Elizabeth Simpson

Health reporter

I've covered health issues at The Virginian-Pilot for 10 years. I started by covering children's health and geriatrics, and have since expanded that to include health issues across the age range and also public health and research. I'm particularly interested in community health.

I received a National Health Fellowship this year, and I'm looking into three subjects. A comparison of two localities with high rates of obesity, one in a rural, migrant worker county, and the other in an inner-city area with high rates of poverty.

I'm also working on a project that breaks down infant mortality, prostate cancer and breast cancer rates by zip code, and pinpoints programs that are working at the neighborhood level to combat those.

Also, I'm hoping to write a story about people with brain injuries that cause them to be violent struggling to get proper services.

Articles

Racial disparity in baby death rates

<p>Racial disparity in baby death rates is not a new subject. It's a complex, insiduous, and, at times, inflammatory, issue. In my corner of the world, there are communities where the baby death rate is nearly three times the national norm.</p>

Tackling obesity

<p>Two communities, one urban, one rural, trying to improve the&nbsp;health of residents</p>

Residential treatment for traumatic brain injury victims

Victims of traumatic brain injuries often fall through the cracks of the system of care in Virginia, particularly those with behavior problems. Injuries often cause problems like impulse control and anger issues. These victims often ping-pong from one facility to another because their behavior gets them thrown out. They need structured treatment but few long-term residential facilities that specialize in brain injury rehab take government insurance like Medicaid. This is a population that is growing because improvements in emergency medical care have saved more people who suffer brain injuries in accidents. Also, more military personnel are surviving traumatic brain injuries sustained in battle. People with severe mental problems, dementias and disabilities such as autism also sometimes have these behavior issues that make them difficult to place.

Balancing daily news with stories that take the long view

<p>I'm in the most recent round of national health fellows, which means I just returned from a terrific week in Los Angeles. I loved my fellow fellows! Also full to the brim with new story ideas and resources.&nbsp;Now back to the&nbsp;world of&nbsp;daily journalism, where I've been&nbsp;writing about&nbsp;researchers from our local medical school who helped&nbsp;develop a microbicide that women can use to block the AIDS virus, hospital mergers and a profile on a&nbsp;trauma surgeon.&nbsp;</p>