70° Partly Cloudy
Susan Murphy
Health Reporter
Susan Murphy is a multimedia health reporter for KPBS, providing in-depth coverage of a variety of issues that impact San Diego County and the Imperial Valley — from infectious diseases and mental health to health care policy and medical breakthroughs. Susan started working in the KPBS Newsroom in 2003. She graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
Recent Stories by Susan Murphy
Abortion Rights Supporters Rally In San Diego To Protest States' Restrictive Bans
- May 22
- By Susan Murphy
Around 300 people attended a rally Tuesday outside the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego as part of a nationwide #StoptheBans demonstration to oppose several conservative states’ recent restrictive abortion laws.
Calfresh Food Aid To Be Extended To Some Disabled Adults
- May 16
- By Susan Murphy
CalFresh food assistance will be expanded in June to 95,000 people in San Diego County who are on Supplemental Security Income, but thousands of others who already receive the monthly benefit could see cuts.
San Diego Researchers Help With Urgent Effort To Stop Ebola In Africa
- May 8
- By Susan Murphy
As health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo work to stop the spread of another highly contagious Ebola outbreak, researchers in San Diego are working on a cure.
Researcher: Kawasaki Disease Spike In San Diego Likely Tied To Aerosol Particles
- April 22
- By Susan Murphy
"The current paradigm is that if you were born with the genetic susceptibility, you will get Kawasaki disease. It’s just a question of when you’ll come across the trigger," said Jane Burns, M.D., professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego and director of the Kawasaki Disease Research Center.
Surge Of Kawasaki Disease Continues In San Diego County
- April 10
- By Susan Murphy
“So far this year we’ve had 45 cases, which is a very unusual uptick in the number that we would typically see at this time of year,” said Jane Burns, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego and director of the Kawasaki Disease Research Center.
Opioid Class Trains Workers To Protect Themselves From Deadly Fentanyl Exposure
- April 8
- By Susan Murphy
The training comes as opioid overdose death rates continue to soar. More than 250 people in San Diego County died in 2018 of opioid-related causes, and 90 of those were a direct result of fentanyl, according to preliminary numbers from the Medical Examiner’s office.
Homeless Families Move Into Golden Hall, Next Door To San Diego's Elected Leaders
- April 2
- By Susan Murphy
Dozens of homeless families moved into the second floor of Golden Hall in downtown San Diego on Monday as the large, gray, industrial tent they’ve been living in on a back lot of Father Joe’s Villages is being removed to make way for a 14-story permanent housing facility.
San Diego Doctors On High Alert For Measles
- April 1
- By Susan Murphy
A single cough or sneeze from an infected person can spread the virus to everyone around them who is not vaccinated or who has never had the measles.
3 People In San Diego Fighting Superbug Infections After Surgeries In Tijuana
- March 25
- By Susan Murphy
“Right now these patients are treatable, but we want to make sure no one else gets that infection,” said Eric McDonald, M.D., medical director of epidemiology for the county of San Diego.
San Diego Hospital To Offer Newly-Approved Nasal Spray For Severe Depression
- March 21
- By Susan Murphy
Five years before the FDA approved a novel antidepressant nasal spray called Esketamine, doctors in San Diego were testing it on patients as part of the drug’s clinical trials.