The Knight Science Journalism Program (KSJ) at MIT has revealed that Usha Lee McFarling, national science reporter for STAT and a former KSJ Fellow, will be joining the organization in August as its new director.
As the director, McFarling will assume a pivotal position in overseeing KSJ — an exclusive mid-career fellowship initiative that invites distinguished science journalists from across the globe for 10 months of education and intellectual discovery at MIT, Harvard University, and various institutions in the Boston vicinity.
“I’m excited to take on this leadership during such a vital period for science journalism, a period when journalism faces political and economic challenges and misinformation — particularly in the realms of science and health — is abundant,” McFarling states. “My aim is to explore even more avenues to bolster our field and its practitioners as they continue their essential work.”
McFarling is an experienced science journalist, most recently affiliated with STAT News. She has previously contributed to the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, and the San Antonio Light, and was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow during 1992-93. McFarling completed her undergraduate education at Brown University with a degree in biology in 1988 and subsequently attained a master’s in biological psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Her reporting on the deteriorating condition of the world’s oceans garnered the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism and a Polk Award, among other accolades. Her coverage of health inequities at STAT has received an Edward R. Murrow award, alongside recognitions from the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association. In 2024, she will be honored with the Victor Cohn prize for excellence in medical science reporting and the Bernard Lo, MD award in bioethics.
McFarling will take over from director Deborah Blum, who has held the position for a decade. Blum, also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the bestselling author of six books, is retiring to focus on a full-time writing career. She will become a board member of Undark, a publication she helped establish during her time at KSJ and maintain her role on the board of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, among others.
“It’s been a privilege to serve as director of the Knight Science Journalism program over the last ten years and a joy to support the crucial work of science journalists,” Blum remarks. “I am confident that under Usha McFarling’s leadership — who brings remarkable talent and insight to the position — KSJ will continue to expand and prosper in all the finest ways.”