Jayne O'Donnell

USA TODAY’s Health Policy Reporter: Co-Founder of the Urban Health Media Project

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Jayne O'Donnell is USA TODAY’s health policy reporter. She is also co-founder of the Urban Health Media Project, which trains high school students in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore to report on health and social issues.
Jayne has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and C-Span and been published in Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping and Parents.
At USA TODAY – where she’s worked for more than two decades – Jayne covered the implementation of the Affordable Care Act beginning in September 2013. She also focuses on mental health, addiction, childhood trauma and patient safety.
Jayne has won several awards for her work, most notably for her 1996 articles in USA TODAY on the dangers air bags posed to children. That reporting prompted many government actions including the “smart" air bags and warning labels in every new vehicle.
She has spoken at or moderated panels at dozens of conferences, including USA TODAY’s own healthcare events as well as those hosted by the Business Roundtable, AARP and the Leapfrog Group.
A graduate of University of Maryland’s College of Journalism, Jayne did graduate work at George Washington University’s School of Business. She lives in McLean, Va. with her husband and their teenage daughter - when she isn’t at college studying public health.