Apoorva Mandavilli

{{short description|US science writer and journalist}}

{{use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Apoorva Mandavilli

| birth_place =

| education = {{Plainlist|

• New York University
• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Augustana College

}}

| occupation = Journalist

| employer = The New York Times

| nationality = American

| known for = medical science articles

| website= {{Official URL}}

}}

Apoorva Mandavilli is an American investigative journalist whose work has focused on medical science.{{Cite web|title=Apoorva Mandavilli {{!}} Tufts Office of the Vice Provost for Research|url=https://viceprovost.tufts.edu/apoorva-mandavilli|access-date=2021-08-19|website=viceprovost.tufts.edu}} During the COVID-19 pandemic, she joined The New York Times as a health and science writer.{{cite press release |title=Apoorva Mandavilli Joining Health and Science |date=April 16, 2020 |url=https://www.nytco.com/press/apoorva-mandavilli-joining-science-and-health |website=The New York Times company website}} In the spring of 2019, she was writer-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin, where she joined a panel discussion on vaccine refusal while writing about containing a measles outbreak in Lowell, Massachusetts.{{cite web |url=https://wnanews.com/2019/04/04/apoorva-mandavilli-uw-madison-residence |title=Award-winning science journalist is UW-Madison writer in residence |author=Jordan Schelling |publisher=Wisconsin Newspaper Association |date=April 4, 2019}}{{cite news |author=Chris Barncard |url=https://news.wisc.edu/science-journalist-mandavilli-is-uw-madison-writer-in-residence/ |title=Science journalist Mandavilli is UW–Madison writer in residence |date=April 2, 2019 |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison}}{{cite web |url=https://undark.org/2019/04/29/measles-containment-infection-outbreak |title=When Measles Arrives: Breaking Down the Anatomy of Containment |author=Apoorva Mandavilli |work=Undark Magazine |date=April 19, 2019}}

Mandavilli is known for her work on autism, most notably being the founding editor-in-chief of Spectrum, an online publication that stemmed from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative and is now part of The Transmitter.[https://www.spectrumnews.org/ Spectrumnews.org] website She co-founded Culture Dish, an organization dedicated to enhancing diversity in science journalism, and is the founding chair of the Diversity Committee for the National Association of Science Writers.{{cite web |author1=Apoorva Mandavilli |author2=Nidhi Subbaraman |date=October 15, 2014 |title=Culture Dish: Promoting Diversity in Science Writing |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/culture-dish-promoting-diversity-in-science-writing |work=Scientific American Voices blog}}

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.[https://www.nytimes.com/by/apoorva-mandavilli/ Apporva Mandavilli nytimes.com]

In May 2021, Mandavalli tweeted that the COVID-19 lab leak theory had "racist roots". After criticism, she deleted the tweet, stating it was "badly phrased".{{Cite web |last=Darcy |first=Oliver |date=2021-05-27 |title=Taking a look at the media’s role in the Covid-19 lab leak theory CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/27/media/covid-19-origins-lab-leak-media/index.html |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-05-27 |title=NY Times COVID Reporter Deletes Tweet Claiming ‘Racist Roots’ of ‘Lab Leak Theory’ After Backlash |url=https://www.thewrap.com/new-york-times-covid-lab-leak-apoorva-mandavilli/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=The Wrap |language=en-US}}