ME CFS: Changing the Narrative

Ed Yong is a celebrated science journalist who cares deeply about accurate, nuanced, and empathetic reporting; clear and vivid storytelling; and social equality. His coverage of ME/CFS and Long COVID for The Atlantic has been groundbreaking, and has contributed to a changing public perception of these illnesses, moving us toward a public health agenda that recognizes the serious nature and commonalities of infection-associated chronic conditions, and supports advances in research and clinical care.

Mr. Yong will share with us how he came to the subject of ME/CFS and long COVID and what has motivated him to dig so deeply and tenaciously into them. He will explain how he chooses sources to interview and how he prepares for those interviews. We will hear his thoughts on what is yet to be explored about ME/CFS from a journalistic perspective, and how science journalism contributes to changing perceptions. Mr. Yong’s presentation will be followed by an audience question and answer period.

Mr. Yong is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist on staff at The Atlantic. In addition to his work for The Atlantic, Yong’s writing has been featured in National Geographic, The New Yorker, Wired, The New York Times, Nature, New Scientist and Scientific American. He is the author of two New York Times bestsellers—An Immense World, about the extraordinary sensory worlds of other animals; and I Contain Multitudes, about the amazing partnerships between animals and microbes.