Ashley Lopez joined KUT in February 2016. She covers politics and health care, and is part of the NPR-Kaiser Health News reporting collaborative. Previously, she worked as a reporter at public radio stations in Louisville, Kentucky, and Miami and Fort Myers, Florida, where she won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for a story about an immigration policy that was failing some undocumented domestic abuse victims. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ashley Lopez
From this contributor
Immigration fears force family to forego autism services for citizen child
As U.S. immigration enforcement becomes stricter under the Trump administration, more immigrant families are cutting ties with healthcare services and other critical government programs.
Immigration fears force family to forego autism services for citizen child
By
Ashley Lopez, Kaiser Health News
1 February 2019 | 6 min read
Fearing deportation, immigrant parents opt out of children’s health benefits
A growing number of American children are dropping out of Medicaid and other government programs because their parents are not citizens.
Fearing deportation, immigrant parents opt out of children’s health benefits
By
Ashley Lopez, Kaiser Health News
25 June 2018 | 5 min read
Explore more from The Transmitter
This paper changed my life: Ishmail Abdus-Saboor on balancing the study of pain and pleasure
A 2013 Nature paper from David Anderson’s lab revealed a group of sensory neurons involved in pleasurable touch and led Abdus-Saboor down a new research path.
This paper changed my life: Ishmail Abdus-Saboor on balancing the study of pain and pleasure
A 2013 Nature paper from David Anderson’s lab revealed a group of sensory neurons involved in pleasurable touch and led Abdus-Saboor down a new research path.
By
Ishmail Abdus-Saboor
13 February 2026 | 7 min read
Sex bias in autism drops as age at diagnosis rises
The disparity begins to level out after age 10, raising questions about why so many autistic girls go undiagnosed earlier in childhood.
Sex bias in autism drops as age at diagnosis rises
The disparity begins to level out after age 10, raising questions about why so many autistic girls go undiagnosed earlier in childhood.
By
Helena Kudiabor
13 February 2026 | 4 min read
Microglia implicated in infantile amnesia
The glial cells could explain the link between maternal immune activation and autism-like behaviors in mice.
Microglia implicated in infantile amnesia
The glial cells could explain the link between maternal immune activation and autism-like behaviors in mice.
By
Lauren Schneider
12 February 2026 | 5 min read