Sarah Boden

Investigative Reporter

Sarah Boden is a health and science journalist whose reporting examines how social, environmental and economic forces shape public health and medicine. Before joining CIDRAP News, she was a freelancer. Her bylines include NPR, Spotlight PA, KFF Health News, BBC, Medscape, Science News and Slate. Ms. Boden has won numerous awards for her health care coverage, including being named the 2025 Keystone Media Freelancer of the Year. In 2023, she won the Keystone Media Award for her series "The cost of forgetting: Dementia's tax on financial health." The project also took the third-place Award of Excellence from the Association of Health Care Journalists.

Before becoming a full-time freelancer, Ms. Boden spent nearly 15 years reporting and producing for NPR member stations, including Pittsburgh's WESA and Iowa Public Radio. In Iowa, she won a regional Edward R. Murrow award for her story about a constitutional challenge to Iowa's felon voting ban.

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Recent stories by Sarah Boden

A white woman with light hair holds a baby while staring out the window with a concerned look. The woman wears a blue shirt and the baby is dressed in a white shirt or onesie. 

As measles soars in Pennsylvania, some parents are vaccinating their babies early

The measles vaccine is less effective when given to infants at 6 months, but likely still protective against severe complications

Sarah Boden

Alaska study finds pertussis vaccine is extremely protective during statewide outbreak

The odds of a lab-confirmed whooping cough case were about 26 times higher in unvaccinated children than in those who were vaccinated. 

Sarah Boden
A teen girl, who appears about 14, calmly watches as a woman in a white shirt, or perhaps coat, gives her a shot in her left arm. Both the woman and girl have dark hair. The woman wears pearl earrings.

One HPV vaccine dose often sufficient, say WHO advisers

The new recommendation comes as funding shortfalls challenge public health budgets. 

Sarah Boden
A bustling view of an intersection showing pedestrians and cars. Most of the vehicles are white. The sky is somewhat overcast, and palm trees dot the streets. The buildings in the foreground are four or five stories tall. Further back, larger structures rise, some with a dozen or more floors.

Trump's global health strategy has harmed HIV work in Uganda, Zimbabwe

A new study finds that the pause in funding led to a drop in HIV testing, prevention, and treatment. 

Sarah Boden

Study finds most high-risk patients don’t receive recommended flu treatment

Just 42% of high-risk flu patients seen at academic medical centers started oseltamivir (Tamiflu) treatment.

Sarah Boden
A brown tabby cat with green eyes sits on the white cushion of a chair that's pulled under a kitchen table. The chair and table are both wooden and stained a light, natural color. The cat's name is Julie.

Good news: Your cat probably won't give you Giardia

A large study finds 6% of US and Canadian cats are infected with the parasite, but rarely with a genotype that's harmful to humans. 

Sarah Boden
An ill child, who appears to be about three or four years old, sleeps in a bed. The sheets and comforter are white, and the child wears a purple shirt. They have an IV in their hand.

Measles can cast a long shadow, even after an apparent full recovery

While rare, measles-related conditions like acute disseminated encephalomyelitis can cause death, disability, and other chronic medical issues, sometimes persisting years after an initial infection. 

Sarah Boden

CDC reminds doctors in Southwest to be aware of plague

A 2025 death caused by pneumonic plague is Arizona’s first since 2007.

Sarah Boden
Headshot of Sarah Boden

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