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
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PIEZO channels are opening the study of mechanosensation in unexpected places
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Latest iteration of U.S. federal autism committee comes under fire
The new panel “represents a radical departure from all past rosters,” says autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg.
Latest iteration of U.S. federal autism committee comes under fire
The new panel “represents a radical departure from all past rosters,” says autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg.
By
Angie Voyles Askham
29 January 2026 | 9 min read
‘Tour de force’ study flags fount of interneurons in human brain
The newly discovered cell type might point to the origins of the inhibitory imbalance linked to autism and other conditions.
‘Tour de force’ study flags fount of interneurons in human brain
The newly discovered cell type might point to the origins of the inhibitory imbalance linked to autism and other conditions.
By
Holly Barker
29 January 2026 | 4 min read