Sam Baker
Senior Editor and Morning Edition HostSam Baker is KERA's senior editor and local host for Morning Edition. The native of Beaumont, Texas, also edits and produces radio commentaries and Vital Signs, a series that's part of the station's Breakthroughs initiative. He also was the longtime host of KERA 13’s Emmy Award-winning public affairs program On the Record. He also won an Emmy in 2008 for KERA’s Sharing the Power: A Voter’s Voice Special, and has earned honors from the Associated Press and the Public Radio News Directors Inc.
Sam worked in commercial television at NBC and CBS affiliates for six years before moving to public broadcasting. He was news director and Morning Edition host at KWGS-FM in Tulsa, Okla., for three years and moved to KERA in 1991. He has served on the board of Public Radio News Directors Inc. and is a member of the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Communicators.
As a volunteer, Sam for seven years produced a weekly series, Jazz in Words and Music, for Reading and Radio Resources, an agency serving the visually impaired. He is also a former member on the board of Southwest Transplant Alliance, a private nonprofit organization that provides organs and tissues for transplantation.
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U.S. Census figures show the 65-and-older population has grown by more than 13 million during the past decade. But there's a shortage of specialized care for that segment. -
You’ve probably heard eating too much processed food is bad for you. A new study suggests why: What you eat can alter the microbiome in your gut that can affect your health.
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Amid the pandemic, seasonal viruses like flu and West Nile virus have shown up in North Texas, but not RSV, a respiratory virus that affects mostly young children.
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It will be months before the general public can get vaccinated against COVID-19. But those who’ve recovered from it are believed to have antibodies offering protection from the virus.
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The arrival of COVID-19 vaccine came as welcome news for health care workers first in line to get the shots. But they’re still contending with a worsening coronavirus surge.KERA’s Sam Baker talked with CEO Barclay Berdan about how Texas Health Resources is handling this health crisis.
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A survey over the summer found that with gyms closed by the pandemic, more people have turned to walking for exercise. It has a number of benefits: More energy, better sleep, weight loss, for instance. But that’s if you walk the right way.
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Healthcare workers and vulnerable populations will be first to receive the COVID-19 vaccines allotted to Texas. But polls suggest getting some other people to get vaccinated may be a major hurdle.
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Vital Signs host Sam Baker spoke with Dr. Joseph Chang, the chief medical officer with Parkland Hospital System, about how to stay safe during the holiday season. Chang said the type of gathering, cleaning precautions and proper mask-wearing are all things to keep in mind.
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About 3 million people in the U.S. suffer from this form of inflammatory bowel disease. A recent study of mice suggests colitis may be linked to the amount of sugar and added sugars in food and beverages.
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Current recommendations call for most people to begin colon cancer screenings at 50. But the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force wants to lower that to age 45 — just as the American Cancer Society recommended two years ago. Dr. Clifford Simmang, a colon and rectal surgeon with Baylor Scott White Health, explained to KERA’s Sam Baker why the Task Force recommendation carries more weight.
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The DFW COVID-19 Prevalence study began in summer with 2,000 participants. Researchers hope to enroll another 30,000 Dallas and Tarrant county residents, plus 15,000 front-line workers in essential industries, to help determine how the virus is spreading in the area.
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The intravenous version of remdesivir recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration is given to hospitalized patients. Baylor Scott and White are conducting clinical trials on an inhaled version that might avoid a hospital stay altogether.
