The high-impact stories and research produced by the 2023 NIHCM Journalism and Research Award winners delves into the growing national crisis in maternal mortality, exposes a game-changing distortion of Alzheimer’s research, uncovers the effects of rising health care costs on consumers, explores new challenges to child health, and reveals pioneering evidence on the value of health care spending.
"Congratulations to the winners of the 29th Annual NIHCM Awards. The extraordinary work we have the pleasure of honoring this year breaks new ground in health care research and captures powerful stories, while highlighting the need for increased health equity and greater attention to the needs of health care consumers."
Nancy Chockley
Founding President and CEO, NIHCM Foundation
2023 Digital Media Award
Noam N. Levey
Aneri Pattani
Yuki Noguchi
Anna Werner
Bram Sable-Smith
Juweek Adolphe
Megan Kalata
NIHCM 2023 Data-Driven Storytelling Award Winner
Diagnosis: Debt
Noam N. Levey, Aneri Pattani, Yuki Noguchi, Anna Werner, Bram Sable-Smith, Juweek Adolphe, and Megan Kalata
Prize: $20,000
“Diagnosis: Debt documented the scope and severity of the medical debt crisis in America as no one has before, unmasking a vast industry that preys on patients and an opaque world of medical billing and collections.”
— Elisabeth Rosenthal, Senior Contributing Editor, KFF Health News
2023 Television and Radio Journalism Award
Paula Eiselt
Tonya Lewis Lee
NIHCM 2023 Television and Audio Journalism Award Winner
Aftershock
Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee
Prize: $20,000
“The U.S. is the most dangerous country in the industrialized world in which to give birth and Black women die at three times the rate of white women. Our documentary Aftershock explores this preventable crisis through the lived experiences of families, pregnant women and change makers on the ground, culminating in a blueprint for improved birthing outcomes through human-centered reproductive health care. Thank you to NIHCM for this impactful recognition.”
— Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee
2023 Trade Journalism Award
Charles Piller
Meagan Weiland
NIHCM 2023 Trade Journalism Award Winner
Blots on a field?
Charles Piller and Meagan Weiland
Prize: $15,000
“This investigation exposed evidence that studies at the heart of the dominant amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease were based on doctored images, potentially skewing years of costly research. The enormous global response to the story led to debate and soul searching about how to improve research that could touch the lives of millions of patients and caregivers.”
— Charles Piller
2023 General Circulation Journalism Award
Robin Respaut
Chad Terhune
Michelle Conlin
Jennifer Rigby
NIHCM 2023 Investigative and General Reporting Award Winner
Youth in Transition
Robin Respaut, Chad Terhune, Michelle Conlin, and Jennifer Rigby
Prize: $20,000
“Our project began with a first-of-its-kind data analysis that established that the number of children seeking gender affirming care has surged in recent years. We then cut through the political vitriol about this emerging field of medicine to provide a careful, nuanced assessment of it, the science underpinning it, and the benefits and risks patients and their families must weigh when making treatment decisions.”
— Reporting team
2023 Research Award
David M. Cutler
Kaushik Ghosh
Kassandra Messer
Trivellore Raghunathan
Allison B. Rosen
Susan T. Stewart
NIHCM 2023 Research Award Winner
A Satellite Account for Health in the United States
David M. Cutler, Kaushik Ghosh, Kassandra Messer, Trivellore Raghunathan, Allison B. Rosen, Susan T. Stewart
Prize: $20,000
“Measuring health care productivity has been a national goal for decades. It has been a rewarding challenge to develop methods of systematically measuring the costs and benefits of medical care, combining information from multiple sources to yield a richer understanding of the health sector and inform the development of sounder policies.”
— David M. Cutler
Congratulate our winners and share their stories! #NIHCMAwards
NIHCM also provides $1 million in grants each year to support the work of journalists and researchers. We invite you to learn more.
The winning entries were selected from more than 400 entries by our panels of independent judges. As is the case every year, we received many remarkable entries. Learn more about the finalists' impressive work.
our Judges
A special thank you to our judges listed below.
2023 Digital Media Award
- Julia Belluz
- Aaron Carroll
- Christopher J. Conover
- Michael Millenson
- Sabriya Rice
- Meredith White
2023 Television and Radio Journalism Award
- Callie Crossley
- Susan Dentzer
- Gisele Grayson
- Stone Phillips
- Alice Irene Pifer
- Julie Rovner
- Susan Wagner
2023 Trade Journalism Award
- Eliza Barclay
- John Carreyrou
- John Fauber
- Clifton Leaf
- Fred Schulte
- William Wan
2023 General Circulation Journalism Award
- Eliza Barclay
- John Carreyrou
- John Fauber
- Clifton Leaf
- Fred Schulte
- William Wan
2023 Research Award
- Laurence C. Baker
- Tsung-Mei Cheng
- Paul B. Ginsburg
- Sherry Glied
- Vicky Gregg
- Joseph P. Newhouse
- Mark Pauly
- Gail R. Wilensky
