Spectrum: Autism Research News

Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist, is director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and publisher of its award-winning science magazine, Undark. She is the author of six books, including “The Poison Squad,” published in September and scheduled to be the subject of a PBS documentary film in January. Prior to joining MIT, she was Helen Firstbrook Franklin Professor of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked as a newspaper science writer for 20 years, winning the Pulitzer in 1992 for a series on primate research, which she turned into a book, “The Monkey Wars.” Her other books include the New York Times best-seller “The Poisoner’s Handbook,” “Ghost Hunters,” “Love at Goon Park” and “Sex on the Brain.” She is also co-editor of two editions of “A Field Guide for Science Writers.” In addition, she has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, National Geographic, Wired, Time, The Wall Street Journal, Discover, Mother Jones, The Guardian and The Boston Globe. Blum is past president of the National Association of Science Writers, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a lifetime associate of the National Academy of Sciences.