Apoorva Mandavilli is an American investigative journalist whose work has focused on

medical science Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pra ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she joined ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as a health and science writer. In the spring of 2019, she was

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, where she joined a panel discussion on vaccine refusal while writing about containing a

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

outbreak in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

. Mandavilli is known for her work on

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

, most notably being the founding editor-in-chief of ''Spectrum'', an online publication that stemmed from the

Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, or SFARI for short, is a research program established in 2005 by the Simons Foundation, which focuses on all aspects of autism research. Its director is Kelsey Martin. The organization has funded ...

and is now part of '' The Transmitter''. She co-founded Culture Dish, an organization dedicated to enhancing diversity in

science journalism Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists and the public. Origins Modern science journalism originated in weather and other natural history obs ...

, and is the founding chair of the Diversity Committee for the

National Association of Science Writers The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) was created in 1934 by science journalists and reporters. The mission of NASW is "to improve the craft of science journalism and to promote good science reportage". It has been called, "the nation ...

. Mandavilli was the 2019 winner of the Victor L. Cohn award for scientific journalism. She grew up in Southern India and speaks four Indian languages. She came to the United States to attend college at age 17. In May 2021, Mandavalli tweeted that the

COVID-19 lab leak theory The COVID-19 lab leak theory, or lab leak hypothesis, is the idea that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, came from a laboratory. This claim is highly controversial; there is a scientific consensus that the virus is not t ...

had "racist roots". After criticism, she deleted the tweet, stating it was "badly phrased".

References

External links

*
Articles by Apoorva Mandavilli
for ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandavilli, Apoorva 1970s births Living people 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women writers Journalists from New York City New York University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni