Meet Dr. Ashton

Dr. Jennifer Ashton is ABC News’ chief health and medical correspondent. A Columbia DuPont and Emmy® Award-winning journalist, she reports on major health and wellness issues across all ABC News platforms. She is also co-host of “GMA3: What You Need to Know,” informing viewers about the day’s latest breaking health and medical news. Ashton is the only network medical correspondent who is a specialist in Women's Health and the only doctor with a national media platform who also holds a degree in nutrition and obesity medicine. She is also only the third physician to hold the position of chief medical correspondent in the 75-plus-year history of ABC News.

Ashton was at the forefront of ABC News’ COVID-19 coverage, visiting the NIH Vaccine Development Lab, reporting on their SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development and the White House, and meeting with Vice President Pence and White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx. Ashton also interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was at the time the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

For the past 12 years, she has reported on the biggest medical and health stories, including the rising U.S. maternal mortality crisis, the increase in suicide and mental illness, and the mysterious AFM (acute flaccid myelitis) outbreak. She has written about these issues extensively in both medical and popular journals. She is also the author of six bestselling books, including most recently, “The New Normal: A Roadmap to Resilience in the Pandemic Era” (2021).

Before joining ABC News, Ashton was the senior medical correspondent for CBS News and appeared on “The Early Show” and “CBS Evening News.” In 2010, she traveled to Haiti with a medical team, treating victims of the earthquake for eight days and shared her experiences on CBS News. She was also a co-host on the syndicated talk show “The Doctors” for three years and a regular expert guest on “The Dr. Oz Show,” and has appeared on TLC and PBS. She has delivered over 1,500 babies and treated thousands of patients of all ages.

Ashton has been recognized by the American Heart Association for her work as a women’s health advocate with their GoRed for Women Award as well as their 2023 Women Changing the World Award, the Ellie Fund for Breast Cancer Support, The Girl Scouts, The OctoberWoman Foundation for Breast Cancer Awareness, the Policemen’s Benevolent Association Medal of Honor for providing emergency medical care to injured Englewood police officers, and the city of Englewood for heroic service to Haitian earthquake victims.

She is double board-certified in ob-gyn and obesity medicine and has a master’s degree in nutrition. Ashton received her medical degree from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and her post-graduate training in women’s health and surgery at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center/Mount Sinai West in New York City.