica showed he told staff to keep a heart transplant patient on life support because of concerns about survival stats. Now Newark Beth Israel will seek a new leader for the program.

Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Who Decides When Vaccine Studies Are Done? Internal Documents Show Fauci Plays a Key Role.

Dr. Anthony Fauci will see data from government-funded vaccine trials before the FDA does. One caveat: Pfizer’s study, which is ahead of the others, isn’t included in his purview.

How to Tell a Political Stunt From a Real Vaccine

There is a small chance that Pfizer’s vaccine trial will yield results by Nov. 3. But it could still take weeks for FDA review. Here’s everything that has to happen and how to tell a political stunt from a real vaccine.

Help Us Report on COVID-19 Vaccines

The development and deployment of a vaccine will affect everybody on the planet. Help us identify and tell important stories.

America Doesn’t Have a Coherent Strategy for Asymptomatic Testing. It Needs One.

While it battles a virus that can spread quickly via silent carriers, the United States has yet to execute a strategy for testing asymptomatic people. This is a problem — and ProPublica health reporter Caroline Chen explains why.

¿Son seguras las escuelas y las universidades en Estados Unidos? ¿Los alumnos realmente aprenden? Ayúdenos a saber más.

ProPublica está cubriendo la reapertura de escuelas, colegios superiores y universidades durante COVID-19 y necesitamos su ayuda. Cuéntenos acerca de la seguridad, el ámbito académico, las colegiaturas y el acceso al aprendizaje.

How to Understand COVID-19 Numbers

Viewed in isolation or presented without context, coronavirus numbers don’t always give an accurate picture of how the pandemic is being handled. Here, ProPublica journalists Caroline Chen and Ash Ngu offer insight on how to navigate the figures.

“Fast-Tracking” a Coronavirus Vaccine Sounds Great. It’s Not That Simple.

Among the many ways to shorten the vaccine development timeline, approving a treatment based on antibody data — without completing a phase 3 trial — could be contentious. This is why.

How — and When — Can the Coronavirus Vaccine Become a Reality?

It is likely we’ll eventually have a coronavirus vaccine — but perhaps not as quickly as some expect. From development, to clinical trials and distribution, ProPublica reporter Caroline Chen explains the tremendous challenges that lie ahead.

100,000 Lives Lost to COVID-19. What Did They Teach Us?

Each person who has died of COVID-19 was somebody’s everything. Even as we mourn for those we knew, cry for those we loved and consider those who have died uncounted, the full tragedy of the pandemic hinges on one question: How do we stop the next 100,000?

What Parents Should Know About Coronavirus as Kids Return to Babysitters, Day Cares and Camps

You never planned on raising kids during a pandemic, and there are no easy decisions. ProPublica scoured the latest research and talked to seven infectious disease and public health experts to help think through the issues facing parents.

A woman wearing a phone headset in an office setting calling a person at home sick with COVID.

You Don’t Need Invasive Tech for Successful Contact Tracing. Here’s How It Works.

While most discussions have focused on countries’ use of surveillance technology, contact tracing is actually a fairly manual process. After interviewing contact tracing experts and taking an online course, ProPublica health reporter Caroline Chen presents her takeaways.

A person making a phone call with a question mark superimposed over their face, with a network grid hovering behind the figure.

Do I Know Enough to Get a Job as a Contact Tracer?

Though requirements vary from state to state, many of them are hiring thousands of contact tracers in an effort to curb coronavirus spread. Here’s a brief quiz to check your knowledge.

What Antibody Studies Can Tell You — and More Importantly, What They Can’t

Coronavirus antibody studies and what they allegedly show have triggered fierce debates, further confusing public understanding. ProPublica’s health reporter Caroline Chen is here to offer some clarity around these crucial surveys.

Coronavirus Advice From Abroad: 7 Lessons America’s Governors Should Not Ignore as They Reopen Their Economies

We spoke to frontline experts from around the globe and have compiled a list of recommendations for reopening U.S. states. Their consensus? It’s tough to find policies that simultaneously save lives and livelihoods.

Ventilators Aren’t Going to Cure COVID-19. Here’s What They Can Do.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, ventilators have been a key focus of the media, politicians and the president. But most of these references miss some key points. This is what ProPublica’s Caroline Chen has learned in her reporting.

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